NHS hires trainers to boost support for IT plans

The NHS is bringing in extra trainers to strengthen support for its £12bn IT modernisation programme.

It has signed a deal with PC Coaching which will provide mobile training units and training staff to support the rollout of the National Programme for IT in England.

The two-year deal will address the "training facility shortage" across the NHS for end user training delivery, and is designed to "strengthen support" for the massive tech programme, one of the largest public sector IT projects in the world.

A vital part of this project is the education, training and skills development of staff, NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) said. The NHS employs more than 1.3 million people and it said it "recognises the importance" of helping them to understand and effectively use the new IT systems being implemented.

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Last month a survey by the Royal College of Nursing found that while 95 per cent of nurses thought training was central to the success of the planned electronic patient health record, in the past six months 69 per cent of nurses have had no IT training.

And earlier this year a National Audit Office report warned more needed to be done to win the hearts and minds of health service staff, and explain to them how the plans will affect their jobs.

Use of the mobile units will help to minimise disruption to frontline staff and is a cost-effective way of meeting training needs, NHS CfH said.

PC Coaching has already been working with the NHS for the past five years - training more than 10,000 NHS staff on board its mobile training rooms.

The training sites range from specially modified coaches to custom-built units accommodating eight to 12 people. The units are fitted out to the same standard as a conventional high-end IT training suite but can be easily deployed to new locations and connected to the NHS N3 network.