SCHOLAR PROGRAMME
What is an Academy Scholar?
The Care Professional Academy Scholars programme is a great opportunity for up to 25 Scholars to study Change Management and Project Management whilst implementing a Change Management Project in the workplace, fully funded by Care Professional Academy.
This is your opportunity to take the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines in an area of care you are passionate about and implement this within your organisation to improve care standards, whist learning Project Management.
The key elements of the Scholar programme includes :-
- Skills for Care Leading Change Improving Care Certificate
- Project Management principles
- Linked to NICE Guidelines NICE Quick Guides.
What does it involve?
- Complete Scholar Application
- Telephone Interview
- Accept Terms & Conditions
- Agree with your Line manager that they will be your sponsor, offering guidance & support throughout your Change Management Project.
- Attend 5 training days with Care Professional Academy based on Change and Project management “Leading Change Improving Care” available face to face at HCPA or hybrid via Zoom
- Present your planned change management project to scholar peers
- Implement a Change Management Project to improve the quality of care in your service working in line with your chosen NICE Quick Guide or guideline
- Deliver a presentation to the Academy and fellow scholars at the end of the program
- Submit your assignment
On average, you will devote 4 hours per month to the scholar programme, but this is dependent on the size and scope of your work project. Many of your project activities will become a part of your day-to-day work, and will increase towards the end of your project as you evaluate, prepare for your presentation and submit your assignment.
How do I apply?
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Anybody can apply to Care Professional Scholar programme provided that:-- You are in a position to make changes within your service
- You are in a position where you are supervising or managing staff
- Tier 3 or above on Care Professional Academy
If you feel you meet the 3 elements of our criteria to join the Scholar Programme please complete the application form
We will notify you when we have assessed all the applications
What support do I get?
The course trainer will be available to support your assignments and general queries throughout the programme.
It is expected that you will support and network with each other throughout the programme. You will also have support from your line manager as your Sponsor.
Throughout the programme there will be an opportunity for you to attend coaching sessions.
What is the timeframe to completion?
The 2024/25 Scholar programme will be completed by end of Spring 2025.
Why apply?
- The Scholar programme will be most suited to someone in a senior or management position, who has the capacity to implement a site or team wide project for improving standards within your organisation; as well as supervising or managing staff
- You have the support of your line manager or senior manager to sponsor you throughout the programme and have access to data to enable you to evaluate impact of your change management project
- You have time to study, implement your change management project, complete your assignment over the next 10 months
- It is open to Academy Care professionals who have reached tier 3 and above.
Is the Scholar Programme right for me?
The Scholar programme will be most suited to someone in a Senior or management position, who has the capacity to implement a site or team wide project for improving standards within your organisation.
It is open to Care Professional’s who have reached tier 3 and above. If you have not reached tier 3 but meet other criteria, please do apply, we can support you to upload certificates to reach tier 3.
What are the terms of becoming an Academy Scholar?
- Becoming an Academy Scholar is a commitment to completing your change management project.
- Attend coaching sessions when booked
- Implementing your project within your workplace inline with NICE guidelines. These are best practice guidelines, and your project must be based around a Quick Guide or guideline of your choice. We can provide you support to choose the best guideline for you, your interests, and your workplace.
- For full Terms and Conditions click here.
How do I enrol?
Click here to complete application form, if you have missed the opening for applications please complete an Expression of Interest form and we will be in touch when applications open for our next Scholar Programme
Each application is reviewed, and we will be in touch.
Read what the Academy Principal has to say about the Scholar Programme...
Sharon Davies, OBE. NICE Fellow.
“Working in the Care Sector is not just a job, it is a calling, it requires individuals to act on the 6 C’s of Care: Care; Compassion; Courage; Commitment; Communication and Competence. Being part of the Care Professional Academy is your way of showing that you are a Professional Person proud to say that you can meet the requirements of the 6 C’s.
Becoming a Scholar in the Academy is an excellent way of taking your ‘Competence’ to the next level. Scholars will have an amazing opportunity to look at their own care service, recognise an area that needs consideration or improvement, consider researched evidence (through NICE) and set up a project to prove or raise standards. Scholars typically will have a passion for a certain aspect of care and will base their project on this area.
We want to reward Academy Scholars with Skills for Care Leading Change Improving Care Certificate along with Certificate in Principles of Project Management because they will be running a project, with the support of workshops and access to a coach. All certificates can be added to their individual Training Passports and contribute to enhancing their Tiers on the Care Professional Academy.
The project will then be turned into a case study that can be shared with other Care Professionals so that the learning can be extended around the country through the peer learning webpages.
The organisation will benefit from having a Scholar complete our Scholarship Programme, they will be able to benefit from a well-run project, see how evidence-based research from NICE can support the organisation, use it in their marketing and more importantly they will be able to consider other projects which may go on to benefit the business and take them to ‘outstanding’ as they will have the skills in their organisation to research, manage and evaluate projects.
Our Academy Scholars will be showcasing their ‘Care Professional’ status with a recognised qualification, published project and Academy Recognition.
This is the second year of our scholarship programme and we really are excited about passing on great peer learning. This programme supports our mission to ‘professionalise the sector’ and we are really looking forward to welcoming new scholars.“
Find out more about previous Scholars & their projects
Gary Aldridge Dip.Couns (MBACP) (FDAP)“I have personally struggled with addiction and witnessed a loved one’s struggle, leading me to develop a passion for helping others overcome similar challenges. In my role as the Director of Care & Support I have a strong desire to make a positive impact on individuals and communities affected by addiction. Working in the addiction field allows me to directly contribute to improving people’s lives. I find a fulfilment in helping individuals navigate the journey to recovery and witnessing their progress and transformation. Seeing people overcome addiction can be incredibly rewarding and may motivate him to continue working in this field.
I decided to study with HCPA on the project manager course to developing some of the existing quality assurance process and systems already in place at Druglink, to incorporate the aims and objectives of the Local Authorities, Partners, and Commissioning bodies, to align the new 10-year Drug Strategy from the government.”Click here to view the project clinical_notes
Ukamaka Eze, Mental Health Support Worker“My name is Ukamaka Eze. I currently work as a Mental Health Support Worker for the NHS having previously worked in Residential and Nursing Care for Older adults living with dementia. Project Phoenix was born out of love for our service users who rely on our care have the best care at every point in time when I carried out the project, I was a positive Behaviour Support Worker at Nicholas House, a residential placement for young men under 25 living with learning disabilities.
The project was carefully guided and influenced by NICE Guideline 11 – Challenging Behaviour and Learning Disabilities: Prevention and Intervention for People with Learning Disabilities Whose Behaviour challenges. This was mostly a quality improvement project as the service already had positive behavioural support plans in place for the young men. Innovation and efficient practice can never be overemphasized if we must achieve optimal outcomes for our services users. This was the aim of this project – highlight what had not worked and strategies on ways to make all these was done using project management techniques.
It was a great learning opportunity made possible by Hertfordshire Care Providers Association Academy. My mentor Gill provided the additional push I needed to complete this project and I look forward to more projects in the health and social care sector”.Click here to view the project clinical_notes
Feedback
I found it a great process to go through, I learnt a lot and have definitely come away from it with confidence and more skills to take encourage me to look at other new projects.
The Scholars program was a very beneficial program for me at the stage I am in my career, it was great to be able to speak to others in similar positions and learn from each others projects.
This is probably the most incredible challenge and best opportunity I have ever had to excel in my personal and professional career. I never had thought that I was capable of influencing change and making such great impact like I did from the very start of my project. More so, I am still in awe of the level of belief that my project manager had in me, and my project sponsor and my project coaches and even our company’s senior executives. I feel humbled and speechless. Thank you so much for this Scholar Programme.
I found the Scholar programme really interesting and has enable me to grow a project management structure within our organisation that will be so beneficial in the future. Our company has been through a difficult time over the past couple of years, and this has given us the confidence to tackle new ideas and challenges that may have been too over whelming in the past – we have already started to create other projects The confidence of the staff has increase which in turn has benefited the people we support. The support given during the course was brilliant and if there was anything that I needed I knew there was someone who could give me that support, so thank you for all your help.
It was an experience of a lifetime opened my eyes to a whole new dimension of getting things done