The project initially started in 2012 with a pilot of ten homes. The pilot was then extended to 50 homes and the current phase of the project aims to reach 100 homes by July 2015. Care home managers within Birmingham are invited to take part in the Taking Positive Steps training package which involves three different training sessions.

Nurses and carers training sessions

The majority of the training provided is to carers and nurses within care homes. Training is delivered within the care home to ensure that as many staff members are captured as possible. Training covers a variety of topics including nutrition and hydration, medical conditions such as dementia and Parkinson’s, delirium, medication and vision. The training is practical and involves learning through different activities which enhance risk identification and care planning skills.

The other two training sessions target care home managers specifically.

Managers’ days

These are day long sessions held at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. Managers from Birmingham care homes are invited to attend the sessions which are held throughout the year. These training days cover key leadership skills required to lead a care home with a focus on providing safer care. Topics include change management, the basics of falls prevention and action planning.

Root cause analysis (RCA) days

The focus of these days is teaching attendees how to carry out a detailed root cause analysis. These are carried out whenever an incident occurs, such as a fall resulting in injury to a resident. The aim is to understand all of the factors which contributed to the incident and, if possible, to identify potential changes to make care safer in the future.