Barchester Trailblazing to create new maintenance Apprenticeship standards

Barchester Healthcare, the national high-quality care provider,  is part of the government’s cross-industry Trailblazer group, which is paving the way to create a new look Apprenticeship that caters for the next generation of Property Maintenance Technicians.

These Trailblazer project groups cover eight diverse sectors and consist of a range of appointed industry representatives who have the task of reforming Apprenticeships and creating new national standards. Barchester is also involved in other trailblazer groups including hospitality and adult social care.

The Trailblazer Group of Employers for Property Services includes individuals with a wealth of knowledge and experience from the likes of Mitie, Hilton worldwide (Hotels), Interserve PLC and Barchester. Together they have started to propose new apprenticeship standards with core elements and modules that can be personalised, depending on the sectors in which the maintenance teams operate.

Mark Kite, Chair of the Trailblazer group of Employers for Property Services and Head of Contracts and Development of Barchester Healthcare, said: “We are working together to ensure that Apprenticeship standards match our needs as employers while continuing to attract dedicated employees who we can develop to the right level and offer great bespoke training opportunities.

“Talking from a Barchester perspective, I have worked closely with our Director of Property Services to ensure that we add a component that helps maintenance staff understand the care home setting and the residents that live there. It is important that all staff have awareness about issues affecting older people, for example dementia, and know how to explain and interact when fixing things around the home.”

Bill Wilson, Director of Property Services at Barchester, said: “We actively encourage in-house resource for repair and refurbishment work wherever possible across our 200 UK-wide homes and we have more than 350 maintenance team members working to maintain our homes to a high standard. Our goal is to offer apprenticeships that will form a key part of a career pathway allowing us to grow our own maintenance stars of the future.”

Barchester is a high-quality care provider that is proud to have an in-house business school offering a variety of learning and development solutions to its 17,000 employees, from vocational qualifications, to masters degree in management. Whether a nurse, maintenance manager or chef, all staff take a caring approach to their work and treat residents with dignity and respect while carrying out their responsibilities.