Articles archive
Corporate Universities:
A New Structure for Educational Development Within The UK Health
Service
Author: NHSU
First published: 2004
“NHSU must be an influence, a catalyst
and a supporter of changing the cultures in health and social
care
so they become supportive of and promote learning as a normal part
of how health and social care is delivered.”
Professor Bob Fryer, Chief Executive, NHSU
The NHS spends a massive £3-4 billion on training each year - roughly
5% of its overall budget, more than the proportion of the country's
GDP that is spent on education. As an organisation it is Europe's - and
probably the worlds' - biggest spender of work-related learning.
However, despite the proportion of NHS budget spent on learning
each year, MORI research found that the delivery of education and
training across the country is patchy, and some levels of staff
have far less access to learning than staff at other levels.
In November 2002 a consultation was launched
on the initial plans for a new organisation - NHSU, a 'corporate' university for health
and social care. The goal of NHSU sounds simple: to improve patient
care through workplace and work-based learning. To achieve this,
however, a change is needed in the culture of the NHS. Not only
do learning programmes need to reach a much wider range of staff,
but there also needs to be a huge investment and innovation in 'work-based' learning,
enabling busy staff to develop their skills. In short, as Professor
Fryer says, learning needs to become a normal part of working life.
NHSU completed its consultation and has published the findings;
the overwhelming majority are fully in support of the idea of a
university for the NHS and social care, and NHSU now has the task
of ensuring that it is delivered. The focus is now on piloting
the first programmes and developing the infrastructure that will
enable staff across the NHS to take up the opportunities which
are open to them.
The initial plans cover the English regions, but discussions are
underway with the devolved administrations in Wales, Northern Ireland
and Scotland about the possibility of developing plans that work
for each nation.
A university for the NHS?
NHSU will be a unique institution in the range of its offerings
and because it will be a university dedicated to the health and
social care sectors.
NHSU has stated that it aims to attain university status. Reaching
the standards required of an independent university will be an
important guarantee of quality to NHSU learners.
Achieving university status will be the clearest
possible indication of the Government's determination to put
learning and skills development at the heart of the reform programme
in health and social care.
With a workforce of 1.2 million in the NHS alone, NHSU has the
potential to become the biggest university in Europe.
"Anything that allows training to those denied it has
to be welcomed by patients and the NHS alike."
Patient
Centred Care Magazine
The objective is to improve patient care, so
what role can patients play in all of this? NHSU Director Catherine
Hastings has taken
on the role of patient champion for NHSU. She says: "Throughout
all our consultations the same message came through - that patients
want to be right in there. They want to be alongside staff from
start to finish." For NHSU patients will play a pivotal role
in the future of learning for health care; the next step is to
find the ways to get genuine patient voices onto the various advisory
committees which are working with NHSU as it develops. In outlining
its future curriculum, NHSU has placed a group of programmes around
improving the patient experience at the forefront of its planning:
programmes such as 'Customer Care', 'Patient Safety' and the creation
of joint public and staff learning groups are already on their
agenda.
The NHS' Patient Czar is Harry Cayton,
he too talks about the need for 'triggers for cultural change' in the NHS. Changing
the culture of the NHS is not something NHSU can do alone; it cites 'partnership' and 'collaboration' as
two central planks in its construction. NHSU has recently placed
announcements in the national press calling for expressions of
interest from England's educational institutions in formal collaboration
with NHSU. This is likely to be the first of a series of calls
for collaboration announced by NHSU. The focus of this first call
is to establish arrangements with up to 10 higher education institutions
from across the country, including a single high-level partner,
to support the development of NHSU's core functions.
A number of partnerships, which will deliver
the first programmes, are already up and running - from Jobcentre Plus, with
whom NHSU have joined forces to create a job guarantee scheme 'Health
Learning Works', to City University which is one of the education
partners in its first 'Junior Scholarships' pilot. There is also
vast scope for collaboration with NHS trusts to ensure that the
learning is delivered 'on the ground' at a local level where NHS
staff can reach it. Even at this early stage many NHS organisations,
including Acute Trusts and PCTs to Mental Health Trusts and Ambulance
Trusts, have indicated that they would like to be affiliates in
NHSU's initial roll out.
Why does the NHS need NHSU?
As well as ensuring access to learning across all levels in the
NHS, NHSU is needed to bring coherence, common standards and relevance
to NHS training and development. There are many learning opportunities
in the NHS, but these need standardising, extending and signposting
to the whole workforce.
Even in its early stages, there is a vital role for NHSU in sign-posting
existing courses, and offering support and advice for NHS employees
looking for learning opportunities. Working with a team of professional
careers advisers, NHSU has developed a service called Ui, an
information, advice and guidance service for all those who work
for and with the NHS.
'Training boosts morale, it provides a higher level of qualified
staff.. It makes you feel as though you are constantly honing
your skills and plus it does provide a better level of care'
(Consultation response)
Independent research company MORI has analysed
the results of the consultation on NHSU's initial plans - one
of the broadest consultations conducted in this sector.
The findings suggest strong support for the NHSU, with 73% of
NHS managers supporting the principle of having a single body to
co-ordinate and support learning.
'This is the most exciting development in care
for a long time'
(Participant, Listening Event)
'.having the confidence to be able to challenge somebody is key
and can be delivered through increasing people's training and their
sense of own worth.'
(NHS Manager)
Despite the overall awareness and support,
the consultation highlighted some real areas of concern - and therefore some very real challenges
for those. One of the most important questions of the consultation
has been 'how will busy staff have time for learning?'. It will
need shared and concerted action from leaders and managers in health
and social care, active support from Board members, commitment
from staff and help from all those involved.
Fundamental to enabling staff to learn is flexibility. NHSU intends
to deliver learning through a variety of forms including face-to-face,
group learning, workplace learning and through use of information
and communications technology.
The funding structure of NHSU was another matter
of discussion throughout the consultation. NHSU is being established
with new
money from the Department of Health. While cost structures for
the programmes are still being developed, it is expected that fees
will be paid by a combination of employers and learners, depending
on the programme type. NHSU will be seeking to use its core funding
to 'leverage' funding from elsewhere, for use within the NHS. So,
in the longer term additional funding may be attracted from bodies
such as, Workforce Development Confederations (WDCs), the Learning
and Skills Council for relevant issues, and from the European Union.
Local Delivery
NHSU will not be centralising the delivery
of learning to the NHS. Programmes and services need to be delivered
locally, where
NHS staff can reach them. NHSU has already put into place Regional
Heads to lead teams of local learning co-ordinators across all
nine English Regions. The regional teams are working with local
Trusts, including PCTs, Workforce Development Confederations and
Strategic Health Authorities to develop an extensive network of
local learning centres that will build on what already exists,
forming a central part of NHSU's delivery.
Of course an ambitious project like this will not spring into
being fully formed. NHSU will be rolled out nationally over a period
of time. There are many details still to be resolved, and it is
vital to the success of the first projects that they are assessed
and through a pilot phase ahead of being rolled out widely.
Next stage of development
Now that many of the first programmes are being piloted, NHSU
has been developing the next stage of its curriculum. This includes
a range of programmes relating to patient experience, covering
areas such as customer care, patient safety and managing patient
complaints. There will also be programmes aimed at career progression,
for example progressing Care Assistants to Nursing and Allied Health
Professional (AHP) Roles, and programmes for GPs, Nurses and AHPs
with special interests.
Talking about NHSU's development from consultation to the beginnings
of delivery, Professor Fryer says: "There is tremendous commitment
to the idea. People are saying it's long overdue." There has
been some initial scepticism or concern from traditional universities,
but NHSU has stated clearly that it intends, and needs, to work
in close partnership with the higher education sector. There has
been growing appreciation from universities, Professor Fryer continues: "Many
have asked to work with us on such projects as First Contact Care
and Foundation Degrees, which has pleased us enormously. We have
moved away from the early misconceptions and now the whole question
is on the quality and calibre of our delivery."
AT A GLANCE
NHSU's initial programmes include:
Induction - for everyone, around 130,000
people a year, who joins the NHS
Advanced Communications skills - for
staff working with Cancer patients
Skills for life - courses based around
language, IT literacy and numeracy skills
First Contact Care - in primary care to help front line
staff assess the needs of patients
Health Informatics - developed helping
staff manage information more effectively
Managing in Health and Social Care
Foundation Degrees in health and social care subjects
Junior scholars will introduce 14-19 year olds to the range
of opportunities in the NHS.
CASE STUDY - NHSU
IN ACTION
Junior Scholars
We are all aware of the staff shortages in
the NHS at the moment, but what can we do to encourage a new
generation take the first
steps to careers in health and social care. NHSU's Junior Scholars
programme is designed to help young people take their first steps
towards careers in health care. It is currently in pilot is being
piloted in north London.
The first students to take part, a group of 20 from City and Islington
College, are enthusiastic about the opportunities offered by Junior
Scholars. The innovative programme combines summer schools, mentoring
and work experience and has been developed for young people who
want to join health care professions, including nursing, genetics
research, general practice, radiography, nutrition, physiotherapy,
finance or health care administration.
The City and Islington students have just completed the initial
stages, which involves interviewing experienced
practitioners in their chosen field. This enables them to ask about
their areas of interest or concern and learn about the skills,
attitudes and attributes that make a successful practitioner and
team member.
Parastoo Babkinejad and Jehanne Baptiste say that the interviews
have helped them to develop a much clearer idea of what to expect
in their chosen professions.
Parastoo, who is studying A-level Biology, Chemistry, Maths and
ICT at the college's Sixth Form Centre, plans to read medicine
at university. She interviewed Neil Johnson, a former GP who is
now the NHSU's Director of Learning Programmes.
"The GP we spoke to was really good; he was helpful and very honest
too. He talked about things in a lot of detail and gave a realistic
picture of what it's like to be a doctor."
Jehanne has just completed an AVCE Business Studies course at
City and Islington College's Business, Arts and Technology Centre
and is going on to a degree in accounting. She has also studied
sign language and wants to combine her skills and work with deaf
people in a financial role. She interviewed Sue Eggleton, a former
NHS finance director.
Jeanne said: "I wanted to find out what role finance has in the
health sector and if conflicts ever arise between the finance department
and other professionals, like the doctors.I've learned that the
finance department is responsible for many of the big decisions.
Even though the different departments have different responsibilities,
they all share the same main focus - making sure that patients
are looked after."
Encouraging and supporting young people into
health care professions is vital for the future of the NHS. NHSU's
Junior Scholars programme is about ensuring that the workforce
of the 21st century
reflects the UK's communities. To achieve that we must work to
empower students from all backgrounds to take up opportunities
to learn for a health care profession
