As the NHS heads into what could be its toughest winter yet, Skills for Health has introduced its Adaptive Refresher programme, an initiative designed to reduce the amount of time NHS staff spend repeating statutory and mandatory (StatMand) training when it might not be necessary.
Skills for Health reports that concerns about the frequency and duplication of training remain among the most commonly reported workforce issues in the NHS’s annual staff survey. Its new programme helps alleviate this burden by tailoring ongoing compliance training to individual needs, more than halving course completion times during initial pilot testing.
The integrated digital learning enhancement uses an interactive diagnostic assessment tool to personalise each learner’s StatMand training journey, while ensuring compliance through robust validation of assessment data.
With winter pressures on the horizon, Skills for Health is making free trials of its Adaptive Refresher Courses available to NHS providers, helping them release additional workforce capacity at a time of heightened demand on frontline services.
Time-efficient approach to training
Christos Lucas heads up Skills for Health’s learning division, the team behind the Core Skills Training Framework, Care Certificate and a host of other key workforce development initiatives across the health sector. He comments: “Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, adaptive learning begins by understanding and accrediting an individual’s existing knowledge and identifying where there are gaps.
“This means that staff can spend less time repeating content they have already demonstrated competence in and more time on their day-to-day roles, giving providers confidence that training requirements are being met.
“With NHS services continuing to face significant workforce pressures, we hope this initiative will help free up much-needed time for patient care while maintaining high standards of statutory and mandatory compliance.”
In addition to tailored learning pathways, Adaptive Refresher courses feature interactive chatbot simulations, helping learners to understand changes in guidance since they last completed their training, as well as a function allowing administrators to mandate completion of specific content or modules.
The initiative has been welcomed by figures from across the health sector, who highlight the productivity gains that can be achieved by streamlining StatMand training at a time when additional workforce capacity is needed most.
Janine La Rosa, CEO of the Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA), the professional body for NHS HR and workforce leaders, comments: “NHS staff are already working in highly demanding environments, so it is important that mandatory training supports them rather than adding unnecessary burden.
“When learners are repeatedly required to revisit content they already know, it can contribute to frustration and cognitive overload. At scale, that not only affects the learner experience but can divert valuable time and attention away from frontline care.
“Approaches such as adaptive learning have the potential to improve the learner experience, reduce unnecessary burden and help staff devote more of their time and attention to patient care.”
Covering all 19 subjects within the Core Skills Training Framework and the NHS England Statutory and Mandatory Training Programme (StatMand), the Skills for Health Adaptive Refresher programme offers NHS providers a practical way to improve the efficiency of compliance training while releasing valuable workforce capacity.
