Education Transformation

Aintree University NHS Foundation Trust (Aintree FT) has a number of Practice Education Facilitators (PEFs) in place who have developed a programme of multi-professional study days to deliver training on core subjects such as anatomy and physiology at a level that can be understood by all students regardless of their stage of training. This allows students to learn and interact across professional boundaries.One of the core outcomes of the PEF role is to help deliver the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards in practice for Pre-Registration Nursing Education (2010).

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Blackpool FT) has worked in collaboration with Lancaster University’s Centre for Training and Development (CETAD), to develop a robust, accredited learning programme for its ward managers, who in the current NHS landscape have had to undertake a range of managerial tasks as well as their normal clinical role. 

During 2012 Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) developed a single multi-professional educational audit and monitoring tool which is used across all non-medical Health Professions to standardise the educational audit process and provide a consistent quality assurance standard.Within the Learning and Development Agreement (LDA) with NHS North West, all organisations are required to be able to evidence how they quality assure the clinical placements they provide.

In early 2012 Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTHTr) implemented a project to improve the interface between student nurses and healthcare assistants (HCAs).The Clinical Education Team at the trust developed two new courses for HCAs working at Bands 2 and 3 to enhance their knowledge and skills base, and Practice Education Facilitators (PEFs) attend each course for an hour to outline what student nurses are required to learn as part of their pre-registration nursing programme.

In 2010 a multi-dimensional Community Clinical Leadership Programme was launched to create a future generation of world class leaders who can respond creatively and competently to the challenges facing the NHS.Workforce is our greatest asset and developing senior leadership skills will help set strategic direction for the NHS.

A Healthcare Assistant Development Programme was developed by Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in 2012. Designed for healthcare assistants (HCAs) based in paediatric community, clinical or voluntary settings it is a bespoke, standardised qualitative development programme, mapped to national and local standards of care.It is an enabler for the HCA to examine how they apply the basic fundamentals of care practice, and how this is received by patients and families in terms of their personal experiences.

To drive improved health outcomes, the public health system needs a competent and driven workforce. The challenge is to create a culture of leadership at all levels, with staff who are engaged, empowered and encouraged to lead public health into the future.The ‘Growing Your Own’ leadership development programmes, cultivated by Health Education North West’s public health workforce team, aimed to develop and grow leaders at all levels across the public health workforce.

The Student Quality Ambassador (SQA) Project was rolled out in December 2011 by the North West Strategic Health Authority. Any healthcare student from across the North West can become an ambassador, with students so far including; nurses from four different fields, midwives, a dual qualification nurse/social worker, a speech and language therapist and a biomedical scientist.

Due to the reconfiguration of healthcare organisations and the services that they provide, practice placement opportunities for pre-registration student nurses are changing and it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide the variety of placement opportunities required to prepare students for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

East Lancashire NHS Trust’s Integrated Respiratory Service (IRS) has developed a specialist ten to twelve week placement for student nurses, which allows students to gain clinical experience in a specialist nursing role, rather than within a traditional ward or outpatient setting.Trainees gain an understanding of the specialist respiratory nursing role as well how that role works alongside other members of the multi-disciplinary team.