NHS Yorkshire and the Humber has established, with the SFA and other stakeholders, a strategic partnership to bring together the workforce development needs of NHS organisations and the priorities of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). The SFA supports and funds education and training, through a network of approved providers; key stakeholders are Skills for Health, RDA and Job Centre Plus.
Please see below details of the funding and support available to NHS organisations from the LSC and updates on the work carried out through the partnership.
Qualifications and support available
Benefits of the partnership
The intention is that the partnership will influence the development of the SFA's future priorities and provision.
The key benefits of the partnership are:
- match of strategic objectives and priorities
- closer link between needs of employer and SFA funded provision
- providing a focal point for channelling SFA resources into the region
- maximising the benefits from the resources of both organisations
Benefits already realised include greater dialogue between the partners and better communication to NHS Employers of the SFA resources available to support workforce development needs.
Qualifications and support available
Funding is available from the SFA to support the achievement of nationally accredited qualifications up to level 4. These qualifications will normally be listed on the National Qualifications Framework. Funding is available to support the direct costs of delivering the training, but not for salary replacement, travel costs or learning resources such as books.
Details can be found in the SHA Funding Guide - please click on the link below to access the document:
Multi Professional T&E Funding Guide - Version 2 (509.6KB)
The SFA can provide support to enable NHS organisations to undertake activities that support workforce development.
Skills Pledge
The Skills Pledge is a voluntary public commitment by the leader of an organisation to support all its employees to develop their basic skills, including literacy and numeracy, and work towards relevant vocational qualifications to at least a Level 2 (equivalent to 5 good GCSEs).
It is a government initiative which follows from recommendations made by Lord Leitch in his report on Skills which found that England lagged behind its economic competitors in terms of education and training.
The Skills Pledge is not a contractual commitment, it is a statement that an organisation will actively encourage and support its employees to gain the skills and qualifications that will support their future employability and meet the needs of the organisation.
NHS Yorkshire and the Humber recently signed up to the pledge which commits us to encouraging and supporting SHA employees to gain vocational skills and qualifications.
For further information on how your organisation can register their interest in making the pledge, please contact christine.peake@yorksandhumber.nhs.uk
Joint investment framework
In September 2007 the NHS and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) announced a three year national agreement on funding for national vocational qualifications. Through this agreement, brokered by Skills for Health, the SFA will provide, in the first year, an average of £5 million of matched funding per SHA for the first Level 2 qualification. The Joint Investment Framework (JIF) will be managed by the NHS/SFA Partnership in this region. More information on how this will operate will be disseminated via members of the partnership sub regional groups.
