Essex County Council launches social care bursary

Essex County Council has committed to investing more than £1.1million into boosting the health and social care sector in the area.

The Nightingale Social Care Bursary and Nursing Apprenticeship Scheme, launched by county council leader, Cllr David Finch will see £1,110,000 funding allocated to supporting training opportunities and qualifications in the care profession.

The scheme will focus on two key areas.

The first, the Social Care Bursary, will enable people from the most deprived communities to achieve social care qualifications, or support existing care workers to achieve further qualifications. It aims to reach those in areas where they may not otherwise have such an opportunity or, if they do, may not have the confidence to take it up.

The bursary will help 85 people already working in the sector without a qualification in health and social care to gain a national and sector-recognised diploma that supports their job role.

On top of this, an additional 110 employees will be able to undertake an accredited certificate that will support their continuous professional development within the health and care sector.

This programme will be developed and delivered by Adult Community Learning (ACL).

The second, the Nursing Apprenticeship, will support 30 adult social care workers to become registered nurses working in the social care sector through the Nursing Apprenticeship Scheme.

The county council will fully fund these 30 nursing degree placements which will be delivered through the University of Essex and Anglia Ruskin University where a new and innovative pathway into nursing from within the social care sector has been developed.

‘This year marks the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale, and I cannot think of a more fitting person to celebrate at this moment,’ said Cllr Finch.

‘To honour her legacy, and the fantastic work of our carer workers in Essex through this crisis, I am setting up the Nightingale Social Care Bursary and Nursing Apprenticeship Scheme that will support over 200 people from across Essex.

‘I cannot thank our health and social care workers enough, especially over the past few months, but I hope that this more than £1m commitment goes some way towards helping our most dedicated workers to progress even further in this valuable field, while attracting more of our residents to take up this fantastic profession,’ he added.

Photo Credit – Quince Creative (Pixabay)