A new training course designed to produce dozens of new health and social care managers – the first programme of its kind in England – has been launched in West Yorkshire.

The four-week Transition to Leadership in Adult Social Care course, which will be delivered by a mixture of in-person and online teaching, will see at least 72 current health and social care workers take the next steps to become a leader or manager before the end of the year.

The bridging course will prepare learners to take a Level 4 or Level 5 apprenticeship and comes at no cost to either the employer or the employee.

Anyone over the age of 19 working within health and social care and living in West Yorkshire is eligible for the course. The usual requirement for training of living in the UK for at least three years doesn’t apply to this course.

The training will be delivered by Realise and is fully funded by Skills Connect, a learning platform from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Lesley O’Connor, Head of Strategic development (Health and Social Care) at Realise, said: “With more than 150,000 vacancies in health and social care across the UK, recruitment and retention of staff remains an issue which needs further attention in the sector.

“Different approaches needed to provide a clear career pathway to help people progress and this programme is a great example of that. The emphasis is very much around managing innovation and change and ensuring health and social care settings in West Yorkshire have leaders of the future who are prepared to meet the challenges of being a modern-day manager in the sector.”

Kelly Townend, Contracts and Quality Manager at Skills Connect echoed this sentiment saying: “It’s crucial that we address skills shortages for health & social care with bespoke and employer-responsive programmes, to enable individuals to take the next steps in their career.”

The course will feature one classroom learning, in-person session on each of the four weeks, with the remainder of the training delivered online through webinars, one-to-one appointments with a tutor and drop-in sessions.

The course covers a variety of topics including designing and conducting research projects, quality assurance and improvement, ethical dilemmas and decision-making and codes of conduct and professional standards.

Read more about the new bridging programme here