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The Care Exchange is a new podcast series for managers in social care hosted by Skills for Care Locality Managers Pia Rathje-Burton and Wendy Adams. We’ll be sharing experiences from other managers in social care, providing a place where managers can listen to other managers, feel less isolated and pick-up some good ideas to support them in their own role.
Episodes

Monday Mar 22, 2021
Monday Mar 22, 2021
Series 1 Episode 5: You can’t juggle all the balls
Guest is Carly Rochester, manager of Lodge Group Care’s domiciliary home care service talks about how much respect she has for home care workers, the way everyone pulled together during the pandemic and how as a manager it’s so important to value your staff as “without them where would we be?”
Carly shares her belief in the importance of using the workforce's different skills and abilities and how she has learned to delegate, letting go of some of the thing’s managers hold on to and trusting and empowering members of her team.
Follow Carly on LinkedIn
Resources
- Partnership working - Our new resource ‘An introduction to working with partners – a practical guide for social care managers’ would be really helpful if you’re thinking about partnership working. If you’re a registered manager member you will get this guide if you renew your membership. Non-members will be able to purchase through our bookshop when it reopens later this year.
- Delegated healthcare tasks - If like Carly your staff are providing more clinical tasks the delegated healthcare tasks resources can be helpful. The two short guides support decision making and provide information and guidance on delivering delegated healthcare tasks safely and competently.

Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
S1 Episode 4: It’s like watching poetry - Skills for Care | The care exchange
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
Series 1 Episode 4: It’s like watching poetry
Ronnie Lillywhite talks about being a manager in a supported living service.
Ronnie shares what it’s like to support a service to improve, why safety comes trumps every time and how she has remained focused on making improvements during the pandemic.
She explains why she has never felt so connected to her peers, that great things are still happening and how she has learnt to act with balance.
Resources
- Driving and evidencing improvements in difficult times webinar
This webinar from Skills for Care looks at how services have continued to deliver quality during the pandemic. It also looks beyond the pandemic on how new virtual approaches and other quality assurance changes can help providers to improve beyond these challenging times. - Preparing for the CQC Transitional Monitoring Approach video
See an overview of the new CQC virtual inspection calls. The video is complemented by a new self-check resource, action plan, and bite-size versions of our ‘Good and outstanding care’ guide to help you to demonstrate the high standards of care you are providing.

Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
S1 Episode 3: The chicks were heaven sent - Skills for Care | The care exchange
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Series 1 Episode 3: The chicks were heaven sent
Marlene Kelly, the Registered Manager of Auburn Mere Care Home in Watford shares her views on the importance of concentrating on meaningful activities that provide occupation and connection and talks about how the chicks that arrived at the home during the pandemic provided great joy.
She discusses how the pandemic has helped her work out what really matters and highlights the importance of managers thinking about their own wellbeing, as to have enough energy for everyone else you have to look after yourself. Marlene shares some great tips on how she has looked after her own wellbeing during the pandemic.
Follow Auburn Mere on Facebook and Instagram.
Resources
- Meaningful activities – take a look at Skills for Care’s meaningful activity provision resources and watch the ‘Meaningful activity – leading the way’ webinar.
- Wellbeing - See the Skills for Care wellbeing area for tips and ideas for you and your team.
- Action learning - Marlene shares how invaluable she has found the Skills for Care action learning set. Join a peer support action learning set by becoming a registered manager member. Once you’re a member you can also access our mentoring programme. Register your interest in being mentored.
- Networking - Marlene is the chair of her local registered manager network. Find a network near you.

Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
S1 Episode 2: Stay connected always - Skills for Care | The care exchange
Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
Series 1 Episode 2: Stay connected always
We talk to Sue Ann Nnamani, the Registered Manager of Priscilla Wakefield House in Haringey, London. Sue Ann shares her approach to managing a large nursing home, including how she made sure that values are embedded into the service, the importance of looking inwards and outwards and why it’s the simple things that matter.
Follow Sue Ann on LinkedIn!
Resources
- Effective delegation – our ‘Effective delegation and empowering your staff’ recorded webinar focuses on how empowering your staff and effective approaches to delegation can benefit both frontline managers and the ability of your service to respond to day-to-day challenges, including COVID-19. Bite-size resources: Effective delegation checklist | Practical ways to delegate | Reflecting on your delegation | Time to manage guide
- Values – find out more about the tools we have to help you recruit people with the right values, including an example of how another home communicates their workplace values
- Culture – ‘Creating a positive workplace culture toolkit’ explains what workplace culture is and how you can develop a positive one in your organisation. It’s for adult social care employers of all sizes, including individual employers.

Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
S1 Episode 1: Bring your whole self to work - Skills for Care | The care exchange
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Series Episode 1: Bring your whole self to work
Skills for Care CEO Oonagh Smyth to join us in this insightful session. Oonagh shares her motivations in her own role shares her views on why the role of a registered manager is so important and so much more. It’s a conversation you don’t want to miss. Follow Oonagh Smyth on twitter!
Resources
- Supporting the diverse workforce within adult social care: recorded webinars
Featuring a panel of BAME leaders with lived experiences; the lively discussions focused on sharing understanding and generating ideas around key issues. Watch the webinars. - Mentoring
You’ll have the chance to train to become a mentor or receive mentoring. Find out more about the registered manager membership offer. - Peer to peer support
The registered managers networks offer invaluable peer to peer support. Find out more about local networks for managers. Deputy managers can now join a network specifically for them. Find out more about the deputy manager networks.