Brighton & Hove City Council has announced a new measure to improve LGBTQ+ inclusive care is being proposed as part of a range of new requirements for council-commissioned residential care homes in the city.
Councillors will discuss new measures aiming to bolster standards and continue the commissioning of good quality residential and nursing care in Brighton & Hove at the Adult Social Care and Health Sub-committee meeting on January 17.
A key part is the requirement of care providers to sign up to the Skills for care LGBTQ+ Learning Framework to ensure care all care homes are an inclusive space.
Councillor Tristram Burden, chair of the Adult Social Care and Health Sub-committee, said: “We’ve been working with Creating Inclusive Residential Care for LGBTQ+ Elders (CIRCLE) project to ensure our care homes are inclusive spaces where our older LGBTQ+ community don’t feel they need to go back in the closet when receiving care.
“The CIRCLE project aims to support residential care providers (for older people, 50+) to be more inclusive for LGBTQ+ residents.
“Our commitment will ensure a truly inclusive approach to care for all and allow us to fully consider the needs and preferences of all people using our care services.”
Dr Jolie R Keemink, Principal Investigator of CIRCLE, added: “Brighton & Hove City Council are trailblazers with regards to LGBTQ+ inclusive commissioning.
“They set an example to the rest of the country by including specific, actionable clauses in their commissioning contracts, ensuring that the rights of LGBTQ+ care home residents are recognised and protected.
“Their involvement in research to improve LGBTQ+ inclusion in residential care (CIRCLE) and the community consultation that has gone into developing these clauses are commendable and should be celebrated.”
Professor Trish Hafford-Letchfield, author of the Learning Framework, welcomed the announcement, saying: “The Skills for Care Learning Framework for working affirmatively and inclusively with people in later life has been driven and informed by a cumulative body of evidence, advocacy, and activism from the LGBTQ+ community.
“It was co-produced with people with lived experience and those who have expertise and experience in the field. It represents the first systematic approach in the UK to embedding LGBTQ+ equality within social care.
“This initiative of Brighton & Hove, which requires active change by providers with Third Sector and training support is of absolute strategic importance.
“It demonstrates significant leadership and commitment to supporting the workforce to provide safe, quality,and inclusive services.”
John Hammond, Brighton & Hove LGBTQ+ Switchboard, added: “This sounds like an extremely valuable addition to the contracts, and I hope providers will engage well with this ongoing development and support to help with ever-more inclusive practice. There is some amazing work happening across social care but, as with all sectors, room for development.
“I have been out doing a lot of training recently in care homes and the reflections that come from care staff and management following the training is always great to hear. People are often very thoughtful and insightful about what changes they can make immediately and that don’t cost significant sums of money or demand resources and time.
“Other suggestions of course require longer term organisational change and investment, and our Inclusion Award programme can help with that. As always, equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ people doesn’t come at the expense of other minoritised communities so lots of the learning is translatable into improving standards of care for all.”
The framework is intended to be used by social care employers, employees, training providers, commissioners, policy makers and others to build their own knowledge of LGBTQ+ issues.
The aim is to support understanding and create learning programmes which will allow teams to better support LGBTQ+ people in later life.
The framework will support social care services and organisations to:
- Include LGBTQ+ issues in the education and training of the workforce.
- Include LGBTQ+ issues in the everyday care and support of people in later life.
- Guide the aims and focus of LGBTQ+ education and training based on evidence.
- Conduct a training needs analysis and design training which meets a minimum standard of performance and capability in its assessment and provision of care to LGBTQ+ individuals in later life and their communities.
- Embed the relevant topics, areas, guidance and learning resources into its recruitment, induction, supervision, appraisal, and career progression processes.