Case study:

11 May 2010

Using a competence-based approach to benchmark staff skills in Housing 21

Key points

Managers at Housing 21 – a housing and care provider for the over 55s – have used the core competences developed by Skills for Care and Skills for Health as a starting point to review their end of life care provision.

The end of life care competences helped Housing 21’s staff in Gateshead benchmark their current level of end of life care skills and identify their learning needs.

Housing 21 seeks to enable older people to live independently with appropriate support. In Gateshead it works closely with local district nurses, the urgent-care team and other healthcare professionals to provide care to tenants living in five extra care courts.

The end of life care competences offered Housing 21 a way to give their own staff, including domiciliary care staff and court managers, the skills they needed to help tenants stay in their own home in line with their personal wishes.

Valerie Anderson, Care Service Manager based at Callendar Court, Gateshead, said that when asked about specific needs tenants said they wanted an end of life care service. ‘We are now looking at how to develop individual end of life care plans with people so they can have their wishes met. Having appropriately trained staff is an important part of this work and the competences help us to put the individual’s needs first. They were very useful in helping us identify core areas for development.’

Housing 21 worked with education providers to source appropriate training for staff and relatives, who might also want to access the training. As a result the local Marie Curie palliative care team now offers free tailor-made half-day training sessions in end of life care. The training has helped Housing 21 staff in Gateshead collaborate more effectively and put the needs of its tenants first.