TRUST POLICY AND PROTOCOL FOR

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Version / 7.1
Name of responsible (ratifying) committee / HR Policy Group
Date ratified / 06 April 2017
Document Manager (job title) / Director of Education
Date issued / 04 May 2017
Review date / 03 May 2019
Electronic location / Management Policies
Related Procedural Documents / Appraisal Performance Review Policy; Induction and Mandatory Policy
Key Words (to aid with searching) / Learning, Development, Study leave, Training needs analysis; In service training; Professional education; Skills development; Personal development; Training; Appraisal Performance Review; Job safety training; ; Personnel procedures Checked; Essential training; statutory training; Mandatory training; core elements; Human resources; Equality Act 2010; Conditions of employment; Salary scales; Training resources; Professional development; Electronic service delivery

Version Tracking

Version / Date Ratified / Brief Summary of Changes / Author
7.1 / 05.09.2017 / Revised Appendix C: Formal Learning Agreement / L Hatch
7 / 01.03.17 / Update of terminology: APDR/Appraisal Performance Review. Clarity for funding/leave arrangements
Updated Learning Agreement / L & D Manager

CONTENTS

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

1INTRODUCTION

2PURPOSE

3SCOPE

4DEFINITIONS

5DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

6PROCESS

7TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

8REFERENCES AND ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTATION

9EQUALITY IMPACT STATEMENT

10MONITORING COMPLIANCE WITH PROCEDURAL DOCUMENTS

APPENDIX A - Funding Provision for Learning and Development Activities

APPENDIX B - Commercial Sponsorship (in accordance with Standards of Business Conduct for NHS Staff)

APPENDIX C - Formal Learning Agreement ~ Funded External Education Programmes

EQUALITY IMPACT SCREENING TOOL

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

This policy must be followed in full when developing or reviewing and amending Trust procedural documents.

For quick reference the guide below is a summary of actions required. This does not negate the need for the document author and others involved in the process to be aware of and follow the detail of this policy.

1INTRODUCTION

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust (“the Trust”) is committed to being a great place to work and learn. Personal and professional development for all staff is a key trust priority through constantly improving the opportunities available to enable them to reach their full potential. Staff education, learning and development is provided to enable staff to live the Trust Value’s and put the patient at the centre of everything we do. To fulfill this commitment, the Trust has a robust and systematic approach to the planning and prioritisation of learning needs, ensuring these needs are linked to the Trust Strategy, Values and Quality Improvement Framework, focusing on delivering the best patient care

2PURPOSE

This policy describes the responsibilities of individual staff and managers in implementing key aspects of the training cycle, and is intended to guide all individuals in meeting their learning and development requirements and responsibilities.

3SCOPE

3.1This policy applies to all employees of the Trust except for trainee medical staff who are covered by a separate procedure. Senior medical staff and staff from some other professions may have additional locally agreed arrangements for study leave and should refer to these.

3.2This policy should be used during the following activities:

  • Undertaking Appraisal Performance Review
  • Devising Personal Development Plans
  • Setting Personal Objectives
  • Planning learning activities to meet professional and core competencies, including agree objectives for these activities
  • Providing evidence of competency achievement
  • Applying for and approving study leave and/or funding
  • Allocating/prioritising resources for learning activities
  • Devising annual training plans
  • Evaluation of learning

3.3Access and Equality

The Trust is committed to:

  • Ensuring Learning and Development opportunities are provided for ALL staff, as detailed on the Learning and Development Department Website on the Trust’s Intranet (Learning and Development Intranet Page).
  • Ensuring resources for learning and development are distributed fairly, appropriately and in a timely cost effective manner.
  • Widening learning opportunities for staff requiring help with Skills for Life including literacy, numeracy and IT.
  • Meeting different learning styles and needs.

3.4Balancing Requirements

The Trust aims to provide or commission learning and development activities that balance the requirements of:

  • Essential Training
  • Minimum Essential Professional Requirements
  • Role Essential Requirements to meet Trust strategic aims and operational targets
  • Leadership Development
  • Individual and personal aspirations for development.

‘In the event of an epidemic infection outbreak, flu pandemic or major incident, the Trust recognises that it may not be possible to adhere to all aspects of this document. In such circumstances, staff should take advice from their manager and all possible action must be taken to maintain ongoing patient and staff safety’

4DEFINITIONS

Continuous Professional Development (CPD): the “…systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge, skills and the personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout the individual’s working life.”

Development: growth and the realisation of potential. It is a longer-term investment, providing people with a framework that enables them to benefit from learning opportunities in a way that helps them personally, in their current role or future career.

Electronic Staff Record (ESR): for further details please access the following internet link The NHS Staff Record ESR Project

Essential Training: training that is required by legislation, policy, protocol and by external regulating bodies such as the National Health Service Litigation Authority

Learning: an end result or outcome, defined as a change in perspective or capability (behaviour, knowledge or attitude) whether of individuals, teams, or the organisation as a whole.

Professional and Core Competencies: These are the skills and knowledge which support personal, service and career development.

Training: the acquisition of skills to a set standard, through instruction and practice, and takes a short term approach. It is usually concerned with improving capability and performance covering business, technical and professional knowledge and skills.

Trainer Provider: individual, group or body providing a learning or educational experience or programme.

5DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

5.1All staff

Staff are responsible for:

  • Attendance and completion of induction programmes (both Trust and Local).
  • Non-registered staff in patient facing roles complete the Care Certificate within the expected time frame of 12 weeks.
  • Ensure attendance at, and completion of, Essential Skills Training. If in exceptional circumstances staff are unable to attend, courses must be rebooked and completed.
  • Self-assessment of their achievements and competencies against job descriptions, objectives and the professional requirements of their role, in order to inform their personal development plans (Doctors and Dentists are subject to alternative development planning and competency arrangements).
  • Discussing learning and development achievements progress and needs at Appraisal Performance Review meetings and throughout the year with their line manager.
  • Agreeing an annual personal development plan with line manager.
  • Attending and completing all required elements of development, study days and courses providing feedback on the quality and effectiveness of learning activities.
  • Maintaining and providing evidence of learning at Appraisal Performance Review ensuring all required essential training is completed.
  • Complying with any learning agreements related to specific courses e.g. OU pre-registration nursing programme, Best People Management and Leadership Development Programme etc.

5.2Line Managers

Line manager/team managers are responsible for:

  • Ensuring that all staff have equal access to Learning and Development opportunities. Staff will not be excluded because of a protected characteristic i.e. age, disability, gender, pregnancy, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership.
  • Ensuring all new staff complete the corporate induction course on the first day of their employment and local induction within one month of commencing employment with the Trust. Completion of Local Induction to be reported to the Learning and Development Department following recognised procedure.
  • Ensuring that all non-registered staff in patient facing roles complete the Care Certificate within the expected time frame of 12 weeks.
  • Ensuring all staff complete booked training or cancels these in a timely way if no longer required.
  • Ensure release and attendance of staff at Essential Training. If in exceptional circumstances staff are unable to attend, ensure courses are rebooked and the course is completed.
  • Holding regular discussions and reviews with staff on their learning and development progress within the context of Appraisal Performance Review Policy.
  • Agreeing an annual personal development plan with all staff and providing support to meet this plan.
  • Considering and approving/refusing (with clear rationale) applications for study leave and funding within following departmental guidelines and ensuring staff development activities fall within the annual allocated budget. All funded learning requires a Learning Agreement to be signed by the manager and retained in an individual’s personal file (Appendix C).
  • Ensuring staff are aware of the changed requirements in role as a result of learning undertaken. Recording evidence of the examples of application of knowledge and skills for staff which demonstrate evidence against Professional and Core competencies.
  • Collating information from PDPs and using this to inform training plans.

5.3CSC Management Teams

CSC management teams are responsible for:

  • Analysing information from audits, complaints, incidents and untoward incidents using the learning from this to inform strategic direction for Learning and Development within their CSC.
  • Ensuring all staff are meeting essential training, minimum essential professional training and role essential requirements to meet Trust strategy and Quality Improvement Framework.
  • Ensuring CSC staff training budgets, where applicable, are set to meet CSC training plans and are managed appropriately.
  • Ensuring that each CSC is represented at the quarterly Strategic Education and Workforce Development Meeting, and that learning and development is a regular agenda item at CSC Governance meetings.
  • The provision of high quality practice/work based learning environments audited and monitored as part of the LDA process.
  • Ensuring robust records are kept of all Learning and Development activities undertaken within the CSC.
  • Producing an annual TNA using the information from individual PDPs, linking to clinical workforce strategy and workforce plans.
  • Applying the ADPR policy to all staff and reporting information on completion of the review process as required.

5.4Division of Workforce and Organisational Development

The Director is responsible for:

  • Ensuring provision and delivery of the Learning and Development function across all sections of the Trust.
  • Providing adequate resources to support learning and development and to meet essential training, minimum essential professional training and role essential requirements to meet Trust strategy and Quality Improvement Framework Essential Training (minimum statutory, mandatory) and role requirements for learning.
  • Ensuring that progress is being made against the Trust’s Workforce and Organisational Development Strategy.
  • Being the accountable Officer for the Learning and Development Agreement with Health Education England/Wessex.
  • Informing the Trust Board of learning and development matters, and representing learning and development at a board level.
  • Ensuring inclusion and accessibility for minority staff groups.

5.5The Learning and Development Department (LDD)

The Director of Education and the Learning and Development Team and members of the Learning and Development Department are responsible for:

  • Producing the Annual Trust Training requirements from the Training Needs Analysis (TNA).
  • Making progress against the Workforce and Organisational Development Strategy and updating this regularly.
  • Utilising the TNA to produce an annual schedule of learning and development for the Trust.
  • Timely reporting of Learning and Development activities to Trust Board and Strategic Education Meeting.
  • Seeking to provide a wide range of learning opportunities to meet all staff learning needs, service delivery and overall Trust objectives.
  • Meeting standards for external and internal quality reviews of Learning and Development activity to include: Care Quality Commission (CQC), General Medical Council (GMC), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
  • Providing programme administration (incorporating booking, confirmation, course materials, registers evaluation etc. for LDD courses).
  • Maintaining central electronic records concerning Trust training activities and attendance for training delivered by the Learning and Development Department.
  • Providing clear information on available internal and external training resources across the Trust and ensuring these are equitably distributed.
  • Providing regular reports about uptake and non-attendance to managers and committees.
  • Building partnerships with the Health Education England/Wessex, Professional Bodies and Education Providers, informing future development of training provision to ensure it reflects service and patient needs.
  • Providing evidence of the effectiveness and value for money of Trust and external learning activities.

5.6Training Providers including Essential Training (not within LDD)

These training providers are responsible for:

  • Providing high quality learning experiences for Trust staff
  • Possess an appropriate education qualification.
  • Ensuring staff are aware of the expected learning outcomes and content for training sessions prior to commencement.
  • Ensuring records of all Learning and Development activities are kept on the central database in accordance with Trust procedures.
  • Disseminating effective information about learning programmes via the Learning and Development Website and via posters, flyers and other media where necessary.
  • Ensuring that all staff have equal access to Learning and Development opportunities.
  • Evaluating every training course/activity to ensure effectiveness of the provision with appropriate learning using the Trust Evaluation Documentation.
  • Keeping themselves up to date with subject matter and learning and teaching methods.
  • Undertaking annual peer assessment as evidence that they are providing high quality education opportunities. Where an accreditation is applicable trainers must be able to demonstrate valid accreditation and demonstrate that they are competent to do so (via annual peer assessment).
  • Producing and disseminating an annual training schedule which demonstrates how training provision will meet requirements of essential training (Essential Trainers).

6PROCESS

Identifying Learning and Development Needs and Training Compliance

(Refer to Quick Reference Guide on Page 3)

6.1Trust Learning and Development needs will be identified via a Trust Training Needs Analysis (TNA), the process is described in detail below:

6.1.1Staff members identify with their line manager their learning needs through the Appraisal and Review Process

6.1.2CSC Management Teams complete an annual TNA which reflects the training requirements of their staff and the Trust/CSC’s strategic priorities. This is returned to the Learning and Development Department and processed into a CSC and Trust Training requirement.

6.1.3Trust Training requirements are produced by the Learning and Development Department that addresses Essential Training, Minimum Essential Professional Requirements, Role Essential Requirements, and workforce development needs.

6.1.4The Trust training requirements are approved by the Education Governance Meeting. This will determine allocation of resources to training activities and the content and format of the training schedule.

6.1.5All essential Trust training and training provided through the Learning and Development Department will be recorded on the Trust training database (ESR).

6.1.6The Workforce Intelligence Team will provide data to demonstrate compliance with essential skills training via Performance Reports. Managers and individuals can access compliance matrices via ESR to monitor compliance at a local level. Individuals who fail to complete their required training within 12 weeks of expiry, without reasonable excuse, will be managed under the Trust Capability or Disciplinary Policy (whichever is most appropriate) instigated by the line manager. An annual report on the above training activities will be made to the Trust Board.

6.2Provision of Learning Activities

6.2.1The Trust will provide a flexible range of learning opportunities to meet the requirements of all staff and the organisation, without discrimination, encompassing all learning needs. Training will be delivered through a blend of formats including e-Learning. Each year the Trust will update the training schedule that will be available to staff via the Learning and Development Website

6.2.2The Trust will ensure systems and processes are in place to obtain funding from a range of sources. The details of normal funding sources are in Appendix A. For details around commercial sponsorship please see Appendix B.

6.3Study Leave Entitlement

6.3.1The following should be applied:

  • For study leave to be considered, the learning must meet one of the following criteria:
  • It meets Essential Training and the Trust strategic aims and objectives.
  • The learning is essential to enable the staff member to carry out their duties.
  • The activity has been identified within a personal development plan.
  • Study leave will only be allowed if Essential Training requirements have been fulfilled.
  • All staff should be given sufficient study leave to meet Essential Training, Minimum Essential Professional Requirements and Role Essential Requirements in accordance with guidance below. There is no minimum or maximum study leave allowance identified in this policy, it is at the discretion of the manager and relates to the availability of study time and staffing budget.
  • Consultant medical staff are allocated a study leave budget and are expected to negotiate the use of this with their manager.
  • Other study leave and funding is granted at the discretion of the line manager.
  • Rostered/work time is based on the availability of time within a roster in accordance with the available headroom (headroom is the additional funding put into department budgets to allow for study leave, sickness and special leave as examples).
  • For Nurses, Midwives and Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) please refer to the Roster Policy Home - Nursing and Midwifery Policies

6.3.2Funded and Protected Time