News

Training for care workers in the learning difficulties field will become increasingly tailored towards individual needs rather than one-size-fits-all packages, a training specialist told the conference.

Alan Rhodes, a member of the Association of Residential Care, said the "sheep dip" approach to induction and foundation courses for staff working with people with learning difficulties was "wasteful".

He added that too many were being put through the course when they would be ready after "a couple of hours' chat".

"I took a course for a local authority and, of the 20 on it, 17 were ready after doing half of it," Rhodes said. "The standards say that all you have to do is get to a particular point and it doesn't matter how you get there."