Innovative pathways and partnerships: responding to student and employer demands

Prof. Linda Jones

Director, OU-RCN Strategic Alliance

The Open University

Contents:• The challenge of change• Employer and learner needs –do they coincide?• Partnership – does it help?• Models of partnership• Some examples of innovation• Conclusions – what can partnership deliver?

The challengeService transformation to

deliver improved services that:• are person-centred• enhance quality of patient care• are local, accessible, convenient,

integrated, expert• support health and prevent ill

health

The challenge“Our ambition should be nothing less than the

creation of a world class NHS that prevents ill health, saves lives and improves the quality of people’s lives”

(Darzi Our NHS, our future, Interim report, 2007)

“Without increased skills, we would condemn ourselves to a lingering decline in competitiveness, diminishing growth and a bleaker future for all. The case for action is compelling and urgent.”(Leitch, Prosperity for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills, 2006)

The toolsMore effective workforce planning • Assess knowledge, skills, competencies and

behaviours required • More focus on existing staff – only 10% of NHS

education and training budget currently spent on them but 70% of 2020 workforce already in work

• Devise skills development for sub-professional grades; 6/10 NHS employees are below level 2 skills

• Increase proportion with higher skills HE in workforce• Talent manage - create more leaders of change at all

levels

The toolsBetter educational

commissioning• “World class” – reduce attrition,

maximise quality and value for money

• Encourage innovation, flexibility and responsiveness

• Create staff who are fit for purpose and fit for practice

Delivering the educational agenda: do interests coincide?

Employers want learning opportunities to:

• be work-based and competency-led

• focus on skills agenda• up-skill and transform their

workforce• respond to service needs

& national priorities

• increase organisational efficiency & effectiveness

Staff want learning opportunities to offer:

• flexibility and currency• relevant knowledge and

skills• career pathways and

prospects for promotion• potential for personal

growth• portable credit and/or

valued qualifications

Can partnerships help?• Provide a wider perspective on learning – expertise of

employers, education providers and other agencies• Embed a culture of learning in the organisation• Help to raise individual aspirations• Assist in needs analysis of workforce plans• Embrace benefits of demand-led education • Build flexible and adaptable provision to maximise

returns (different sizes, APEL, building blocks) • Adapt successful approaches • Build on existing good quality provision

But will partnerships deliver?

• Divert resources• Require cultural change• Advantage competitors• Loss of identity• Mission drift• Loss of independence• Loss of control

• Extend resources• Build on what exists• Potential to grow market• Stronger, shared identity• Mission refocus• Greater cohesion• Potential for

transformation

Some partnership types

• Channel to market – product partner combines with market access partner

• Co-delivery – partners bring particular expertise/status to jointly deliver an existing programme

• Accreditation – programme development by one partner (or partners) quality assured by another

• Co-creation – joint curriculum development, partners share resources and expertise to create something new

Partnership case studies

• Channel to market – iTunes, UnionLearn• Co-delivery – All pre-registration

providers• Accreditation

– FDF Employer-based Training Accreditation

– Notts. NHS Trust and OU• Co-creation

– County Durham PCT and University of Teeside

– NW SHA, Connecting for Health, University of Chester

FDF employer-based training accreditation pilot

• Work-based training programmes designed by employers

• University of Bolton develops structured assessment and award

• Employees can gain academic credit as well as employer-based training certification

Nottingham HCT and OU: an accreditation partnership• Work-based awards designed by the HCT to meet its

workforce development needs• Organisations work together in developmental process

to reach approved status – facilitation, interim assessment, quality checks

• Creation of an academic infrastructure in the HCT• Strong academic partnership – academic reviewer,

peer review and validation

County Durham and University of Teeside: co-creation• Starts from workforce development needs• Co-creation of customised education to meet specific

needs of County Durham PCT’s community health workforce

• Academic credit for informal supervisory duties• Use of problem-based learning drawing on learners’

skills and competences• Joint Teeside-PCT steering committee

NW SHA, Connecting for Health, University of Chester: co-creation• Starts from workforce development needs• Co-creation of FD in Health Informatics to meet specific

needs of health ICT workforce• Blended part-time learning: online, f2f, personal study• Responsive to NHS changes eg. eHealth, ‘Choose and

Book’ system• Initially SHA sponsored and backfill funded

OU-RCN Strategic AllianceElements of all partnership types:• Channel to market - develop joint marketing and business

development to grow OU learners and RCN members• Co-delivery – transfer of RCN Distance Learning Unit and

staff to the OU; blending OU and RCN learning to enhance education and training offer for health sector, especially nurses and support staff

• Co-creation – Work with sector at nation and regional levels to develop and test innovative products and pathways and joint strategy for overseas work

• Accreditation – combine RCN professional accreditation with OU academic accreditation for existing (and new) programmes

Eight tests of a healthy partnership• Partners can demonstrate real results through

collaboration• Common interest supersedes partner interest• Partners use “we” when talking about partner matters• Partners are mutually accountable for task and

outcomes• Partners share responsibilities and rewards• Partners strive to develop and maintain trust• Partners are willing to change what they do and how

they do it• Partners seek to improve how the partnership performs

www.lgpartnerships.com

Work-based learning partnerships (PSE consulting, Oct 07)• Relationship of partnership between commissioner and

provider – new ways of doing business• Skilled leadership from both – at senior level• Mutual recognition of knowledge, skills, experience,

capacity and resources• Learner support infrastructure• WBL viewed as essential component of

organisational development – WBL as key delivery vehicle

• Realistic, meaningful and achievable methods for evaluation

Partnerships for Better Health (DoH,2007)• Involve all partners as

early as possible• Set clear objectives and

markers of success• Focus on results• Be open to innovation• Honest information

exchange• Clarity about roles

• Trust partners to do what they do best

• Be prepared to be challenged

• Ensure risk is shared• Develop mechanisms to

ensure sustainability• Monitor and evaluate• Allow partnership to

develop in new directions

OU-RCN messagesPre-requisites• Shared values, remit, structure, business focus • Key players share educational vision and goals

Essentials• Organisations sign up to joint vision and objectives• Benefits for key parts of both organisations• Reticulists who can work between/across organisations• Targets – set goals & measure success

Sustainability• Demonstrable success (not achievable without alliance)• Cement: communication, incentives, trust, innovation• Mainstreaming – embed in normal business

Partnerships can help to:

“Develop a skilled flexible and productive workforce for the whole health sector in all UK nations, to raise the quality of health and healthcare for the public, patients and service users”

(Skills for Health, 2008)