Seven caring staff at Amber Lodge Care Centre in Armley, Leeds celebrated achieving their NVQ Level 2 in Social Care and Health with Manager Lynne Dawson.

Amber Lodge now has 63% of staff qualified at Level 2 or above. Lynne Dawson, Manager of Amber Lodge commented: ‘Staff are delighted to have passed their NVQ Level 2. With National Care Standards requiring 50% of staff to be qualified to NVQ Level 2, we are all thrilled to have now exceeded this target.’

In the past 12 months alone Meridian has registered and supported over 200 members of staff studying for this key award. Students have ‘on-the-job’ training with a qualified assessor and also undertake coursework outside of work.

Figures out from the Employers Organisation for local government indicate that the number of students achieving their certificate increased by almost a quarter from December 2004 to December 2005. The increase in the number of social care NVQs achieved demonstrates that students are increasingly sticking with their studies and achieving success. ‘The dedication of staff combined with our internal support and training programme ensures that we have a high success rate in this area’ commented Tessa Matthews, Marketing Manager for Meridian Healthcare. ‘The success of our staff will bring great benefits in the future to those who use our care services and is good news for us as an employer.’

Meridian Healthcare congratulates all seven staff at Amber Lodge who have achieved this important qualification.

Ends.
Notes:
• Lynne Dawson is Care Centre Manager at Amber Lodge in Armley, Leeds.
• Mandy Bennett is Operations Manager at Meridian Healthcare.
• Meridian Healthcare has 23 Care Centres across the North of England.

Photographs show:
• Staff at Amber Lodge

For further information please contact:
Tessa Matthews, Meridian Healthcare, 0161 368 9099 tmatthews@meridiancare.co.uk