February 20, 2020 - 1336 views
The Head of Service Integrated Adult and Community Services for Conwy County Borough Council officially relaunched Coleg Llandrillo's multimillion pound Institute of Health and Social Care recently after the training centre's extensive £80,000 refurbishment.
Claire Lister was the guest of honour at the relaunch, which promoted the wide range of new facilities, innovative technology and dedicated training space, 'Y Cartref' (Home), simulating a real work environment.
The core aims of the investment are to increase student progression onto higher education courses and facilitate the transition to advanced level careers within the industry. The centre has been rebranded from the 'Institute of Health' to 'Institute of Health and Social Care', providing more emphasis on social care provision and training.
The revamping of the whole building includes new Virtual Reality (VR) suites, a new dedicated social care training space, and updates to the hospital ward simulation suite, which is a clinical training ward.
The VR equipment will allow learners to explore internal organs and blood flow, like being inside a human body. Students can now see for themselves how dementia, cancer and obesity affect the body. Bespoke apps include a dementia journey app which simulates the symptoms of the disease.
New resources for the ward include two new state-of-the-art mannequins which will, for example, facilitate venepuncture training for healthcare support workers. The mannequins will be used to create 'real life' learning experiences for a range of college learners through simulating clinical scenarios e.g. intensive care and dementia care.
The training ward includes full specification beds and mattresses, built to industry standards, enabling students to learn and practise caring skills, applied to both formal health care and to social care at home.
Replications of scenarios of a nursing home, care home or private residence are introduced to the students by the vocationally qualified and experienced lecturers, fully utilising an increased number of mobility aids, and introducing hi-tech, smart technology.
The hospital ward simulation suite (and associated mobility/accessible bathroom) gives learners opportunities to develop skills in patient care, manual handling, basic physiological measurements and includes a range of associated learning aids.
The Social Care simulation suite facilitates a practical knowledge of supporting adult service-users with a variety of conditions and provides a space for role play and communication tasks.
The Institute of Health and Social Care presents an outstanding opportunity for high quality vocational education and training in Health and Social Care in North Wales, offering full and part-time courses from an introductory level right up to university level.
Coleg Llandrillo has increased its overall investment in Health and Social Care facilities over the past few years, culminating in this refurbishment. New facilities at the college's Rhyl campus include a new training suite and added VR equipment. The Institute was officially opened in 2011 by the then chief executive of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
Claire Lister said; "As a former Coleg Llandrillo student, I was delighted to be invited to the relaunch. These new facilities will enable students to develop the skills they need to work in the local social care sector.
"The students talked about the benefits of such good facilities and range of learning opportunities available to them, and it was a real pleasure to hear about their aspirations to work in a wide variety of roles after they qualify".
The department provides a wide range of collaborative work placements, potentially leading to direct part-time employment alongside college study.
For example, students studying at Level 3 are given the opportunity to complete the 'Step into Work' programme with Betsi Cadwalader University Health Board (BCUHB). This programme includes the health board's mandatory induction and prerequisite training required to be an employee at BCUHB.
100% of students who applied to be 'bank' staff following the programme have been accepted and many have gone on to obtain paid employment with the NHS.
Working in partnership with the National Health Service, County Councils and Local Education Authorities, Social Care in Partnership (SCIP) and Care Forum Wales, as well as the health and care Sector Skills Councils, the college's Health and Social Care curriculum is designed to meet the needs of local employers and service users.
The Institute provides a programme of professional training and updating for a range of staff in both the public and private sectors: carers, care assistants, health care assistants, support workers, clerical workers, porters, domestic workers and voluntary staff.
Extensive and continued consultation with employers ensures that all programmes are relevant, fit-for-purpose and meet current and predicted future service needs of the sector.
