News in Brief

NHS Wales pioneers "light touch" IT NVQ

NHS Wales has pioneered a new approach to ICT skills with a "light touch" NVQ, which equips staff with a qualification and proves to line managers that newly qualified staff are competent using NHS Online tools such as the Patient Administration System.

Employees value ICT training that is easy to get started, builds on existing skills, helps that individual with their day to day use of IT, and delivers a recognised qualification.  This is additionally attractive because the skills an individual uses every day in their job, e.g., using the Patient Record System, are counted towards the qualification.

Employers particularly value this aspect for two important reasons.  First, because staff are learning and qualifying while they are carrying out their jobs, little time is spent away from the front-line, with the resulting service and cost benefits. Secondly, because use of NHS technologies is measured and counts towards the qualification, employers know that qualified staff have proven skills to use them effectively and efficiently. They in effect know that staff have corporate ICT competence.

Vic Heard, IT Skills Project Manager, NLIAH said: "Setting up the pilot was pretty straightforward with the great support we had from Trust Training leaders who identified candidates and line managers, explained the benefits of participation, and encouraged everyone through."

Sector Skills Council e-skills UK have been assisting NHS organisations run the pilot.  They worked with line managers to help define the right ITQ Qualification Profile Targets for candidates, which included common computing techniques such as 'using computers', 'internet' and 'e-mail', combined with bespoke NHS techniques, such as 'using the patient records system'. 

Once done each candidate was issued with an e-skills Passport, an online tool that enables candidates to assess their current ICT skills and therefore establish a starting point, match that against their ITQ Qualification Profile target, and then access a portfolio of training provision to close any gaps.  Training can include British Computer Society ECDL modules, Microsoft Digital Literacy learning, and these and others in combination.  Each time new learning was acquired, candidates would record this in their e-skills Passports, which have become important individual records of learning progress and attainment.

IT Administrator Medwen Roberts said: "The e-skills Passport is really helpful to identify our skills gaps and relates well to basic job roles in the NHS".

Once a candidate had learned the skills necessary to meet their target ITQ profile, they signalled this readiness in the e-skills Passport which triggered the assessment process.

A new "light-touch" assessment process was pioneered in partnership with NHS Wales.  Essentially, candidates’ competence was assessed on the job through an uncomplicated line manager "witness statement".  Candidates were observed using the patient records system by their nominated expert witness, who then recorded the satisfactory completion of the task in the candidate’'s e-skills Passport.  OCR assessors, drawn from an online network all over the country, then accessed the candidate's e-skills Passport, viewed the record, and when satisfactory and meeting all requirements awarded the qualification.

Heather Bickers, line manager from the Business Services Centre said:  "Typically a manager could support 1 or 2 staff at a time through the ITQ process, during the pilot we found that the maximum number of candidates supported by a single line manager was 5.  Staff especially value the Professional Development recognition they get for achieving the ITQ."

John Deacon, National Account Manager from, OCR said "OCR has been so impressed by this approach we are exploring how this can be scaled to become a mainstream method of ITQ delivery.  Clearly any means of assessment has to guarantee the necessary robustness and quality, but we are fully committed to exploring customer-led approaches and will continue to work with e-skills UK and the NHS to develop it further".

Chris Bamford, Director of Leadership, NLIAH said: "I believe that the pilots will provide insight into a new way of delivering IT training, especially for front-line staff."

Martin Harvey from e-skills UK said: "There are few organisations that do not require their staff to have better ICT skills, especially basic desktop management, security and communications.  The ITQ has all these but its uniqueness is the ability to include employer-specific ICT skills in tailor-made combinations decided by the employer.  The managers and staff in NHS Wales have pioneered an extraordinary and innovative ITQ pilot which is delivering enormous business value."  

Pilot sites in Wales were Conwy and Denbigh NHS Trust and North Wales Business Services Centre.

For details on  the ITQ and e-skills Passport:
www.e-skills.com/itq and www.e-skillspassport.com

Posted on 24 Oct 2007