The Northern Ireland Social Care Council (the Social Care Council) is the public body, established by the Department of Health (NI), to support high-quality standards of social work and social care in Northern Ireland.
The Social Care Council’s core functions are centred around ensuring high standards of care and support, professionalism, and accountability across the sector.
In partnership with the Department of Health and the social care sector, the Social Care Council developed the Care in Practice Framework (CiP Framework), which supports continuous professional learning (CPL) and structured qualification pathways for social care practitioners.
The CiP Framework recently achieved success, being the winner at the European Social Services Awards in the category for Social Services Delivery Innovation.
The qualification pathway within the Framework helps practitioners to understand how best to support individuals with complex needs, with the Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care Practice explicitly providing focus on support for individuals receiving palliative or end-of-life care.
The Social Care Council’s Learning Zone provides free, online resources to enable continuous professional learning including the ‘Grief and Bereavement’ and ‘Towards Safe, Effective and Compassionate Care’ resources.
To find out more about the work of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council, please visit: niscc.info
Other helpful links:
- Free, flexible access to quality-assured digital learning resources on the Learning Zone and Learning Resources List.
- Supporting reflective practice and professional growth, through the Care in Practice Framework.
- Promotion of standards-based continuous development, aligned with the:
- The Social Care Workforce Strategy, 2025 – 2035 – DoH (NI) – Social Care Workforce Strategy, 2025-2035
- Interested in becoming a social care practitioner? – NISCC – including information on funded Employment Support initiatives, Skills Programmes and Essential Skills.
- Essential Skills | nidirect.