A brand new regional hub for healthcare and support training will be created in Nottingham, it has been announced.
The Nottingham Excellence Centre is the latest edition to the National Skills Academy for Health’s excellence centre network and will be developed by the Nottingham CityCare Partnership. This is a collaboration between social enterprise CityCare, Nottingham City Council, New College Nottingham and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and will look to develop strong links between businesses and education providers in the healthcare sector.
D2N2 is the LEP for the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire area. It works with community and voluntary organisations – like CityCare – as well as skills and training providers, local authorities and businesses to grow its areas economy, with the aim of creating 55,000 new jobs in ten years (2013-2023). As part of this, D2N2 recognises the skills gap – where older employees are retiring and not enough young people with relevant skills and training available are able to fill the spaces – which employers have been faced with, and looks at ways that it can solve this problem through a variety of methods, including apprenticeships, work placements, vocational training, an Employability Framework and a Provider Charter.
The Nottingham CityCare partnership will pool its collective knowledge and resources and each organisation within it will work together to create and deliver learning resources for healthcare staff, whilst making best use of skills development facilities. The Nottingham Excellence Centre will involve hospices, care homes, dentists, GP surgeries and pharmacies and will help those who are entering the industry on apprenticeship programmes, as well as giving existing staff access to high quality development opportunities.
The National Skills Academy of Health’s Excellence Centre network now comprises seven regional hubs. These are:
- Nottingham Excellence Centre – hosted by the Nottingham CityCare Partnership,
- Sandwell and West Birmingham Excellence Centre – hosted by NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group,
- North Bristol Excellence Centre – hosted by the North Bristol NHS Trust,
- Essex Excellence Centre – hosted by the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust,
- Southampton and Solent Excellence Centre – hosted by the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust,
- Kent, Surrey and Sussex Excellence Centre – hosted by the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust,
- Devon Excellence Centre – hosted by the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust.
Katrina Woodward, Commissioning Manager for Skills and Employability at the D2N2 LEP, said:
“Skills and training are a vital part of every business. Through this unique collaboration of stakeholders we will work in partnership to provide demand led training and employment solutions for the healthcare industry.
“The Nottingham Excellence Centre will provide a joined up and holistic service for local businesses to access skills, employment and training support.”
Candace Miller, Director of the National Skills Academy for Health, added:
“Our partnership with Nottingham Excellence Centre helps to grow our already successful Excellence Centre network, whilst ensuring our values of high quality development for the support workforce and sustained investment in their skills and training continues.”
Dawn Whitemore, Principal and CEO of New College Nottingham (pictured), added:
“This is a winning partnership, bringing together the healthcare industry and education in a way which will directly benefit hundreds of people in our city. We’re delighted to take a leading role in the national network, which places strong emphasis on the development of the care workforce, particularly for those in entry level positions.”
For more information on the Nottingham Excellence Centre, click here
For more information on D2N2’s work on creating a more skilled economy, click here
For more information on the National Skills Academy for Health, click here
Media wanting more information on the above can contact Sam Burbage, Social Media and Marketing Officer at the D2N2 LEP, on 01159 578254, or by email: sam.burbage@d2n2lep.org
