The 10th -16th June 2024 is Carers Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. It also helps people who don’t think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much-needed support. Unpaid carers can be referred to as volunteers. This week is Volunteers Week (3-9 June)
This year Carers week theme is ‘Putting Carers on the Map’ highlighting the invaluable contributions of carers across the UK and ensuring their voices are heard loud and clear. There are 6.5 million people in the UK who are carers. These carers will be looking after a family member or friend who has a disability, mental or physical illness or who needs extra help as they grow older.
Caring can be a hugely rewarding experience but carers often find it challenging to take care of their own wellbeing whilst caring. Its impact on all aspects of life from relationships and health to finances and work should not be underestimated. Caring without the right information and support can be tough.
We offer multiple Manual Handling of clients training courses here at Acorn and know just how technical and energy consuming it can be to help move/support someone properly. Carers aren’t always given the right training, especially those who are not known as official carers. Musculoskeletal injury continues to account for significant sickness absence amongst the UK workforce, yet young carers can’t always call in sick to school. And if they are the carer, who is going to look after them?
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), work-related muscular skeletal disorders (WRMSD) account for around 40% of all work-related ill health. The cumulative nature of moving and handling injury means that minor bad habits often go unnoticed for many years, resulting in long-term damage. When considering manual handling training, there a variety of options organisations might consider. These fall broadly into the categories of e-learning and face to face training.
Many organisations from small local care providers through to national organisations choose Acorn Health & Safety for our expertise in this specialist area. Our tailored course programmes are particularly suited to organisations with specific learning outcomes and developed to meet the requirements of the care certificate. On our open courses, you will be with like minded delegates looking to learn the same skills as you so can create new connections.
We provide training for staff members working across the health and social care spectrum including carers, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and owner/managers.
Our courses take into consideration a wide variety of published guidance and information from regulatory, advisory and professional bodies. This includes the Care Quality Commission (CQC), The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Resuscitation Council (UK).
We are also pleased to confirm that our Manual Handling of Clients course is aligned to Skills for Health The Core Skills Training Framework (CSTF) which allows employers to recognise training to a standard, trust that information and reduce duplication of training. It also gives confidence that training standards have been met and standardises the interpretation of statutory/mandatory or clinical/care training. The Framework can be used by any healthcare employer in the UK including NHS, independent healthcare providers, bank staff and agency organisations, and educational organisations and ensures the educational relevance of the training and improves the quality and consistency of training provision.
With the exception of e-learning, all moving and handling courses should be easily adaptable to reflect the often varied and individual needs of organisations and their staff teams.
When deciding the right training for your organisation, it is worthwhile to take a few minutes to understand your particular needs. We suggest you consider:
- Observing staff members moving and handling
- Reviewing manual handling risk assessments
- Speaking to safety professionals and HR departments
- Speak to team leaders, supervisors and managers
- Looking at accident and ill health statistics
- Speaking to staff members carrying our activities on a day to day basis
If you have any specific questions or needs, please do get in touch and we will happily take the time to help you choose the right training for your organisation.
Here at Acorn, we offer a wide variety of moving and handling training and consultancy services across all business sectors. Our exceptional trainers can come to your premises to carry out the training or our Open Courses take place in our purpose built Manual Handling training suite. Click here to view the courses available
Prefer to talk about your training and consultancy needs?