Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust signs up with SkillSoft E-learning contract to support NHS staff
SkillSoft, leading provider of e-learning and performance support solutions, is pleased to announce the signing of a new contract with Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that will provide Books24x7 and other SkillSoft e-learning services. The Trust has over 3,000 employees and the SkillSoft e-learning facility will form part of the Trust’s staff retraining and redeployment programme.
Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a diverse population of over 400,000 people in east Berkshire and south Buckinghamshire. It provides inpatient and outpatient services across six locations, in Ascot, Slough, Bracknell, Maidenhead, the Chalfonts and Windsor.
As part of its ongoing efficiency programme the Trust will embrace new technologies around learning and development that re-skill and redeploy staff in the fastest and most cost effective manner. The SkillSoft e-learning offering, including Books24x7 – which provides access to over 25,000, digitised IT and business books – will form part of a blended learning approach that forms the foundation of its learning and development strategy.
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SkillSoft offers a range of on-the-job training packages that allow participants to expand their knowledge or cross train in the office by learning at their own pace. The advantage to employees is that they are provided with help and support to empower them in work, and for employers the on-site learning means no costly absences.
The Trust’s organisational development lead, John Newell, was keen to implement the learning and development programme and believes SkillSoft can support the Trust on a number of different levels.
“Firstly, SkillSoft will provide ready access to the managerial and change management skills we need – and do so affordably. Secondly, it will enable staff to re-skill if they want to seek to redploy across the organisation. They can tap into the SkillSoft solutions and other learning programmes to sharpen existing skills, retrain through acquiring new skills and improving knowledge in relevant areas,” says Newell.
“e-learning needs to form part of our overall learning strategy – whether it’s for induction, re-skilling, or management and leadership training for our senior management, eventually everyone should have access because everyone can benefit,” adds Newell.
Kevin Young, General Manager of SkillSoft adds: “The NHS – like much of the public sector – is undergoing enormous change and the provision of efficient and affordable training will be critical if the reconfigured agencies are to work effectively. The strategic use of e-learning conducted on the job, can re-skill workers with negligible loss in productivity and achieve an effective transition to the new style of public sector workplaces we will see in the months ahead.”
