Recruitment and retention

Angela Bonomy, Chief Executive Officer, Sense Scotland, provided an update. From 1 April 2023, the minimum hourly rate for social care staff across Scotland, set by the Scottish Government, will rise to £10.90 per hour. This is the same as the Scottish Living Wage therefore, working in social care is no more attractive than any other sector, and given the responsibility of social care staff, this rate is grossly inadequate. Sense Scotland is planning to invite MSPs and councillors to visit our services to meet people we support, families and staff to raise the challenges experienced, including the issue of pay and reward. The Forum members were keen to support these visits and to write to decision-makers.

We continue to do what we can to recruit and retain staff, and despite the challenges, our Recruitment Team continue to be creative and responsive. In recent months, they have organised several events, information sessions and identified incentives to help fill vacancies and ensure Sense Scotland is an employer of choice within the sector.

Sense Scotland’s strategy development

Joanne O’Donnell, Sense Scotland’s Director of Planning, Development and Engagement, shared the final draft of the 2023-2026 Strategy. This document, which was developed with input from trustees, National Family Forum, Glasgow Family Forum, parents/carers, people we support and staff, has six strategic aims and associated actions. The strategy document will be available on our website in early April.

Fundraising

Jen Niven, Head of Fundraising, shared an update on our fundraising activities, including information about forthcoming events, such as the Ladies’ Lunch and the Kiltwalk, and our fundraising communications and campaigns. Jen is keen to share fundraising opportunities with families and spoke with the Forum about some of her ideas. These included encouraging families to sign up for our Loud and Clear publication. Forum members encouraged Jen to think about corporate partnerships and sponsorship. Members also suggested selling items created by people we support.

CEO letter to families

The Forum welcomed the distribution of a letter from Angela Bonomy, Chief Executive Officer, of Sense Scotland, to families. The letter highlighted the staff recruitment and retention challenges experienced by Sense Scotland and other social care providers. The members asked that Sense Scotland provide a quarterly update on our recruitment and retention progress. Members also requested that the template letter, should families wish to write to their MSP, be printed and made available in TouchBases.

Sense Scotland strategy development

Joanne O’Donnell, Sense Scotland’s Director of Planning, Development and Engagement, shared the timeline for creating a new three-year organisational strategy. Discussions are underway with Sense Scotland’s Executive Team, Senior Management Team and Board of Trustees. The Forum agreed to seek input from families in several ways including a family conference and online survey. These are expected to take place in February.

Respite/Short Breaks

The Forum discussed various aspects of respite/short breaks, such as, service models, funding, demand and location. The members agreed to hold a further meeting to discuss these issues in more depth. At this meeting, the Forum will review the feedback collected from parents/carers via an online survey.

Sense Scotland’s Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Angela Bonomy provided the NFPF with an update from the recent Sense Scotland AGM. There has been no change to the Board or office bearers. The Board approved the 2021-22 Annual Review, which you can find at sensescotland.org.uk/who-we-are/annual-review. The NFPF asked that the Board consider making future AGMs open meetings.

Recruitment

Social care recruitment remains challenging; however, Sense Scotland held a successful Fast Track Recruitment Event in Glasgow and will repeat this event in other regions. The NFPF agreed to write to families to ask for their help to raise awareness of Sense Scotland as an employer, promote our vacancies and highlight social care recruitment challenges to councillors, MSPs and MPs. This letter will be shared with you later this month.

Roadshows

The Forum discussed plans for the Roadshow events taking place in our TouchBases. These events provide an opportunity to meet our Family Support Team, access our Welfare Rights Service, participate in music and storytelling activities, and connect with other parents, carers and family members. For more information, see the events section below.

Staff Health and Wellbeing

Sam Degg, Staff Health and Wellbeing Manager, attended the meeting and shared feedback from a recent staff survey. 204 members of staff responded with 64% stating they felt supported by Sense Scotland and 61% said they felt a sense of belonging. Over the next few months Sam will be promoting existing staff benefits and introducing new initiatives to help support our staff.

Business Development

Chris Mollins, Business Development Manager (Arts), joined the meeting to update the Forum on the appointment of new Arts Tutors in Dundee, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Glasgow. These posts are funded for one-year by Creative Scotland and will enable us to expand our Arts offer across Scotland. Chris will also be exploring opportunities to improve our Sensory Room and Rebound Therapy programmes.

Website

The new Sense Scotland website has launched. The Forum suggested adding a page to the site for people we support, parents, carers and family members to recommend accessible or inclusive places to visit.

Roadshows

Sense Scotland will hold a series of Roadshows at each TouchBase in Autumn 2022. These events will be aimed at people we support, their parents, carers and family members. The events will include information stalls, activity workshops and opportunities for people to meet and connect. Members of the Forum will attend to share information about the group and its function.

Workforce

Angela Bonomy, Chief Executive Officer, presented on Sense Scotland’s recruitment and retention initiatives. The group were impressed by the range of activities undertaken to retain existing staff and recruit new staff. The scale of the challenge within the social care sector was much greater than the Forum had appreciated. The group felt these challenges should be highlighted to decision-makers, particularly the Scottish Government, at every opportunity.

Quality and Practice

Paul Hart, Head of Research and Practice, delivered a presentation on the work of the Operational Support Team. The team work to ensure Sense Scotland staff are skilled and knowledgeable, recognise and share good practice, and focus on improving outcomes for the people we support. The Forum noted the importance of receiving feedback from staff, particularly those leaving the organisation, to identify areas for improvement.

The Forum members have decided to increase the number of parents/carers on the group from six to ten. To ensure the Forum is representative of Sense Scotland, we are particularly keen to hear from parents/carers of people we support in Aberdeen/shire, Perth, Ayrshire and the VILD services. If you could spare two hours every three months to participate in the Forum, please get in touch for more information.

Sense Scotland’s strategy

Overall, the strategy was positively received, with members proposing additional content and suggesting word changes. Sense Scotland will prepare a strategy summary to add to the website.

The group discussed creating video content, case studies and testimonials to bring the strategy to life.

Sense Scotland will develop these over the coming months and add them to their new website launching in spring.

Forum communication plan

The Forum identified a need to improve communication with three key audiences: families, decision-makers and potential employees.

To do this, the group agreed to increase Forum membership and improve engagement with all parents and carers. Sense Scotland will target parents and carers in Aberdeen/shire, Fife and Ayrshire, as these areas are not represented on the Forum, in the hope of identifying representatives.

The Charitable Services Team will organise local coffee mornings and events across Scotland to provide opportunities for families to meet each other and meet the local National Family Partnership Forum representatives. This will enable Forum members to learn about local successes and challenges and identify emerging national issues to discuss at future Forum meetings.

Sense Scotland discussed their plans to introduce a monthly families’ newsletter. The members supported this idea and shared their views about the layout and length of the newsletter.