May 1, 2024

WMCA Spring Conference hailed a great success!

We held our Spring Conference at a new venue, the Molineux Stadium, in Wolverhampton, on 18th April, where we welcomed approximately 60 care providers, 8 exhibitors and 4 guest speakers to the day.


Our Chief Executive, Keiron Broadbent, opened the day, welcoming everyone who attended and introducing our fantastic speakers.


1) Judith Timmins- Compliance Coach


First up was Judith Timmins, Compliance Coach, who gave attendees a short briefing about the upcoming workshop series she is running, in partnership with West Midlands Care Association, at Dudley Canal Trust, in June.


This workshop series will be geared towards new businesses and those seeking to create a new care business and will guide them on how to run a successful care business.


These workshops will also be open to any care providers who wish to attend for any support they may need.

 

There will be a charge for these workshops of £120 per session or £300 for all 3 sessions and you can book your place here.




2) Harrison Clark Rickerbys

Judith, was then followed by our legal firm partner, Harrison Clark Rickerbys and Stephenie Malone, Omar Simjee and Joe Mulrenan delivered a highly informative legal updates talk, with their colleagues also delivering filmed speeches about specialist topics, such as:


• Employment law April 2024 updates

• Negotiating commercial contracts

• Updates in Immigration Law

• Key health and safety property considerations for care homes

• Incentivising staff and business succession

• Capacity, LPAs and Deputyships


Harrison Clark Rickerbys also offer our members a free 30 minute legal helpline.

3) Chris Briggs - Quality of Care - Business Efficiency, including Cost Control and Optimisation

After a quick coffee break, the agenda moved on to Chris Briggs from Quality of Care. Chris’s first session focused on Business Efficiency, including Cost Control and Optimisation.  


This session began with breaking down what ‘Business Systemisation’ and ‘Cost Control’ includes in a good business (see graph below).


Chris then proceeded to guide attendees on how they can analyse the above through a series of graphs.


As a result of these graphs, Chris advised that providers ‘need to create a stable staff to client ratio’. Chris then finished this session with guiding providers on asking for higher fees from their local authority and how you can evidence the need for these.

Business Continuity Planning


Chris then proceeded on to his next session, after lunch, around Business Continuity Planning.


Within this session, Chris covered the following points:


  • Why you need a BCP?
  • Identifying incidents
  • Carrying out risk analysis inc weather, digital security and GDPR compliance
  • BCP Structure and Documents
  • Managing incidents



4) Peter Cheer Consultancy- How to Create a Successful Safeguarding Culture in your Business?

 

To finish off the day, we had Peter Cheer Consultancy provide Safeguarding advice to providers and how they could ensure this was part of their workplace culture.


Peter discussed tips such as:


  • Creating a positive reporting culture within the workplace, demonstrating that actions will be taken when a safeguarding report is issued.
  • Analysing the impact of the CQC quality statements inc ‘Learning Culture’ and
    Safeguarding’
  • Creating a culture of ‘reflective learning’
  • Learning from Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs)

Peter then left providers with some questions to ponder, to analyse their service after the conference:


  • What are people’s experiences in your service, in relation to safeguarding?
  • What are staff and leaders like when it comes to safeguarding?
  • What feedback have you had from partners? (ie Safeguarding teams, health colleagues)
  • Observations of your work environment and if there is an open atmosphere of reporting safeguarding concerns
  • Processes- Are concerns and trends reviewed?

Share

Healthcare Employment specialist legal support

July 31, 2025
Healthcare Employment specialist legal support

How will the Fair Work Agency impact your business – Download your FREE guide

July 31, 2025
How will the Fair Work Agency impact your business Download your FREE guide

Ally Cares win HSJ Digital Award 2025

July 31, 2025
Ally Cares win HSJ Digital Award 2025

Launch of our annual 'The Size and Structure of the Adult Social Care Workforce report'

July 29, 2025
Published July 2025 (data correct as at 2024/25) Skills for Care have launched their annual report on the size and structure of ythe care workforce This provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England. A short, written report is available: download a copy of the report here. The methodology for this year’s report has changed from previous years. Adult social care related roles employed by the NHS are no longer included in the headline statistics for the size of the adult social care workforce. This change has been applied retrospectively to previous years, so the trends in this report are consistent. Comparing figures from this report to previous reports will not produce a valid trend. Also, our estimates for the number of filled posts in the independent sector now come from our automated data pipeline. This has resulted in substantial improvements to our estimates over time and some figures have changed as a result from previous versions of this report. For further information, see our statement.  To download the data behind the visualisation below, including trended information, please see the Workforce estimates page.

WMCA Weekly Newsletter

July 29, 2025
Windows 10 obsolete in October and Support for Nursing Placements 29 July 2025

Student nurses set for skills boost through new adult social care placements

July 24, 2025
Student nurses set for skills boost through new adult social care placements

Skills for Care - Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care

July 23, 2025
What is happening with the Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care webinar On Tuesday 15 July 2025, Skills for Care was joined by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to share an overview of the Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) for adult social care. During the webinar, colleagues at DHSC explained what a FPA is, why it is being introduced and what this means for the sector. Details about the Employment Rights Bill and how this provides the legislative framework for FPAs were also shared. The webinar explored how the Government has been engaging with the sector so far, and ways in which those working in adult social care can get involved, including plans for a public consultation later this year. The event concluded with a Q and A A recording of the webinar is now available for you to view.

WMCA Weekly Newsletter

July 22, 2025
WMCA Excellence in Care Awards - Just 1 week to go until the nomination window closes 22 July 2025
Show More