The Workforce Development Fund (WDF) was financed in 2020 by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and aims to help staff improve their skills. This partnership with the government and social care to support staff aims to develop their careers through training opportunities.
Health Education England (HEE) received funding from the WDF and invited the three ICBs within Kent, Surrey, and Sussex to submit bid proposals stating what the community or social workforce training funding would be spent on.
Unity Insights was commissioned by HEE to conduct three qualitative evaluations across Kent, Surrey, and Sussex to determine the impact of this training on the health workforce.
Kent and Medway
Kent & Medway’s programme was focused on skills enhancement, using simulation, virtual reality, and personalisation-based healthcare to improve skills of the social care workforce.
The overarching aim of the workforce transformation is to ensure that the NHS’ Five Year Forward view is followed. The simulation aspect allows for the participants to not only develop greater empathy for the patients that they are treating across a variety of ailments, but also to align the training more closely to day-to-day treatment, in turn improving the competency of the staff and quality of patient care.
Surveys were created to gather feedback from past and present participants of the different training courses listed below.
- Dementia awareness
- Diabetes management
- End of life care
- Esther
- RESTORE2
Feedback received was overall positive with 88% of respondents believing this style of training would make them more likely to stay in health and care, 92% felt the workshops had improved their clinical/professional skills, and 100% of respondents could see how patients/residents would benefit from this training.
Key recommendations included conducting a longitudinal study to examine the long-term impacts of simulation-based learning on individuals and the healthcare system, including patient perspectives. Additionally, exploring which workshops best used the simulation-based elements and improve workshops accordingly.
The evaluation of simulation-based experiential learning in Kent and Medway ICB’s social care workforce confirms its effectiveness in enhancing empathy, professional skills, and care quality. An increased response rate with a focus on the training’s viability, financial benefits, and operational advantages, would be beneficial within any future evaluations.
Surrey
The evaluation within Surrey focused on three community workforce training programmes: Trainee Nursing Associates (TNA), International Recruitment, and Education and Learning in Domiciliary Care and Nursing Homes. A qualitative approach was utilised, including surveys, stakeholder meetings, interviews, and additional supporting material to gather valuable insights and information regarding the projects’ impact and effectiveness. Through this approach, the evaluation explored not only the immediate outcomes, but illuminated the broader implications of these programmes to reach actionable recommendations. Qualitative insights were supplemented with quantitative activity data, supporting insights on uptake and popularity of these programmes.
Interviews with stakeholders on the Nursing Associates training programme revealed that the positive impacts highlighted resonate with the overreaching goals of the programme. TNAs contribute to a more dynamic healthcare environment and contribute to improving the quality of patient care.
In the Education and Learning in Domiciliary Care and Nursing Homes programme, Did Not Attends (DNAs) remain a concern among organisers of the workshops. The lack of communication from participants regarding their attendance stands in the way of planning of the workshops.
Key recommendations for focus areas include financial sustainability and workplace support for TNAs, enhanced recruitment strategies in International Recruitment, and improvements in workshop attendance and feedback mechanisms in Education and Learning in Domiciliary Care and Nursing Homes.
For the TNA programme, there were commendable achievements in enriching healthcare and patient care quality. For the international recruit programme, recruitment was successful despite communication and resource allocation challenges. The Education and Learning in Domiciliary Care and Nursing Homes programme faced issues with data collection and workshop attendance.
Sussex
Within Sussex, four well-established community workforce leadership programmes were evaluated:
- Developing Excellence, Together; and Enhancing Leadership Excellence
- Reaching New Heights
- Foundation Programme in Coaching Skills
- Mary Seacole Local
The evaluation adopted a qualitative approach, utilising surveys, stakeholder meetings, and additional supporting material to gather valuable insights and information regarding the impact, acceptability, and effectiveness of the programmes. Through this approach, the evaluation explored the immediate outcomes alongside the broader implications of these programmes to reach actionable recommendations.
Feedback was gained on the following themes.
Acceptability: Respondents praised the useful and relevant content across programmes, and the facilitators involved.
Effectiveness: Self-reflection, listening, and using different coaching approaches were recorded by respondents. Some noted new opportunities since completing the training.
Impact: Respondents reported improved confidence following training, in addition to enhanced knowledge and skills, and team building. Four respondents from the Mary Seacole Local programme reported a promotion following course completion.
Some recommendations included:
- Explore methods/incentives for participants to complete the full course and reduce non-attendance.
- Consider opportunities for some sessions to be held face-to-face.
- Interview a sub-set of participants to develop case studies to provide further examples of the impact of training and promote uptake.
The community workforce leadership programmes appear to be valuable in supporting staff with their leadership and coaching skills, benefitting the individual, their colleagues, and their wider organisations. Participants have increased their skills and have accessed new opportunities.
“You’ve written it in a way which is easy to read and engaging. I’m sure colleagues across Sussex will find this really valuable.”
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