Interim NHS People Plan

What does this mean for libraries? 

Increasing use of technology and scientific innovation can transform care (p.5) and LKS can support this through current awareness services to alert staff to new developments, and through knowledge management to enable sharing of knowledge and best practice.

Libraries can provide access to evidence, for example through evidence searches, to evaluate and support the introduction of new technologies and ways of working, to help create a culture where digitally supported care is the norm (p.52).

There will be a need to help NHS staff gain new digital skills to help transform care pathways and clinical practice, and enable more efficient ways of working (p.5). While some areas are more difficult for LKS to provide training in (such as patient records) there may be areas that we can help with, such as helping staff become familiar with mobile devices and the use of apps.

Increases in student numbers as urgent workforce shortages such as in nursing are addressed (p.5) may require the introduction of new services to support them whilst on placement with NHS organisations, and may require LKS to work more in collaboration with university library services. Libraries support lifelong learning and continuing professional development of the whole workforce, and this will be key as technology changes and careers become more flexible (p.30) and will support the retention of staff.

The move toward Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) may have implications for the way library services are organised locally, and there may be a need to greater collaboration and partnership across a whole ICS. There will also be more partnership working between ICSs and local authorities that may lead to greater collaboration with public library services. It is expected that ICSs will become the main main organising unit for local health services by 2021 (p.55).

Source: NHS England

Link to main document

Date of publication: June 2019

Summary of driver:

The Interim NHS People Plan sets out the vision for 1.3 million people who work for the NHS to enable them to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan, with a focus on the immediate actions that need to be taken.

It argues that work will be much more multidisciplinary, people will have more flexible and less linear careers, and technology will enable people to work to their full potential. People want a better work/life balance.

The plan is organised around several themes:

1. Making the NHS the best place to work

There is compelling evidence that the more engaged staff are, the more effective and productive they are. Staff report not having enough time, and sickness absence is higher than in the rest of the economy. The NHS needs to become an employer of excellence.

The report sets out actions to attract and retain staff.

2. Improving our leadership culture

Leaders need to develop a positive, compassionate, inclusive and people-centred culture.

3. Addressing urgent workforce shortages in nursing

Although there are shortages in lots of NHS professions, nursing is seen as the most urgent challenge.

4. Delivering 21^st century care

The NHS Long Term Plan sets our priorities such as increasing care in the community, redesigning and reducing pressure on emergency hospital services, more personalised care, digitally enabled primary and outpatient care and a focus on population health and reducing health inequalities.

This requires continued growth in the workforce and its transformation to one that is more flexible and adaptive, has a different skill mix and – through changes in ways of working – has more time to provide care.

The workforce needs to be ready to exploit the opportunities offered by technology and scientific innovation to transform care and release more time for care.

5. A new operating model for workforce

Workforce activities need to happen at the optimal level – whether national, regional, system or organisational – with the expectation of an increasing role for integrated care systems (ICSs) as they develop.

The Plan starts to set out how the principle of subsidiarity will apply to people-related functions by setting out what functions can potentially be carried out at which levels.

6. Immediate next steps

The Plan focuses on the urgent actions that need to be taken over the next year, and a full People Plan that cover five years is still being developed.

At the end of the Plan is a table detailing all of the proposed actions, who will do them, and the timescale.

The Topol Review: Preparing the healthcare workforce to deliver the digital future: Interim Report June 2018 – A Call For Evidence

What does this mean for libraries? 

The interim report specifically talks about the need for evidence to support the introduction of new healthcare technologies, and library staff can support the accessing and use of the evidence-base, as well as providing support to healthcare staff that wish to publish evidence.

There will be an increasing demand for knowledge resources on the topics covered by the review, to support the education of new as well as existing healthcare staff.

Some of the technologies are some years away, but there are some such as wearable technologies (for example Fitbits) that are becoming commonplace and there may be an argument for library staff to become familiar with them, or to provide loanable devices so healthcare staff can try them out. Although in most NHS organisations the IT infrastructure is not always conducive to new technologies, where it is, library staff could argue the need to support initiatives such as Skype or other video communications (such as is being done at the Mid-Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust), or other digital technologies.

At the moment, the interim review is seeking evidence to inform the final review, and once this is published the implications for libraries may become clearer but the overall thrust of the review is that new technologies will become more dominant in the NHS, and there is a case for library staff to be given the support to become more tech-savvy so they can support the wider workforce.

Source: Health Education England (HEE)

Link to main document

Date of publication: June 2018

Summary of driver: This is an interim report of a review commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to look at technological developments and how they impact on the future workforce.

In particular, the review will be looking three themes: genomics, digital medicine, and artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. These are likely to change the roles of healthcare staff, and the report is concerned with the skills required to use these technologies, and which professions will be most impacted by the changes. It is also concerned with the education and training needs of current and future NHS staff.

The review proposes three key principles to govern the future workforce strategy. Firstly, patients should be empowered to use new technologies to be more actively involved and engaged in their care. Secondly, the introduction of any new technology needs to be supported by robust evidence. Thirdly, new technologies should free up more time for care and enhance the patient-clinician relationship.

Evidence and comments are being sought from those interested in workforce education and development, with a view to informing the Final Report which is planned to be presented in December 2018.

Expansion of Undergraduate Medical Education: Government Response to Consultation

Impact on library policy/practice: 

The impact on specific library services depends on how the additional places are allocated, and whether the organisation is already a teaching trust and has the infrastructure in place to support medical students.

Any increase in medical student numbers though will have an impact on library services that support medical students, and this could be in the form of demand for additional library stock, IT facilities, space, and pressure for 24/7 opening. Although not stated in the response, student expectations have risen over time, and universities will be keen to get good results on the National Student Survey (NSS). Since some of the questions on the NSS relate to libraries, this could be a good argument for sufficient funding to ensure student demands can be satisfied as far as possible.

Source: Department of Health

Link to main document

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: August 2017

Summary of driver: There will be an additional 1,500 undergraduate training places at medical schools in England within the next few years.

Key features of driver:

• The new places are for domestic students
• There will be an increase of 500 places at existing medical schools for the 2018 academic year
• A further 1,000 places will be allocated by a competitive bidding process for the 2019 academic year
• The bidding process for the extra 1,000 places will prioritise widened participation and geographical area such as coastal and rural areas, and will support general practice and other shortage specialities
• International students will be charged the full cost of their course from 2019

As well as the Government’s response, the document also includes some the results from the consultation divided into responses from individuals and responses from organisations.

Primary audience: HEE, higher education providers, undergraduate teams in NHS Trusts

Date last updated: September 2017

Due for review: September 2018

Group member responsible: JC

HEE Quality Strategy 2016-2020

Title of driver:  HEE Quality Strategy 2016-2020

Source:  Health Education England (HEE)

Publication format:  PDF

Date of publication:

Link to main document

Impact on library policy/practice:

• Work with relevant education departments to ensure that LKS is supporting the needs of all healthcare learners.
• Offer support and raise awareness of LKS to those healthcare leaners and those responsible for providing and delivering learning.
• Both of the above should lead to increased awareness in library resources and services.
• Possibility of collaborative purchasing opportunities with other LKS in order to deliver financial savings and fitting in with the theme of de-duplication and silo working.

Summary of driver:

The HEE Quality Strategy 2016-2020 together with the multi-professional HEE quality framework, set out how HEE will measure, recognise and improve quality in the education and training environment. Together, these are intended to be dynamic documents that will evolve over time to reflect transformation of the healthcare learning environment.

This strategy sets out HEE’s vision of continuously improving the learning environment whilst supporting the ambitions of the Five Year Forward View.

Key features of driver

• HEE is one organisation with local teams- this strategy attempts to pull everything together into one shared vision and remove duplication and silo working and demonstrate commitment to an education infrastructure.
• This shared vision with its standards and measures for quality and improvement in education and training will ensure a comparable view between local and national enablement.
• Improvement in the quality of training will deliver a workforce with the right skillset, values and behaviours to deliver high quality care to patients
• Ensure value for money, innovation and continuous improvement in the quality of education and training.
• Demonstration of investment supporting delivery of quality of patient care
• HEE will align educational infrastructure and leadership with educational investments with local teams offering support to Higher Education Institutions.
• Promote a culture that maximises learning opportunities across all sectors. This will ensure that all learners will have access to equitable and high quality support during learning which will prepare them for future healthcare careers.

Primary audience: All health and social care providers in England with training and educational responsibilities

Date last updated: May 2017

Due for review:  May 2018

Group member responsible: LK

Developing People – Improving Care: A national framework for action on improvement and leadership development in NHS-funded services.

Title of driver: Developing People – Improving Care: A national framework for action on improvement and leadership development in NHS-funded services.

Source: National Improvement and Leadership Development Board

Impact on library policy/practice:

• Library staff should take up the opportunity to attend training which their organisations provide, to develop leadership and talent management skills for the benefit of themselves, their library services and for when working with other libraries and services in wider projects.

• There may be increased interest in the resources the library can provide to support the in-house development of leadership, talent management, systems leadership skills and training courses. Some libraries may wish to expand their collections in these areas.

• Libraries may be able to highlight how their provision of literature searching skills training, literature search services and inter-library loan services can ease access to leadership and improvement resources; which the framework indicates can be difficult to access.

Link to main document:

https://improvement.nhs.uk/uploads/documents/Developing_People-Improving_Care-010216.pdf

Summary: https://improvement.nhs.uk/uploads/documents/10591-NHS_-Improving_Care-Summary.pdf

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: 1 December 2016

Summary of driver: This is the framework developed by 10 organisations that form the National Leadership and Improvement Board, to guide the development of compassionate leadership, systems leadership, quality improvement and talent management skills amongst NHS staff.

This is the first version of the framework – further regular updates are envisioned.

Key features of driver:

• This is a framework for developing the skills of NHS funded staff at all levels, in clinical and non-clinical roles; and will in future include social care staff.
• The focus is on developing leadership and improvement skills and knowledge to close gaps identified in the NHS Five Year Forward View:
  • Systems leadership, for cross boundary working and joining up healthcare systems,
  • Quality improvement methods knowledge
  • Compassionate and inclusive leadership
  • Talent management

• The ultimate aim is that these capabilities will later be represented in senior leadership and management teams.

 

• These skills should result in continuous improvement of the healthcare system, patient care, improve population health and value for money, and will develop future leaders.

• Local organisations are tasked with reviewing their people development strategies, priorities and budgets so that these capabilities can be developed; primarily by: using their existing funding, developing training in-house and sharing knowledge and experience amongst themselves.

• National oversight bodies see their role as providing to support, supporting structures and schemes, and guidance for the development of these skills.

• The framework lays out a series of actions for the next 12 months and for 1 – 3 years’ time for national oversight bodies to provide this support, build networks and develop national leadership and management schemes. These actions are mainly for: NHS England, Health Education England, NHS Leadership Academy, NHS Equality and Diversity Council, NHS Improvement, Care Quality Commission, Department of Health and the National Improvement and Leadership Development Board.

Primary audience: Senior managers in NHS organisations and partners, and the organisations making up the National Leadership and Improvement Board.

Date last updated: February 2017

Due for review: February 2018

Group member responsible: FG

Delivering high quality, effective, compassionate care

Title of driver: Delivering high quality, effective, compassionate care: Developing the right people with the right skills and the right values: A mandate from the Government to Health Education England: April 2016 to March 2017

Source: Department of Health

Link to main document

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: October 2016

Summary of driver:

This is the Government’s mandate to Health Education England for the year 2016/17, and sets out the priorities for HEE to help deliver the NHS Five Year Forward View.

Pre-registration nursing and midwifery course will no longer be funded through NHS bursaries or HEE funded tuition from August 2017. The aim is to allow the creation of up to 10,000 new training places.

The NHS Apprenticeship scheme will be advanced.

A new nursing associate role will be introduced, bridging the gap between HCAs and nurses and allowing HCAs to progress to a nursing role.

Key features of driver:

As well as the changes to pre-registration nursing and midwifery training, and leadership education, other objectives include an increase in the primary care workforce (5,000 more GPs and 5,000 other community staff).

The new nursing associate role will provide care in primary, secondary and social care settings, and the role will be available to existing health care assistants as well as new staff. HEE will be working with higher education to provide training courses, and 1,000 new nursing associates will be in training by the end of 2016.

There are some changes to community pharmacy planned, to integrate community pharmacists into the NHS, and to introduce clinical pharmacist posts in general practice. There will also be an expansion in the psychologist workforce to support the ‘Improved Access to Psychological Therapies’ programme.

HEE will be working with key partners to support the development of an integrated workforce across the NHS and social care, as the Government is committed to integrating them by 2020. HEE will also work to reduce reliance on overseas staff.

Primary audience: NHS senior managers, including education and training directors, national bodies involved in education and quality (e.g. CQC, NICE etc.). HEE and LETBs, professional bodies.

Impact on library policy/practice:

The increase in the number of pre-registration nursing and midwifery students may have a bigger impact on joint HE/NHS library services, but all health libraries may see an increase in demand from students on clinical placements. Since these students will no longer receive bursaries, there could also be an increase in their expectations of what libraries should provide.

The new Nursing Associate role could see an increase in demand from staff that are not traditionally heavy users of the library. They may well require more support than other groups, and resources that reflect their training requirements.

One other potentially large impact on health libraries is the proposed integration of health and social care. NHS libraries have not traditionally served local authority social care staff, but this may become a need in the future, especially as staff work more flexibly across health and social care boundaries. At a national level, work may need to be done to ensure that the core collection reflects the needs of social care, and to integrate resources such as Social Care Online into existing platforms such as NICE Evidence or HDAS. It would be advantageous to have a national approach to funding health library services to support social care that doesn’t rely on each individual service having to negotiate with local authorities.

Finally, HEE will promote the adoption of digital technologies by healthcare professionals, both in and outside of work, and libraries could support this by providing training and guidance on the use of technologies that library users might use in their personal lives, and position ourselves as friendly technology experts.

Date last updated: November 2016

Due for review: November 2017

Group member responsible: JC

Quality Placement in Healthcare- Best Practice Guidance

Source:  Link to main document:

Publication format:  PDF

Date of publication: 2015

Summary of driver:

As a result of the national training tariff for education and training, this document was written by Health Education Yorkshire and The Humber (HEYH) in response to requests from non-medical placement providers on best practice in providing high quality placements and learning environments for health care education.

A range of Professional Regulatory and Statutory bodies and regionally agreed benchmarks and criteria were considered when drawing up this document and the relevant links are embedded in the report.

Its intention is to serve as best practice guidance by placement managers to aid review of non-medical placement provision within their organisation, however, it is anticipated that the general themes can also be mapped to medical placements.

Key features of driver:

The document is split into three themes, each listing outcomes/indicators/suggestions for evidence.

• Theme 1: Whole organisational commitment to, and engagement in education and training for all non-medical professions
• Theme 2: Provision of high quality practice learning environments across the organisation
• Theme 3: Innovation and good practice

Primary audience: Those involved in non-medical placement provision in the first instance.

Impact on library policy/practice:

Theme two impacts on LKS policy/practice with the requirement for provision of high quality practice learning environments across the organisation.

Outcome 2b refers to ‘resources available to students in the practice setting with the following indicators:

• All students to have IT access
• All students to have sufficient access to learning resources eg. Library journals etc
• All students to have sufficient and relevant access to physical resources – eg. PCs, desks

This would be good marketing of the physical space of the Library and Knowledge Service within the organisation. There is also the possibility for LKS staff to strengthen support links with mentors.

Date last updated: January 2016

Due for review: January 2017

Group member responsible: LK

Promoting Excellence: Standards of Medical Education and Training.

Source: General Medical Council

Links: Link to main document

Additional information.

Publication format: PDF

Published: 15^th July 2015.

Comes into effect: 1^st January 2016

Summary of driver:

The General Medical Council have set out a series of standards expected of organisations responsible for the training and education of medical students and doctors.

The standards replace Tomorrow’s Doctors (2009) and The Trainee Doctor (2011).

Key features of driver:

10 standards for the management and delivery of education and training. The standards are organised into 5 themes.

1. Learning, Environment and Culture.

The learning environment should be:

• Safe for patients
• Supportive for learners and educators
• Learning, education and training should be valued and supported by the organisation.

2. Education Governance & Leadership

The standards require that effective education governance, leadership and quality control processes exist for:

• Measuring the performance of education and training.
•  Addressing any concerns related to patient safety or the standard of education and training.
• Ensuring the education and training is fair and upholds equality and diversity.

3. Supporting learners

Educational and pastoral support should be provided for learners to enable them to meet the curricula and the standards of good medical practice.

4. Supporting Educators

• Educators should have the knowledge, skills, resources and support to deliver effective education and training.
• They must be appropriately selected and managed according to their responsibilities.

5. Developing and implementing curricula and assessment.

Curricula and assessments (undergraduate and postgraduate) should be developed and implemented so that students and doctors will meet the requirements of their curricula, and the Good Medical Practice standards.

Primary audience: Medical schools, the deaneries and the Learning, Education and Training Boards.

Impact on library policy/practice:

None of the regulations are specifically aimed at libraries.

But theme 1 regulation R1.19 includes requirements for organisations to have the resources and facilities to deliver safe and relevant learning opportunities. The definition of resources and facilities includes IT systems for learners to access the curricula; libraries and knowledge services and physical spaces. The themes 2 and 3 also contain unspecific requirements for the provision of appropriate resources and facilities for the learners and educators to fulfil and deliver their curricula.

Depending on the setup and services offered by a library/ information service, they may be providing one or more of these aspects.

Libraries provide and manage the access to the information resources which support the academic side of training provision. They provide information literacy training sessions on how to use these resources, and also provide study space.

The library’s home organisation and stakeholders should be made aware that the library service is supporting the organisation to meet the General Medical Council’s requirements. Without the library’s resources and facilities the organisation is unlikely to be able to demonstrate that it appropriately supports the education programmes it provides. This would put the library in good stead when it comes to negotiating for funding and resources.

Librarians must consult the trainers and educators within their organisation to identify which resources and facilities they need to offer to be appropriate for the education being delivered.

LETBs are required to have systems and processes for monitoring the quality of teaching, support facilities and learning opportunities. Perhaps the library’s LQAF result could be included in the proof of the quality of its organisations’ education and training.

Date last updated: October 2017

Due for review: October 2018

Group member responsible: FG

The Talent for Care: A National Strategic Framework to Develop the Healthcare Support Workforce

Source: Health Education England (HEE) and the Talent for Care programme partnership

Link to main document (supporting information available on a section of the HEE website)

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: October 2014

Summary of driver:

Talent for Care is part of Health Education England’s Framework 15, a national guide to action in all aspects of workforce planning, education and training across health and care, and focuses on the support workforce (those in Agenda for Change roles banded 1-4 and their equivalents).

The support workforce makes up 40% of the total NHS workforce and provide around 60% of patient care, yet this group receives less than 5% of the national training budget.

Health Education England is working with various national, regional and local partners to change this picture, to increase investment in the support workforce and to spread good practice and innovation.

Key features of driver:

Talent for Care focuses on ten strategic intentions under the three primary themes of Get In, Get On and Go Further:

Get In:

• Broaden the ways into training and employment in the NHS, especially to attract more young people and improve diversity within the workforce
• Increase the chances for people to try new experiences of working in the NHS
• Engage more staff to act as NHS Ambassadors who can promote NHS careers to schools, colleges and local communities

Get On:

• Challenge and support every NHS employer and contractor to implement a development programme for all support staff that is over and above annual appraisals and mandatory training
• All new Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers to achieve the new Care Certificate and, for those that want it, a universally recognised Higher Care Certificate (as of October 2015, work on the Higher Care Certificate is on hold while the Care Certificate is embedded)
• Double the number of HEE funded or supported apprenticeships by March 2016 and establish an NHS Apprenticeship offer

Go Further:

• Simplify career progression with new roles and pathways to promotion, including more part-time higher education as a route into nursing and other registered professions
• Agree with employers and education providers a universal acceptance of prior learning, vocational training and qualifications
• Support talent development that identifies and nurtures people with the potential to go further, especially for those wanting to move into professional and registered roles

Making it happen

• The national Talent for Care programme partnership will support this framework with a national campaign. They will publish information, support pilot projects and spread good practice to continue building the engagement and commitment of all healthcare communities

Primary audience: LETBs, Education and Training departments, Trade Unions

Impact on library policy/practice:

Library workforce:

Whilst the strategy is mainly aimed at the support workforce providing care, there may be implications for the library workforce, with more emphasis on the development and training of para-professional staff, development of career pathways, and more recognition of Certification as a way into professional roles.

There may be a need to provide increased opportunities for work experience or placements within library services.

Library services:

There may be new roles and ways of working within health services that require changes to our membership criteria, such as more apprentices, placements or work experience candidates. There may also be an increase in support workers doing part-time higher education courses as a route into registered professions, and these may require more support for information literacy skills.

Library resources:

There may be a need to supply more knowledge resources at a suitable level for healthcare support workers, especially as they undertake more development and training. Once the Higher Care Certificate is launched, libraries may want to look at resources to support it.

Whilst healthcare support workers are not included as a named group in the ‘Increase in use’ metric of K4H, this is a group that is traditionally under-represented in library usage and there is an opportunity to promote libraries as ideally placed to help support them. This may be through other means than just books, and could include making our spaces available for informal meetings, provision of WiFi, provision of IT training facilities, or signposting to help and support. The challenge may be to translate this into metrics we can use to show our impact.

Date last updated: October 2015

Due for review: October 2016

Group member responsible: JC

Raising the Bar. Shape of Caring:

Title of driver: Raising the Bar. Shape of Caring: A Review of the Future Education and Training of Registered Nurses and Care Assistants

Source:  Link to main document:

Publication format:  PDF

Date of publication: March 2015

Summary of driver:

A review chaired by Lord Willis on the current education and training for care staff and registered nurses which recognises the importance of providing the correct education and training for registered nurses and care assistants.

The review states that the health system cannot continue in its present state. Registered nurses and care assistants are the largest workforce group and need to be part of the radical solution in which healthcare changes from an illness-based, provider-led system to a patient-led, preventative model.

Registered nurses and care assistants will play a more enhanced role in the community and helping patients with both preventative care and self-care and will need the skills to deliver this change in working practice.

The recommendations in the review have been based on the need to celebrate and promote existing good practice and to generate a research culture. The majority of the recommendations are aimed at HEE.

This review references HEE’s National Strategic framework 15, HEE Talent for Care Strategy, HEE Research and Innovation Strategy and other HEE documentation as well as the NHS England ‘Five Year Forward View’.

Key features of driver:

The following eight themes are discussed:

• Valuing the care assistant role
• Widening access for care assistants who wish to enter nursing
• Developing a flexible model
• Assuring a high-quality learning environment for registered nurses
• Assuring high-quality, on-going learning for registered nurses
• Assuring sustainable research and innovation
• Assuring high quality funding and commissioning

Each theme has a set of recommendations and examples of good practice in relation to the theme.

Primary audience: HEE, NMC, LETBs, NHS England, Higher Education Institutes, NHS Trusts, NHS staff.

Impact on library policy/practice:

This driver links to library policy and practice by offering opportunities to promote information skills training to the staff groups involved. This would support staff in maintaining the portfolio skills passport and the Care Certificate.

There are opportunities to link into the lifelong learning and information literacy aspects of the report and promote the services that we already deliver. Using the technology available, we could consider delivering some services such as training in a different way to help those users in the community.

Other ways that this driver impacts on library policy and practice include:

• Critical appraisal training
• Journal clubs
• ‘Training the trainer’ events- to help those staff who are teaching patients how to use technology to get the best evidence available, in order to allow them to self-care
• Sessions on new technologies and how to use them- e.g. apps. E-learning platforms/remote access issues
• RSS/Journal ToC’s etc. for the latest research to provide better patient care
• Opportunity to strengthen links with Research and Development department

Specific quotes that can be mapped back to LKS.

Page 26, on information literacy  ‘nurses and care assistants must receive appropriate training to ensure that they and their patients can access the best evidence and information available, in order to underpin their practice through the use of up-to-date prescribing practice, technology and treatment interventions, enabling excellent self-care and professional care’.

Page 57, when talking about a flexible workforce the report mentions ‘broad research awareness and the ability to engage in critical inquiry and adopt ‘curiosity’

Page 61, on education programmes and employers are asked to ‘encourage employers to support care assistants and registered nurses to remain within their employment by providing them with opportunities to advance their careers and to engage in life-long learning’.

Date last updated: July 2015

Due for review:  July 2016

Group member responsible: LK