Insights from the National Clinical Homecare Association Annual Conference 2024
The Skills for Health team, Matt Girdlestone (Principal Client Director), Laura Schell (Client Director), and Rosemarie Simpson (Senior Consultant) were invited to speak at the National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA) Annual Conference 2024 to discuss the development of the Clinical Homecare Career and Competence Framework.
The event assessed the impact, opportunities and challenges across clinical homecare from both NHS and private pharmaceutical companies’ perspectives. The Skills for Health team joined many other healthcare professionals to explore this in more detail and discuss the importance of the Clinical Homecare and Career Competence Framework.
What is the Clinical Homecare and Career Competence Framework?
Skills for Health provided a workforce angle to the day, having recently been commissioned to develop and deliver a national Clinical Homecare Career and Competence framework. The team presented the need, development, benefits and outcomes for this framework. Utilising an expert reference group (ERG), Skills for Health are facilitating the development and shaping of this framework ahead of wider consultation with the goal of;
- Identifying and describing the skills and knowledge required to deliver high quality care in a homecare setting.
- Provide a sense of the opportunities available to the current and future workforce by assessing the career potential of working in this setting.
Why is this framework important?
The need and demand for homecare services across the UK is growing year on year and having a robust and scalable homecare workforce is key to future growth. Developing an industry-wide, standardised Clinical Homecare Career and Competence Framework will support the development and retention of existing staff and the transferability of competency within and between homecare organisations.
What were some key takeaways from the event?
Mark Hackett shared the recently published Best Kept Secret report, which for the first time looks to quantify the value of Clinical Homecare at a patient, NHS and societal level. The statistics shared demonstrated the value of this service;
- 75,000* patients avoid trips to hospital, mitigating geographical boundaries and;
- 62%** of those receiving clinical homecare reported it has allowed them to stay in work or education. Mark highlighted that the report recognises there is more that can be achieved, through collaboration, consistency and innovation.
Clinical Homecare was discussed across the four nations, under the banner of better insights, better decisions, better health, looking at how to grow this area carefully and prioritising how to add value and drive change.
Throughout the day, presenters raised that the demand and need is ever increasing for clinical homecare. A unified, skilled and stable workforce is only going to benefit this critical area of healthcare. Embedding an industry agreed, standardised career and competence framework will support recruitment, development and retention of existing staff and enable a flexible, transferable workforce.
Skills for Health, alongside the NCHA and the ERG, hope to have the first iteration of the draft framework ready to share for consultation by Autumn 2024. You can read more about the framework and register your interest to take part in the consultation here.
The insights shared from the 2024 NCHA annual conference will continue to contribute to moving forward with positive outcomes across the Clinical Homecare agenda. Skills for Health were delighted to be part of the discussions on the day and provide ongoing support to benefit this essential workforce.
* These statistics have been calculated through validated economic modelling using NHS datasets, NCHA datasets, literature reviews and insights from independent advisors
** These statistics have been derived from an independent patient survey