Leading education software provider, Access Education, has been shortlisted for two awards in the prestigious Education Resources Awards (ERA), highlighting the quality and diversity of its product offering.
The division, part of The Access Group, has been shortlisted for ‘Supplier of the Year – Over £10 million annual turnover’ and ‘Secondary Resource or Equipment – ICT’, for its success in supplying schools across the UK with high-quality resources to meet their everyday teaching and learning needs.
- Topic:
- Education
Feedback in health and social care is often overlooked. When it comes to understanding the experiences, perspectives and needs of people drawing on support, caregivers and regulatory bodies, nothing can compare to care feedback. In England, CQC feedback forms are the cornerstone of continuous improvement and quality assurance in care, so should be taken advantage of.
Good communication in health and social care is the first step to developing good relationships with people and generating consistent feedback that can be used to praise your team or motivate them to change and improve the care your service offers. It’s also key to promoting empowerment in health and social care, which gives people in your care the feeling of control and autonomy over their lives.
We at The Access Group have been working with care services across the country for over 30 years, providing them with high-quality digital services, support and information to help them succeed. We have put this article together along with other useful resources to help you understand feedback in health and social care, its importance and how you can use feedback to improve your quality of care.
The cost of electronic health records can be the deciding factor whether or not to buy a solution; regardless of the benefits such software will have on patients or clients.
These solutions aren’t cheap, it’s true, but it’s a classic case of you get what you pay for: buying an electronic health record (EHR) is an investment that will have longer term benefits, and it’s on an organisation to perform analysis to determine whether there are cost benefits as well as care benefits for them to onboard an EHR software.
For new healthcare organisations, it may be a step too soon, but for established organisations like NHS trusts it is commonplace to have electronic patient records already – and NHS Digital are pushing for all trusts in England to have these solutions as a matter of course. This push is encouraging private healthcare providers to follow suit, to better collaborate with the Integrated Care Systems (ICS) in the UK and be a part of the growing health and care ecosystem aiming to provide joined-up care.
In this article we will explore these costs by looking at the initial outlay, subscription fees, how an EHR can reduce costs and the return on investment, as well as the market out there and the competition, and how pricing structures might differ.
Collaborative working in the NHS puts partnerships between clinicians and organisations at its foundation. We see this in action through patient engagement and the patient experience, both of which are priorities under the NHS Long Term Plan and the NHS’ Integrated Care protocols.
These partnerships are being pursued by the NHS – primarily through NHS England, due to devolution – with the goal of taking that difficult first step of making contact with other health and care organisations. Establishing regular communication channels and building connections takes time, something healthcare professionals don’t have a lot of, so they need incentive – or a nudge in the right direction in this case.
There are benefits to be gained though through greater communication though; better knowledge of treatment methods, of population trends, of patient needs… the list goes on. In this article we’ll guide you through what collaborative working entails. We’ll touch upon NHS Trusts in England (NHS health boards in Wales), though that topic is for a companion blog to this piece given how much there is to talk about on collaboration between trusts. Instead, this is a guide to explore what collaboration needs to succeed, and what you as a healthcare provider can do – whether inside the NHS or outside – to be engaging and cooperative.
If you spend much time reading news reports and opinion pieces on how the cost of living is impacting hospitality, you might be growing tired of seeing the word ‘resilience’.
After several challenging years, hospitality owners and operators are looking for signs that the time is coming when they aren’t just stubbornly surviving. But is recovery and growth possible in a world where the cost of living continues to rise, customers are more conscious than ever about how they spend their money, and retaining quality staff is becoming increasingly challenging?
In this article, we’ll tell you why we’re confident that the answer to that question is ‘yes’, and we’ll share practical guidance on the measures you can take to protect your hospitality brand from the challenges imposed by the rising cost of living in 2024.
- Topic:
- Hospitality
Staff onboarding can be a complex process, and in hospitality, it presents an unique set of challenges with many legislative areas that need specific areas of training – such as serving alcohol, allergens, and food safety as well as the majority of hospitality workers being in deskless roles. Add to that the fact that staff turnover in the hospitality industry stands at double the UK average (30%), and it’s clear to see why proper onboarding is something that hospitality operators should focus on.
Here at Access, we’re familiar with the onboarding process. Through our accessible LMS we are delivering hospitality training courses to thousands of new hospitality employees daily, and we have helped companies such as Namco BNAE to develop and implement custom induction programmes to help get their new starters onboarded. It’s fair to say that we’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way.
So, why is an effective and consistent staff onboarding process critical for hospitality businesses, and what happens when you don’t have one in place? In this article, we’ll examine the importance of getting it right, share our top tips, and look at some of the common mistakes to avoid.
- Topic:
- Hospitality
Knowing how to achieve an outstanding CQC report starts with considering the CQC’s five key questions: are services safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led? These questions form the basis of the CQC’s inspection and assessment framework, and they address what the CQC needs to see in terms of high-quality, safe, and person-centred care.
This article will break down the methodology behind the CQC’s rating process. We will share proven strategies that you can implement to improve your CQC rating. By committing to these strategies and continuously striving for excellence, you can work towards getting your own outstanding rating.
Running a restaurant business in 2024 isn’t easy – rising costs of food and energy, staff shortages, supply chain issues, the cost-of-living driving customers to tighten their belts, and unpredictable economic factors throw curveballs at businesses of all sizes. To thrive in this environment, savvy marketing is no longer a luxury, but a survival tactic. Now, more than ever, your restaurant marketing strategy is the key to attracting customers and staying afloat.
But where do busy restaurateurs start? In a competitive market, how do restaurants make themselves stand out from the crowd? How do new restaurants get noticed? And how do the little guys level the playing field when competing against the big brands?
Here at Access, we frequently talk to our customers who are passionate about their restaurants but unsure how to navigate the complexities of marketing. That's why we've compiled the most effective and up-to-date restaurant marketing strategies adaptable to businesses of all sizes and budgets. At the end of this article, you'll be well-equipped with the knowledge and tools to create a restaurant marketing plan that drives results.
But first things first, let’s look at the basics and understand why marketing is so important to your restaurant.
- Topic:
- Hospitality
Person-centred care means the person is placed at the heart of their care. This ensures that the person has a choice in how they want their care and support delivered. By keeping the person fully informed they can contribute to their own safeguarding.
Person-centred care is especially important in care planning where it is now recognised as a key driver of the provision of high quality care.
Person-centred care’s benefits are:
- Flexibility: Individuals are free to tailor their care to their own needs instead of having a one-size-fits-all solution forced upon them.
- Responsibility: By giving individuals the responsibility to make their own care decisions, they become more empowered and engaged.
- Autonomy: Individuals who are responsible for their own health are more incentivised to make better lifestyle choices such as healthy eating and regular exercise.
- Independence: By enhancing the quality of individuals’ care they become less reliant on health services and more able to remain independent for longer.
- Happiness: Individuals who know they are receiving the most suitable care for their needs will be less anxious, more confident, and more happy.
In this article, we will define person-centred care, share examples of person-centred care in action and explain why it is important for health and social care.
