What is the All Wales Induction Framework?
No matter how big or small they may be, every health or social care service must give all workers an induction. The significance of a good induction and the positive impact it can have on service quality should never be underestimated.
A well-structured induction allows new employees to understand the importance of person-centred practices and values that are crucial in health and social care. They can make it easier for new staff to settle in and be more safe and efficient in their role. They can also boost job satisfaction and worker commitment, which can help reduce staff turnover.
The AWIF for health and social care will create a solid basis for new members of staff that will help them improve their practice and develop skills for future careers in and across various health and social care sectors. Another advantage of the induction framework is that it provides everyone in the service with a clear understanding of the skills, knowledge and values needed to help new employees stay safe and competent to practice during the start of their development.
Links to Qualifications (September 2019)
From September 2019, the L2 health and social care: core illustrates the generic understanding and knowledge of the induction framework. The practice elements of the AWIF are also emulated in the practice qualifications for health and social care. This means that when new workers take the induction framework, they must start gathering evidence that can be put towards completing the qualification.
Why Should Managers Use AWIF for Health and Social Care?
The All Wales Induction Framework has been designed to provide a basis for developing induction. You can use it to form and organise the induction process, or to improve your current induction programme. It has been developed and designed to be used by all care and support workers, but there are additional regulatory requirements for certain groups, like residential childcare workers and domiciliary workers.
Service Regulations 36 of statutory guidance states that service providers must make sure that they have an induction programme in place that will equip their new employees to be confident in their roles and practice, while enabling them to make positive contributions to the well-being of every service user.
It’s the employer’s responsibility to ensure their new staff receive the right level of induction using this induction framework. The framework will help managers and responsible individuals show that employees are completing an induction that is robust and structured, and one that meets regulatory requirements and contracting monitoring.
What Does the All Wales Induction Framework Cover?
The induction framework helps make what’s expected from new workers transparent while providing support for new and changing roles and responsibilities. It also gives people the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and understanding that are essential in a health and social care setting, such as values and principles that reinforce care and support. The induction framework contains seven sections which are:
- Sections 1 and 2: Principles and values of health and social care (adults or children and young people)
- Sections 3 and 4: Health and well-being (adults or children and young people)
- Section 5: Professional practice as a health and social care worker (adults and children and young people)
- Section 6: Safeguarding individuals (adults and children and young people)
- Section 7: Health and Safety in health and social care (adults and children and young people)
There are also progress logs and workbooks that can be used to support learners with each of the above sections. The progress logs identify the skills, knowledge and understanding that apply across all health and social care settings, as well as those that are specific to the workers’ role and workplace.
To support the implementation of the framework, resources such as information and guidance for managers, a glossary of terms and additional links and resources have been developed.
Who Should Complete the All Wales Induction Framework?
It’s important to know who should complete the AWIF for health and social care, but please remember, not everyone will need to do this. People who should complete the AWIF are:
- Workers new to the sector – Everyone must complete the core learning, but planned learning for 5/7 sections is determined by the people care staff are working with. For those working with adults, these should be sections 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7. For those working with children, these should be sections 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7. They must pass the assessments too.
- Workers new to an organisation – Those who have evidence that they’ve previously completed the AWIF or achieved the relevant qualification won’t have to retake the entire induction framework. Managers should give new employees the relevant information they need to succeed and observe how they apply their learning in practice as part of the induction process.
- Workers taking on a new role – Or new workers with previous experience in a different sector will need to complete the relevant sections of the AWIF. This can be determined by learning what they have completed in the past. For example, if an adult carer is planning to work with children, they will only need to complete sections 2 and 4.
How Long Does it Take to Complete the AWIF?
On average, it takes 6 months to complete the induction framework. However, in some cases, it can take longer. For example, foster carers and adult placement carers will often require more time. This is due to the gap between becoming an approved carer and the first placement agreement. Any other exceptional circumstances will have to be taken into consideration by both the employers and the service regulators.
How Many Times Do You Need to Complete the AWIF?
You only have to take the AWIF once. If a new employee has completed the induction framework and workbooks with their previous employer, they won’t need to complete it again with your service. They won’t have to repeat any training regarding health and safety or safeguarding, etc. It’s more about how the knowledge they have can be applied to their new setting.
However, there will be a few things that they will need to learn, such as the structure of the organisation, policies and procedures, the culture and vision, and the people that they’ll be supporting.
Using eLearning to Train Your Team
As you can see, the All Wales Induction Framework is in place to support people who work in care and improve care quality. To summarise, it helps to ensure that workers understand exactly what they need to do to thrive in their role and allows employers to see if a new employee has what it takes. To help you keep on top of things and stay compliant, you should use consider using software.
At The Access Group, our eLearning for health and social care makes training more manageable, engaging and cost-effective. It has been endorsed by Skills for Care and is full of engaging content that replaces expensive face-to-face training while providing support throughout the process. New care workers will need to pass the AWIF within 6 months to work their role. Fortunately, they can begin and complete a part of this journey using our All Wales Induction Framework AWIF training platform.
We have digitised thousands of local, national and international social care providers of all sizes. With over 30 years of experience, we at Access know how to give you the freedom to do more. We also offer ongoing support to help you digitise your business with confidence. If you would like to give our leading online care management software a try, contact us today and book a demo.