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Mission five: build an NHS fit for the future

Burton and South Derbyshire College, Staffordshire and Derbyshire

Burton and South Derbyshire College’s cutting-edge facilities are leading the way in ensuring the NHS is fit for the future. Health and social care students train in the college's replica hospital ward and care home setting, and immersive suite, and benefit from a skills-focussed curriculum built in collaboration with NHS partners.

"Colleges are central to improving public health by helping students gain the skills and knowledge to support them into fairly paid, secure work that we know can be integral to supporting people’s health and wellbeing. This is particularly important in areas with the highest levels of deprivation, where health outcomes are typically worse than in areas that are more affluent.

"Colleges provide a number of routes into health and social care work which is critical to training the workforce of the future – particularly as the NHS stares down the barrel of the possibility of a 250,000 staff shortfall by 2030. The mission approach of the new government has the potential to truly build the health of the nation, in which colleges have an important role to play.”

Matthew Taylor CBE, Chief Executive, NHS Confederation

Heart of Worcestershire College, Worcestershire

In May 2023, to address the Worcestershire’s growing need for skilled professionals in health and social care, the Heart of Worcestershire College (HoW College) opened the Smart Living Academy, a pioneering space with technology enhanced care (TEC) at its heart.

TEC has the potential to enhance independent living and is at the future of care in the NHS. In collaboration with Community Housing and Worcestershire County Council, the college transformed an underutilised city-centre space into two fully furnished, mock domestic flats. Community Housing contributed a range of assistive technology solutions so learners, local employers and community members can engage with innovations that are reactive, preventative, and newly available on the market.

Since its launch, professionals from across the health and social care sectors have utilised the space, and in September 2023, students began accessing it for handson learning to prepare them for their future careers. The college has also launched a new Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Technology Enabled Care, which will be partly delivered within the Academy, equipping future health professionals with the knowledge and skills to leverage technology in care settings.

Looking ahead, the Academy will scale up its offerings in 2024/25, and offer TEC providers, care teams, and families training sessions. The space also hosts sessions for families of young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), allowing them to explore how TEC can support independent living.

"Further education colleges have an important role to play in implementing recommendations in the Adult Social Care Workforce Strategy for England, and ensuring the new government can deliver on its ambitions to transform the NHS and social care sector.

"Colleges across the country are already doing fantastic work in training and developing the social care workforce but could be doing so much more if the systems and funding issues they face were addressed.”

Professor Oonagh Smyth, Chief Executive, Skills for Care

Northern College, Yorkshire

Good mental health across the nation is crucial when building an NHS fit for the future. At Northern College, an adult residential setting in Yorkshire, learners are not only learning to foster their own good mental health but gaining qualifications linked to existing roles in support work, mental health advocacy, as well as learning support assistant and mentor roles.

The college sits within the National Trust Wentworth Castle Gardens site and provides a unique and safe space for students to share and use their own experiences to take positive steps towards further learning, voluntary work or paid employment.

The college offers a range of introductory courses covering an introduction to mental health and wellbeing, management techniques for stress and anxiety, and supporting children and young people’s mental health.

Students can then progress on to accredited Level 1 and 2 qualifications, which then sets them on the path to employment or further training in mental health, support and recovery services, like the Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling also offered by the college.

Progression into further study or employment is a key focus, and the courses include input from guest speakers who work in metal health and related services to provide opportunities for students to become involved in local organisations as volunteers, or to understand the range of services that can offer support. As a result, in 2023/24, there was a 97% average positive progression from the introductory courses, and 73% positive progression from the accredited courses.