Hot Topics

This eWIN Hot Topic outlines what the evidence says about leading and participating in effective networks in health and care environments. It will look at what is meant by a network and the difference between networks and communities of practice; what should be considered when starting a new network (and how to make it a successful one) and the potential pitfalls to avoid. It will also cover network leadership and explore the role technology plays in supporting networks to work across boundaries and organisations.

This simple infographic explains the ‘workforce generations’ you may have heard described in the news. Who are Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Digital Natives?

This quick visual explains roughly which years each generation belongs to, the other names associated with each group, some key cultural and technological events from those years, the number they represent in the NHS workforce and some of their learning characteristics as outlined in the ‘Mind the Gap’ report.

The Government is committed to increasing the growth of apprenticeships as a viable and significant option for developing skills and employment opportunities. There is a commitment to achieve 3 million apprenticeship starts in the UK economy by 2020 and to facilitate this there are major changes in apprenticeship national policy and the introduction of some significant reforms – one of these reforms is the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy.

This eWIN Hot Topic gives a brief introduction to Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs).In October 2014 NHS England published the ‘NHS Five Year Forward View’ which set out a ‘vision for the future based around seven new models of care’. The document emphasised three areas for action; widening gaps in the health of the population, quality of care and the funding of services.In December 2015 leaders of national health and care bodies in England announced they had outlined steps that would help organisations plan for the coming 6 years.

This Hot Topic provides an overview of the levels of NHS apprenticeships available in the North West, a background to the programme and the benefits to organisations and individuals by supporting apprentices.

The NHS Bursary Scheme is established to provide support for a range of students studying professional healthcare programmes. The Scheme is composed of several elements:   Contribution to tuition fee (for courses leading to professional registration as a doctor or dentist)Maintenance award (known as a bursary)Additional allowances including where applicable:

The End of Life Care Strategy: Promoting high quality care for all adults at the end of life, sets out the overarching aims to achieve a step change in improving quality of care at end of life.

The Transforming Community Services (TCS) programme is working closely with the Strategic Health Authorities to ensure PCTs separate commissioning of services from provision as smoothly and as effectively as possible.

Skills for Life (SfL) is ‘the ability to read, write and speak in English and to use mathematics at a level to function at work and society in general.’ SfL is the name of the government strategy to promote these skills. ESOL (English for Speaker of Other Languages) is also recognised and included in this definition of SfL. It can also be referred to as basic skills, essential skills, literacy, language and numeracy or English and maths.

This Hot Topic is designed to assist organisations in exploring different methodologies to encourage organisations to examine their current reporting practices and push forwards the benefits of a well-rounded sickness absence reporting system.