A host of Realise's Health and Social Care courses have received the new Quality Assurance Care Learning Services (QACLS) endorsement.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has taken on responsibility for reviewing the quality of individual courses and qualifications delivered by training providers within the sector.
Realise submitted 11 of its health and social care programmes to be quality assured – and all received the stamp of approval, including the Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate.
Funding for health and social care qualifications is now provided through the Government’s Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS), which has replaced the Workforce Development Fund.
From April this year, only courses and qualifications delivered by training providers that have been QACLS endorsed will be identified as preferred options by LDSS.
And from next year onwards, employers will only be able to claim LDSS funding for courses that have been quality assured.
Care providers currently have to replace almost a third of their workers each year due to staff leaving their jobs. This high turnover has a negative impact on the quality of care – and the DHSC hopes the QACLS endorsement will help boost retention.
Just the beginning for Realise
The QACLS endorsement lasts for three years, with regular monitoring every six to nine months.
Realise will strive to have all its health and social care programmes approved through QACLS during phase two and three of the process. Phase two runs from now until the end of the 2025-26 financial year, and phase three follows immediately after.
The Government says it is “fully committed to a professional, well supported social care workforce” with learning, development and training that is “of outstanding quality, relevant and accessible”.
The full list of Realise’s 11 quality assured courses are:
Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Autism