Work is already underway in the health and disability sectors towards achieving the Kaiawhina Workforce 5-year actions. The full list of 5-year actions can be downloaded here. We’d like to share with you some of the excellent work that is currently in progress.
Career Development
Action 1.2:
Develop a vocational pathway programme that:
a) provides secondary school students with the values, knowledge and skills required to enter the health and wellbeing workforce
b) provides employers with the opportunity to meet increased staffing demands via a previously under-tapped employee market.
Vocational Pathways help meet future staffing demands:
Careerforce is working closely with the Ministry of Education, workplaces and secondary schools to develop a Vocational Pathway programme for the Social and Community Services Pathway. Vocational Pathways will help students gain a better understanding of the workplace, and the qualifications and skills required by industry.
The focus during 2015 is to raise awareness with the secondary school sector and to develop the programme. The programme is initially focused on students gaining the Vocational Pathway Award and NCEA Level 2 and then identifying their possible career journey. The roll-out of a Careerforce vocational pathway programme for the Social and Community Services pathway is planned for early 2016. More information is available here.
Quality and Safety
Action 2.1
Education and training programmes are competency based with consumer safety and service quality underpinning all programmes.
Health Quality and Safety Commission helps build quality improvement and patient safety
The Health Quality and Safety Commission NZ has identified ‘Building quality improvement and patient safety’ as one of its strategic priorities. The strategy looks at:
- existing workforce needs
- building the quality improvement capability of the future workforce
- developing specialist roles in quality improvement
- supporting consumer participation
- supporting boards and executive teams to provide leadership that encourages quality improvement and patient safety.
A draft framework has been developed to identify expectations for quality and safety at all levels from health care workers to senior executives and Board members. The framework could be used by organisations to identify their internal capability and capacity for quality improvement and patient safety. This framework will allow organisations to either develop internal education and training programmes to close these gaps or seek external programmes. Feedback is sought on whether the framework could be of use and if the capabilities described for different levels of healthcare employees as well as consumers are appropriate.
Take the survey – Feedback can be given here before 25 September 2015.
The draft framework can be accessed here
Updated 17 September 2015