Lead Adult Care Worker Level 3 Apprenticeship

Lead Adult Care Workers are the frontline staff who help adults with care and support needs achieve their personal goals and live as independently and safely as possible, enabling them to have control and choice. In addition, Lead Adult Care Workers are responsible for providing supervision, frontline leadership, guidance and direction for others or working autonomously, exercising judgement and accountability.

Typical job titles include Care Officer, Care Supervisor, Senior Care Worker, Supervising Care Worker, Senior Support Worker, Relief Team Leader, Social Work Assistant, Social Services Officer, Outreach Development Worker, Community Support Worker, Community Outreach Worker, Community Development Worker, Family Support Worker or Personal Assistant. These could all specialise in various areas such as learning disability, mental health, drug and alcohol misuse, homecare, dementia and end-of-life care.

As a Lead Adult Care Worker, you will make a positive difference in someone’s life when faced with physical, practical, social, emotional or intellectual challenges. You will be expected to exercise judgement and take appropriate action to support individuals to maintain their independence, dignity and control. You will be instrumental in improving the health and well-being of those receiving care and support by providing leadership, guidance, and direction at the frontline of care delivery. Lead Adult Care Workers will sometimes have delegated responsibility for the standard of care provided and may supervise the work of other care workers. This exercising autonomy and accountability mean leading and supporting others to comply with expected standards and behaviours.

Lead Adult Care Workers may work in residential or nursing homes, domiciliary care, day centres or some clinical healthcare settings. As well as covering Lead Adult Care Workers, this standard also covers Lead Personal Assistants who can work at this senior level but may only work directly for one individual who needs support and/or care services, usually within their own home.

The apprentice must receive off-the-job training for a minimum of 6 hours per week. The hours will be pro rata for part time learners. There are many activities that can be calculated towards the off-the-job training hours such as; Shadowing a colleague, Online Learning, Internal Training, Team Meetings and Appraisals/1-2-1 Visits.

Tasks and responsibilities
Supporting with social activities, monitoring health, assisting with eating, mobility and personal care.

Both their own and other workers professional boundaries and limits training and expertise.

Relevant statutory Standards and Codes of Practice for their role.

What the ‘Duty of Care’ is in practice.

How to create and develop a care plan based on the person’s preferences in the way they want to be supported.

How to monitor, plan, review a care plan in response to changing physical, social, and emotional needs of individuals.

How to lead and support others to ensure compliance with regulations and organisational policies and procedures.

Values
How to ensure that dignity is at the centre of all work with individuals and their support circles.

The importance of respecting diversity, the principles of inclusion and treating everyone fairly.

Communication
The barriers to communication and be able to both identify, and determine, the best solutions to achieve success when communicating with the individual they are supporting

How to communicate clearly both verbally and non-verbally and able to influence others to maximise the quality of interaction.

The role of advocates and when they might be involved.

Their own, and other workers’ responsibilities for ensuring confidential information is kept safe.

Safeguarding
What abuse is and what to do when they have concerns someone is being abused.

The national and local strategies for safeguarding and protection from abuse.

What to do when receiving comments and complaints ensuring appropriate and timely actions takes place.

How to recognise and prevent unsafe practices in the workplace.

The importance and process of whistleblowing, being able to facilitate timely intervention.

How to address and resolve any dilemmas they may face between a person’s rights and their safety.

Champion health and wellbeing
The health and safety responsibilities of self, employer and workers.

How to keep safe in the work environment.

What to do when there is an accident or sudden illness and take appropriate action.

What to do with hazardous substances.

How to promote fire safety and how to support others to so.

How to reduce the spread of infection and support others in infection prevention and control.

How to use and promote with others where relevant, risk assessments to enable a person centred approach to delivering care.

Professional development
What a professional relationship is with the person being supported and colleagues.

How to work with other people and organisations in the interest of the person being supported.

How to be actively involved in their own personal development plan and, where appropriate, other worker’s personal development plans.

How to demonstrate the importance of excellent core skills in writing, numbers and information technology.

How to develop and sustain a positive attitude and address signs and symptoms of stress in self and other colleagues.

How to carry out research relevant to individuals’ support needs and share with others.

How to access and apply good practice relating to their role.

How to access and apply specialist knowledge when needed to support performance in the job role.

Tasks and responsibilities
Support individuals they are working with according to their personal care/support plan.

Take the initiative when working outside normal duties and responsibilities.

Recognise and access help when not confident or skilled in any aspect of the role that they are undertaking.

Implement/facilitate the specialist assessment of social, physical, emotional and spiritual needs of individuals with cognitive, sensory and physical impairments.

Contribute to the development and ongoing review of care/support plans for the individuals they support.

Provide individuals with information to enable them to exercise choice on how they are supported.

Encourage individuals to actively participate in the way their care and support is delivered.

Ensure that individuals know what they are agreeing to regarding the way in which they are supported.

Lead and support colleagues to understand how to establish informed consent when providing care and support.

Guide, mentor and contribute to the development of colleagues in the execution of their duties and responsibilities

Communication
Demonstrate and promote to other workers excellent communication skills including confirmation of understanding to individuals, their families, carers and professionals

Use and facilitate methods of communication preferred by the individual they support according to the individual’s language, cultural and sensory needs, wishes and preferences.

Take the initiative and reduce environmental barriers to communication.

Demonstrate and ensure that records and reports are written clearly and concisely

Lead and support others to keep information safe, preserve confidentiality in accordance with agreed ways of working.

Safeguarding
Support others, to recognise and respond to potential signs of abuse according to agreed ways of working.

Work in partnership with external agencies to respond to concerns of abuse.

Lead and support others to address conflicts or dilemmas that may arise between an individual’s rights and duty of care.

Recognise, report, respond to and record unsafe practices and encourage others to do so.

Champion health and wellbeing
Lead and mentor others where appropriate to promote the wellbeing of the individuals they support.

Demonstrate the management of the reduction of infection, including use of best practice in hand hygiene.

Promote healthy eating and wellbeing by supporting individuals to have access to fluids, food and nutrition.

Carry out fire safety procedures and manage others to do so.

Develop risk assessments and use in a person centred way to support individuals safely including moving and assisting people and objects.

Manage, monitor, report and respond to changes in the health and wellbeing of the individuals they support.

Respecting others
Demonstrate dignity in their working role with individuals they support, their families, carers and other professionals.

Support others to understand the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion in social care.

Exhibit empathy for individuals they support, i.e. understanding and compassion.

Exhibit courage in supporting individuals in ways that may challenge their own cultural and belief systems.

Professional development
Take the initiative to identify and form professional relationships with other people and organisations.

Demonstrate, manage and support self and others to work within safe, clear professional boundaries.

Take the initiative to evaluate and improve own skills and knowledge through reflective practice, supervision, feedback and learning opportunities.

Demonstrate continuous professional development.

Carry out research relevant to individuals’ support needs and share with others.

Demonstrate where necessary mentoring and supervision to others in the workplace.

Demonstrate good team/partnership working skills.

Demonstrate their contribution to robust recruitment and induction processes.

The End Point Assessment (EPA) will only commence once the Employer, Apprentice and Smart Training Advisor are confident
that the apprentice has developed all the knowledge, skills and behaviours defined in the apprenticeship standard and that
these are clearly evidenced through the progress review meetings and records. The independent end point assessment
ensures that all Apprentices consistently achieve the industry set professional standard. The EPA can commence at any point once the apprentice is competent and after the twelve-month minimum period of learning and development. Prior to
independent end point assessment the functional skills English and maths components of the apprenticeship must be
successfully completed.

Situational Judgement Test
Apprentices will be presented with a range of real-life scenarios 60 Situational Judgement Test questions. The assessment will be undertaken online and under controlled conditions with a time limit applied.

Professional Discussion
The learner will be asked a series of structures questions which will test the knowledge and application of knowledge.