Educating for Excellence: Nurturing Tomorrows Healthcare Leaders

Can you explain the experiences and qualifications that have contributed to your professional development and led to your current role?

After qualifying as a registered nurse, I worked within healthcare systems across the globe for over two decades, gaining relevant clinical and academic experience. Teaching has always been my passion. Even as a newly qualified nurse, I was interested in instructing students and supervising clinical support workers. To pursue my career in healthcare education, I went on to complete postgraduate qualifications in advanced nursing practice and healthcare education. I have also worked in various education roles, such as practice assessor, practice educator, and academic lecturer practitioner, before assuming my current position as the head of clinical education. As a senior leader, it is important to continuously develop and upskill myself. As part of my ongoing development, I am undertaking an Executive Senior Leadership Programme at the University of Oxford.

What are your key roles and responsibilities in your current position, and what skills are required for this role? 

 As the head of clinical education at a large community and Mental Health NHS Trust, I collaborate closely with various stakeholders and commissioners within our organisation and across the broader healthcare systems to develop and implement the clinical education strategy in line with the national workforce development agenda. My team offers high-quality pre-registration training programs to grow our future workforce while supporting the continuing development and upskilling of our existing clinical workforce. My ultimate objective is to ensure that we have an adequate number of competent clinicians to meet the health and care needs of local communities. Additionally, I aim to empower our clinicians to attain job satisfaction, professional growth, and career advancement, ultimately resulting in decreased staff turnover and enhanced staff retention.

I have been in this position for six years, and the key skills required for this role include excellent communication, compassionate leadership, finance management, and strategic thinking. As a leader, it is important to ensure a productive service while taking care of the well-being of my team.

What are the key elements of a good clinical education strategy?

The most important elements of a clinical education strategy typically include. 

Training Needs Assessment: Understanding the priorities of the organisation and the training needs of the various workforce groups within it is crucial to ensure robust finance and resource planning.

Clinical Education Finance Plan: Once the training gaps and priorities are identified, a detailed business plan is required to outline the training demand, cost specifications, risks, mitigations, and other resource requirements.

Annual Training Plan: Once the budget and resources available to support the delivery of the clinical education strategy are determined, comprehensive training plans are created to guide the delivery of clinical education.

Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy: Active engagement with key stakeholders is integral to the success of any strategy. Ample opportunities are created for stakeholders at all levels to engage with the clinical education team for information and support.

Some examples of our communication strategy include learning and development newsletters, clinical education roadshows, outreach visits, and educational coaching. Such activities also promote a culture of continuous learning and professional development within the organisation or educational institution.

Evaluation and Feedback Mechanisms: We employ various strategies to assess the effectiveness of our learning and development programs and collect feedback for ongoing improvement.

Quality Assurance and Inclusivity: A clear set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics is required to ensure that all educational and healthcare practices adhere to regulatory requirements and compliance standards.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: KPIs and metrics data are also analysed to highlight any EDI issues and to create an inclusive learning environment for all learners within the organisation

As an education strategist, what do you see as the current and future priorities for clinical education services across the National Health Service, considering the current challenges and new advancements?

Nationally, we are currently experiencing a healthcare workforce crisis. We have an ageing workforce that is nearing retirement age, creating a significant vacancy gap. Local universities have been struggling to increase the number of healthcare students since the pandemic, and student attrition has also remained high. We have a very ambitious NHS long-term plan that sets out a clear strategy for the training and development of future workforce.

Our priority is to maximise organisational learning capacity. Healthcare providers, regulatory bodies and education providers are already collaborating to develop new, affordable, and innovative training pathways to attract more students and support widening participation. The apprenticeship model of training has already shown promising results and is further expanding to support the growth of advanced clinical practitioners and the medical workforce in the UK.

The United Kingdom's National Health Service relies on internationally educated nurses and other healthcare professionals to fill our workforce gaps. Unfortunately, there is a global shortage of healthcare workers; therefore, the recruitment and retention of internationally trained workforce is highly competitive these days. Most NHS organisations, including our Trust, have robust training pathways to facilitate the transition of internationally educated professionals into the NHS.

Constrained finances also make it difficult to invest in the training and continuing professional development needs of our existing staff. Education technology, such as virtual reality, simulations, remote student placements, and e-learning programs, is being used to make training more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective. 

 What advice do you have for aspiring educators in the healthcare field?

Education is a very challenging field of work, complex yet very stimulating and rewarding. A passion for teaching with relevant clinical experience and academic qualifications is essential for developing oneself as a highly effective educator. For me, the best aspect of this line of work is knowing that I am helping to improve staff experience every single day whilst making a positive impact on patient safety.

As stated in the NHS long-term plan, education is integral to workforce development, and we need more healthcare workers to pursue this profession. Like any other role in healthcare, the role of a clinical educator is highly demanding. It is, therefore, important to pace yourself and maintain a work-life balance to avoid burnout.