B-skill’s new course helps clean up healthcare sector

Tyneside training provider B-Skill Ltd has been approved to be one of the first training companies in the UK to carry out the new NVQ Level 2 in Support Services in Healthcare.

The new City & Guilds qualification will help support staff in hospitals and care homes such as cleaners, porters, care and nursing assistants improve their skills to work to wipe out threats such as the MRSA super-bug.

The course, which focuses heavily on hygiene and health and safety brings together elements of other City and Guilds support services courses under one mainstream qualification for all areas of the support services function in healthcare.

Crook-based company Devereux has just become the first locally based domiciliary homecare provider to sign up for the new course. Devereux, employs 30 staff and provides home care to elderly people who require various degrees of assistance within the home environment. Maria Wilson, Director of Devereux, said: ìThe National Care Standardsí body who are responsible for overseeing all aspects of domiciliary home care now require all staff to complete this course. The new NVQ Level 2 in Support Services in Healthcare will ensure all staff will have the best possible training to carry out their roles. All of our staff are fully skilled and trained, however this course means they will gain an additional fully accredited formal qualification, with the help and assistance of a local firm such as B-Skill who will assist our staff through all their coursework.î

B-Skill Ltd went through rigorous quality and procedures assessment by City & Guilds to be able to bring the qualification to hospital and care home staff in the North, and its team of assessors are now recruiting 200 work-based learners for 2004-05.

Consisting of four mandatory modules, and four further module options from a choice of 35, learners complete the NVQ at their own pace, depending on their work-based and basic skills levels.

B-Skill Ltd has a range of expert assessors to deliver the qualification training, who will be assisted by its expert witnesses from healthcare employers, who can help deliver specialist areas of assessment not covered by B-Skillís staff.

Each employee and their employer will have a portfolio during the course, containing learning packs on each module that they need to study. B-Skillís assessors work hand-in-hand with the expert witnesses from the employer to assess the student on every module.

Paul Wileman, managing director of B-Skill Ltd, said: ìThis course is the very latest practical benefit to private and public sector hospitals and care homes, who employ a wide range of ancillary support staff.

ìIt is estimated that some 300,000 people are employed in critical support services roles in health care across the UK. Porters, housekeepers, cleaners, caterers and medical records workers all play a crucial part in ensuring that patients and carers experience a quality service. This qualification is designed to upgrade their skills to the highest level, and improve standards across the healthcare sector, which will help to wipe out current health threats such as MRSA which spreads through poor hygiene standards.î

Based in the North East B-Skill Ltd delivers training throughout the UK and directly employs 40 highly trained staff , many of whom offer extensive sector experience to provide flexible high quality on-job training and assessment and job basic skills provision. Its comprehensive one-stop range of qualifications includes City & Guilds, British Institute of Cleaning Science, Security Industry Training Organisation, LCCI and CIEH. It was recently awarded the prestigious Matrix quality standard for information advice and guidance services.

B-Skill is able to offer the new Support Service in Healthcare NVQ (and other L2 NVQs) free of charge to employers whose headquarters are based in the North East of England.

For further information on the NVQ Level 2 in Support Services in Healthcare please contact Ann Atkinson on (0191) 230 37 37, or email business.training@b-skill.co.uk