Health & Social Care

The Health and Social Care sector accounts for around 13% of employment in Sussex.

• 82,300 are employed in the Health and Social Care sector.
• There are around 3,800 Health and Social Care establishments.
• People working in the sector are more likely to work part-time and live closer to their place of work.

Given the size and diversity of this sector we have chosen to focus our activity on two main areas of social care and social work.

We are working to extend the availability of the Foundation degree in Health and Social Care across Sussex. This entails working with colleges to develop their capacity to deliver the qualification. Level 1 of the Foundation Degree can also lead to the Registered Managers Award (RMA, NVQ Level 4) and/or NVQ Level 4 Health and Social Care. These qualifications are requirements for occupational competence in social care and are therefore the priority for organisations in the sector.

We are also building progression pathways by linking this course to those offered by other higher education providers. This will enable staff to develop their career pathways across the sector. In addition, as parallel activity, we are working on plans for the introduction of the new Post Qualifying Framework in Social Work. This is being done in conjunction with a consortium of universities in the region.

You can see more details of our work in the Practioner Network Health & Social Care update.

The work of the Health & Social Care curriculum specialists was completed in August 2008. The project was staffed by the following individuals:

• Peter Frost - Curriculum Lead (based at the University of Brighton)
• Chris Taylor - Curriculum Lead
• Julia Stroud - (based at the University of Brighton)