Kings College NHS Foundation Trust Hospital

Website: http://www.kch.nhs.uk/

Contact:  Allan Paxton–IPM Manager

People development is paramount to King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, one of London’s largest and busiest teaching hospitals.  King’s is known for innovation in service delivery, and constantly strives to provide the best patient care and to maintain its reputation locally, nationally and internationally.

“Ours is a fast and continuously changing work climate, where patient needs must be matched by the required staff skills,” says Allan Paxton, iPM/Choose & Book manager.  “It’s vital that all staff are confident and competent in using the applications, systems, policies and procedures that support the delivery of care to all our patients.”

Allan and his seven-strong team provide all King’s staff with continual product development, support and training related to two software applications: iPM (PiMS), which follows the patient pathway from initial contact with the Trust to completion of hospital care, and Choose & Book, which allows patients to choose where and when they are seen.

“Not only does King’s need to proactively market its specialist services, it also has to deliver those services to a consistently high standard.  More patient choice means that the NHS marketplace is now extremely competitive,” says Allan.  “This, combined with rapid culture change, means the need for well trained staff has never been greater.”

Allan and his team have a challenging role.  iPM (PiMS) was first introduced five years ago and is constantly evolving as new upgrades, enhancements and accompanying policies and procedures are introduced.  Although it is integral to transforming service delivery, the software is not always embraced with open arms, but training on its applications is mandatory to allow access.

There is a high differential in the skills mix of the large volumes of staff using the applications, spanning administrative, clinical and management staff.  The huge diversity of the user base, together with all these challenges, means that training is far from a straight forward affair.

“We have to do a lot of analysis of training needs before every training course and adapt the training content to suit the delegate profile,” says Allan.  “That’s why it’s so important that the training methodology is consistent.”

The TAP Learning System has been the de facto training delivery standard in the NHS for the past ten years, so Allan – who became TAP qualified in 2001 - already knew all about the benefits and the adaptability of the system across multiple applications.  Since 2007, all of his training team have gained the TAP Certificate in Training Delivery Skills, which has had a huge impact on their skills, confidence and ability to engage the learner.  It also qualified King’s for TAP Partner status, allowing them to display “The TAP Partners quality mark” on all internal and external communications.

“Given our very mixed profile of training delegates and the imperative to really drill down into what they need from their training within their specific working contexts, the TAP questioning techniques have been invaluable in helping trainers and delegates to learn from one another,” says Allan.  “Rather than the trainer dictating content and delivery, the delegates work with and for you.  They feel more relaxed, are able to contribute and, most importantly, they are recognised for the skills and experience they bring, which helps trainers to build their own skill set.”

The greater degree of interaction that accompanies TAP’s questioning techniques has also helped to bring the applications training to life, giving it greater relevance and meaning to the delegates’ day-to-day jobs.  The system has created a new style of learning, which offers consistency in terms of overall structure, preparation and delivery, but which can be constantly adapted and updated to reflect changing demands.

Trainer Linda Samuel explains the impact in the classroom.

“The TAP techniques are brilliant.  What was lacking before was an underlying process, but now that’s in place I’ve got so much more confidence, both in putting together objectives and materials and in delivering training.  Delegates leave my courses knowing what to do, the feedback is brilliant and I guess the proof is that we get so few calls for extra help afterwards.”

When Shayla Duhaney joined King’s from a university, she initially found her new role and environment something of a culture shock.

“I’d used technology for managing admissions in my previous role and had experience of giving presentations, but as an outsider I found myself on a steep learning curve.  Doing the TAP Training Delivery Skills course made me realise that really good training is completely different from what I’d been doing.  It was a real confidence booster in understanding how to get the responses we wanted out of delegates using the questioning techniques.”

Building on their TAP-enhanced success in classroom based training, update workshops and newly introduced web-based training to reach front-line staff who are difficult to release from their roles, Allan and his team are now poised to expand into a more consultative role within King’s, whereby training is analysed and tailored to meet the very specific needs of the wide mix of staff.

In an environment where ‘blanket training’ is not an option, both because of the nature of the service and the diversity of the delegate profile, TAP’s ability to combine consistency with adaptability has played an important role in supporting King’s aim to provide world-class care to everyone who comes through their doors.