As the London Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) sets out, there are over 30,000 vacancies in the health service in the capital, while social care also faces similar yet distinct challenges with labour shortages, pay and the reputation of the sector.
On the 26th March, BusinessLDN brought NHS Trusts, employers, training providers and sector bodies together for a panel discussion on how to tackle these challenges, as part of its leadership of the London LSIP.
At this event, kindly hosted by King’s College London, attendees heard insights from leading voices in both sectors, including speakers from: NHS England, King’s Health Partners, West Thames College, and Skills for Care, a sector body representing the social care sector.
A key focus of the discussion was the growth of immersive training solutions, such as using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) for scenario-based training. For example, West Thames College has developed a bespoke health care simulation suite to deliver off-site work experience to those training in the sector. Meanwhile, South Thames College is opening a floor with a mock hospital wing this summer which will include VR and AI training facilities. These types of immersive learning experiences allow health and social care trainees to develop their skills outside of traditional placement settings, allowing them to gain valuable experience, practice their skills and develop confidence in their abilities. It may also allow for the delivery of more placements.
Yet despite the growth of these new technologies, practical challenges remain. For example, there are bureaucratic blockers including around how simulated training is regulated which is holding back the ability to deliver more placements at scale. Chronic staff shortages also mean that many health professionals are delivering placements on top of their day job, which limits the number which can realistically be delivered.
More broadly, digital skills were seen as vital for both sectors, with employers continuing to see a shortage of new and existing employees with essential and basic digital skills. Surprisingly, despite the increasing digitisation of work and life, digital skills training is not a component of all social care training programmes. It was agreed that embedding essential digital skills across all health and social care training programmes in London – from apprenticeships to AEB-funded learning — is essential if training in this sector is to keep pace with fast-changing skills needs.
Underpinning all of these challenges and opportunities was the importance of partnership working between employers and providers in both sectors. The NHS Long Term Workforce Strategy is seeking to maximise this kind of approach, including by leveraging the London Anchor Institutions Network and engaging more of London’s colleges. Continuous and open engagement between all parties, including through co-design of training and data sharing, is vital to better match training supply with demand, build stronger relationships, and ultimately build a strong pipeline of talent for London’s health and social care sectors.
BusinessLDN is bringing together key groups to share best practice and help providers further adapt their training provisions to meet employer demand, as well as make valuable connections.
Jacqui Wakefield, Deputy Director of Education at King’s Health Partners said: “The event demonstrated that partnerships are crucial if we are to help educators further adapt and build training provision to meet the demands of employers. We need to build skills — particularly digital skills, together. We need our academic partners to be able to do this and to embed further with our partners in Higher and Further Education. We want people to feel valued and progress careers.”
BusinessLDN is leading the development of the London Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), a blueprint for tackling shortages and improving employer-provider collaboration in the capital. See our dedicated LSIP page, or sign up to our LSIP newsletter for more information and the most recent updates.