Hospitals shift training focus to e-learning

Alder Hey Children's and Liverpool Women's Hospitals aim to save up to 80 per cent of their IT training budget by launching a new e-learning portal next month.

The portal will be rolled out as a shared service across the two hospitals and will replace traditional classroom training programmes.

Staff will be able to access e-learning provider Skillsoft's portfolio of content, including software development, web design and operating systems technology training.

Skillsoft says the instant delivery of the new training initiative will help hospitals respond to slashed NHS budgets and the accelerated pace of change in the IT sector.

Dr Zafar Chaudry, Alder Hey Children's and Liverpool Women' s Hospitals chief information officer, said: "Sending one person on a training course often costs thousands of pounds, but with SkillSoft we can use the very same programme to train several people. And if employees want to take their training to the next step by taking a certified test, we can subsidise this small cost having made such a significant saving."

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust provides care for more than 200,000 children and young people each year. It is one of only four stand-alone paediatric trusts in UK and is staffed by 2,800 employees.

Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust specialises in the health of women and their babies - both within the hospital and out in the community and it is the largest women's hospital of its kind in Europe.