The Department of Health has commissioned Skills for Care to support the delivery of a national learning and development programme for the adult social care workforce supporting people with dementia.
Skills for Care will make £2.4 million available to employers through the Workforce Development Dementia Fund to support the completion of relevant accredited qualifications by those members of the workforce who support people with dementia.
This new funding is open to all adult social care employers who support people with dementia, whether this is in the early stages of the illness following diagnosis, or at a later stage.
Care Services Minister Paul Burstow said: “Achieving high quality care for people with dementia is central to the ambitions we have set out in the Prime Minister’s challenge on dementia.
“Ensuring staff have a thorough understanding of the disease is key to making this happen. Through this fund staff will be able to develop skills which will make a real difference to the care and support they give to people with dementia and their carers.”
Skills for Care CEO Sharon Allen said: “The Prime Minister has set out a very clear challenge to our sector to improve care for people with dementia and the adult social care workforce will clearly play a central role in meeting those challenges.
“This new funding is targeted at frontline employers and their workers who support people with dementia, so I would urge all employers who think they might qualify to make an application.”
The closing date for applications is 13 August 2012.
Find out more about the PM’s Dementia Challenge.
Read the Skills for Care press release.