The launch of the Care Certificate last month has brought the need for excellence in training within healthcare into sharper focus for those responsible for decision making. Bryan Kessie, Head of Technical Development at Skills for Health, answers some of the key questions about the elearning process and the benefits of new online training courses.
How is elearning transforming skills in the healthcare workforce?
Within the healthcare sector, patient safety has been at the forefront of recent discussions and high profile reports such as the Cavendish Review. One of the outcomes has been an acknowledgement that without a co-ordinated and robust approach to training for staff, patient care can be compromised.
However, the healthcare industry is complex and it is important that staff keep up to date with this evolving environment, ensuring they are equipped to meet patient needs across a wide range of health issues. Elearning provides a cost effective and flexible alternative to traditional methods and can help to ensure that organisations maintain a safe, competent and legally compliant workforce.
It provides the opportunity for organisations to deliver consistent and flexible training whilst keeping track of who has been trained and to what level.
How can elearning help organisations overcome time pressures?
Healthcare staff can often find themselves time pressured so, when it comes to learning, access needs to be easily available and quick – via multi-platforms from home computers and tablets, to smart phones for e-assessments.
How can elearning support the recent launch of the Care Certificate?
The Care Certificate sets out the basic skills, knowledge and behaviours that are required to provide patients with safe, effective and compassionate care. It is important to acknowledge that employers will need support in implementing the new Care Certificate. We have worked in partnership with subject matter experts to develop core clinical elearning courses that along with the existing statutory and mandatory courses, that can be used by employers to provide the necessary development for this essential part of the workforce.
What do the reporting mechanisms look like?
Providing managers with access to information in real-time is an important aspect of a good elearning offering. Compliance reporting is integral to successful training schemes in health care organisations and the ability to download and analyse comprehensive data for each employee is key e.g. through online compliance reporting systems such as WIRED.
What happens if there is a technical issue?
Skills for Health supports the elearning platform and the courses with help desk support for all managers and employees to provide any technical ‘trouble-shooting’. Courses can also be linked to the client platform for seamless user interface and be used in conjunction with other tools. Help is always on hand to ensure the smooth running of the elearning programme.
Skills for Health is the largest provider of high quality eLearning to the UK health sector. Skills for Health elearning courses are developed to the highest standards by instructional designers, working with national expert reference groups. All courses comply with the Cores Skills Training Framework (CSTF) where applicable and cover statutory, mandatory and core skills training. All courses have accreditation and support from organisations such as the Health and Safety Executive. For more information, visit http://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/services/item/22-e-learning
Courses to look out for from Skills for Health in 2015 include:
E-assessment of statutory and mandatory training modules
Clinical / Care Suite
Care Certificate Suite
Stand By Me – Dementia
Introduction to Personal Health Budgets
