NHS training: helping Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust become virtual experts

During covid, the NHS was under immense pressure and NHS training was hit hard. But with the benefits of virtual training, some NHS teams are finding a way to get training back on track and continue delivering in their day-to-day roles. Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one such team.

When covid hit, Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were suddenly faced with the prospect of training 12,000 clinical and non-clinical staff ­. While they maintained some F2F training , the team managed to successfully adapt to this new digital environment, by transitioning their deliveries to virtual where possible. They became much more comfortable working and training virtually.  It became clear that virtual training brought so many benefits to the staff at Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Ceri Morgan, Employee development manager, now needed to consider how she could continue to deliver NHS training virtually to the high standard that the staff deserved. This led her to decide to upskill her facilitators.

The metrics

15 hours of practical masterclass.

9 hours of delivery.

100% of participants believe they will perform better in their role as a result of completing the training.

100% of participants said they would apply the skills/knowledge they learnt as a result of completing the training.

10/10 recommendation score.

Challenges

Flashback to the midst of the pandemic, Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had moved their employee training to virtual — and it was going well. They already had a successful virtual induction programme and had started to utilise the many benefits of virtual training, but they wanted to do better. After all, despite their facilitators having over 25 years of experience, delivering virtually was fairly new to them.

However, Ceri, who had seen first-hand the benefits of virtual learning, wanted to continue to invest more resources into it even after the pandemic had finished. With both clinical and non-clinical staff, they were keen to learn, yet incredibly busy, and travelling to Cambridge for training wasn’t always feasible. Providing NHS training virtually made learning accessible for everyone.

Although the trainers mainly used Zoom for their deliveries, Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had recently switched to using MS Teams as their go to virtual platform for NHS training. This was completely new for the team, and the facilitators needed to increase their confidence using a new platform in order to deliver excellent training. Part of the challenge was to get buy-in from the trainers. With years of experience under their belts we needed to show them just how different virtual training needed to be.

However, organising training for 12,000 people wasn’t easy. Ceri needed a provider who could understand the nature of the industry she was working in, someone who would be flexible and able to adapt timings and dates. Their motive for embarking on a virtual training course was to promote the highest standard of virtual training throughout Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and so they looked for a provider who could provide the quality and expertise to facilitate this. 

Solution

We understood that due to Ceri’s packed schedule, it was up to us to give her space and time to make decisions that worked best for her team. We supported Ceri and ensured we could flex around the requirements of the team to make sure the outcome best suited their needs.

Our  train the trainer programme was really well received by the Cambridge University Hospital’s team. It gave them an opportunity to build on their experience and refine their skills in a safe environment. This meant that when they were delivering NHS training, they were able to do so to the highest standard. This was super important — not only for their own confidence, but to provide the high-quality training other hard-working NHS staff needed and deserved. To deliver the train the trainer programme, we selected a coach who had worked with the NHS before — he understood the industry and its challenges, the demands on the participants, and what was required for our work together to be a success.

Result

Both Ceri at Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and VTT were thrilled with the result! The immediate feedback from the participants was fantastic but crucially, the longer-term impact was just as good. In a follow up with Ceri, she discussed the impact the programme had on NHS training at the hospital. Not only had she noticed the huge improvement in terms of her trainer’s confidence, but this was also making a massive difference to their work. Importantly, the trainers had embedded their new skills into their best practice and were still using the skills they had been taught, both in their virtual and face to face deliveries. For Ceri, seeing that direct impact of their work was the biggest result, and the investment in her team paid off every time they used the skills they learnt on the train the trainer programme.

Check out this testimonial below and see what Ceri had to say: