About Us

What is the CareTrainingConsortium?

The Consortium is an organisation set up to support independent (Private and Voluntary) care providers in West Sussex access information, funding and quality training and development opportunities. The Consortium was established for the care sector as a not-for-profit, employer-led and learner-centred organisation. Its aims include the provision of a single point of access for training information, and acting as a broker to secure training and funding to support the independent care sector. The Consortium seeks to support quality care provision for all service users through its commitment to staff development.

Why was the CareTrainingConsortium set up?

The Consortium was established in September 2002 in response to a request from West Sussex independent care providers to the local authority for help in meeting staff training and development obligations (especially NVQs) resulting from the introduction of the National Minimum Care Standards for residential care provision and domiciliary care. While support for NVQ attainment and adult care provision remains a primary focus, since 2002 the remit of the Consortium has widened, now providing support to independent children and young people services, the voluntary care sector and care services supporting people with mental health problems or learning difficulties.

While West Sussex County Council (WSCC) Adults and Children's Directorate fund the Consortium’s infrastructure, the Consortium being employer/sector-led is working in partnership with, but independent of, the local authority. Funds bid for and disbursed by the Consortium to support care providers are drawn from various sources including Skills for Care, the European Social Fund and the Department of Health (Adult and Children's Social Care grants). Currently the Consortium is lead partner of a Skills for Care funding partnership with over 200 care providers who access funding support for NVQ awards.

What is CareTrainingConsortium achieving?

Helping to meet the needs of the independent care sector in West Sussex: As a care employer-led organisation, the Consortium’s priorities are influenced by what the care sector says are its staffs training and development priorities. To keep the Consortium in tune with the sector’s local and national requirements, its work is directed by an Executive Board consisting of representatives from all parts of the independent care sector, as well as bodies such as SEEDA, Skills for Care, Unison, University of Chichester, West Sussex PCT, EDI  and statutory agencies. This Board meets quarterly. Providing inputs to the Board’s deliberations are feedback from Managers' and Training Providers' forums, as well as views provided by individual employers, managers and care staff who communicate with the Consortium. If you are not already linking with the Consortium, contact our office on 01243 770730 or info@ctcdirect.org.uk to learn more about the support available.

Research: The Consortium has an ongoing programme of research to map the training needs of those working within the care sector. Resources to fund and deliver quality training are limited and therefore what is available should be focused to be as effective as possible. Increasing numbers of care providers are contributing data that provides a clearer picture of the training needs within the West Sussex independent care sector, and with this information the Consortium is playing its part to help employers support their staff with training and development opportunities.

Building Quality Training Capacity: Early research conducted by the Consortium highlighted the sector’s need for information about training provision. Since 2002 the Consortium has met and built links with a range of training providers who can help care employers meet their training and development obligations. Care Providers are now able to access information via the Consortium’s Website (www.ctcdirect.org) which provides information on training providers and the training programmes they deliver.

Using information from employers and care staff on their training and development needs, the Consortium now facilitates a range of funded training and development opportunities that support the NVQ framework and includes workshops for frontline care staff and manager professional development, adult and child safeguarding, management and supervision skills, medication and specialist topics for care staff supporting children and young people, older people, and people with learning difficulties or mental health problems. Details of what opportunies are available to employers and care staff can be seen within the training calendar on the Consortium’s Website (www.ctcdirect.org). Those care providers who are linked with the Consortium will also be sent a hard copy of all the training calendars produced each year.

Funding bids and disbursement of funds: The Consortium is working with a variety of funding bodies and the independent care sector to access funding to support staff training and development in West Sussex. Care Providers play an important part in this process by joining the CTC-led partnership and providing information about their services and the training needs of their care staff/volunteers. Using data obtained from workforce development research, the Consortium continues to successfully draw funding into West Sussex which is used to support training needs identified by employers.

Quality Training: The Consortium itself is not a training provider. It does however work with others to develop programmes that work towards making NVQ awards more accessible to care staff.  The Consortium also evaluates new approaches to NVQs such as the use of ‘paper-free’ models; or other training methods such as distance learning and learning sets. The Consortium also works with colleges, universities and independent training providers, encouraging the sharing of best practice and the development of a learner-centred approach to training. Similarly, the Consortium works with employers in the care sector to highlight the business benefits of staff training and development.

Facilitating discussion on issues affecting the independent care sector: The care sector is a dynamic industry undergoing many changes and pressures. The Consortium acts as a facilitator to bring together independent care providers to discuss and debate the issues that affect them. 

The Consortium facilitates a number of forum meetings where managers, NVQ assessors or training providers can address issues relating to training and development of care staff. If you would like to participate in any of these forums, or learn more about these, please contact the Consortium office on 01243 770730, or email info@ctcdirect.org.uk

If you want to know more about the CareTrainingConsortium and its work Telephone 01243 770730, email info@ctcdirect.org.uk  view our website at www.ctcdirect.org or write to Dr Sue Craig, Director, CareTrainingConsortium, Greyfriars (Unit 1), 61 North Street, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1NB