Improving skills to deliver transformative change in the Welsh Health Sector

Descriptions

Improving skills to deliver transformative change in the Welsh Health Sector - Part of the Sector Priorities Fund Pilot (SPFP) Programme for WalesSkills for Health is the employer-led authority on workforce development and skills. Licensed by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, as the UK Sector Skills Council for health, we work closely with employers helping them plan and develop a skilled, flexible and productive workforce to improve the quality and efficiency of health services.A key activity for Skills for Health is to generate intelligence on ways in which employers can be inspired and assisted in developing their businesses through the development of high quality research and intelligence. Such activity is the focus of this invitation.Skills for Health has successfully accessed the SPFP programme for funding of three research projects shaped specifically for the health sector. A full outline of the SPFP programme’s objectives can be viewed on the Welsh Government’s website:http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dcells/publications/130114spfpprospectusen.pdfWe expect these research projects to deliver high quality intelligence, innovative practical recommendations and active employer engagement on three high impact themes and the tender will be divided into three lots to reflect these themes.PLEASE NOT YOU MAY APPLY FOR ALL THREE LOTS HOWEVER WE WILL NOT AWARD ALL THREE TO THE SAME ORGANISATIONLot 1Developing high performance SME businessesLot 2Enhancing the potential for ‘Assistant Practitioner’ rolesLot 3Increasing the uptake of ApprenticeshipsLOT ONE: Developing high performance SME businesses in the Welsh Health sectorAim Enable better engagement from owners and proprietors of Health Sector SMEs in Wales in business and learning support that will help them to improve their businesses and their training and development. ObjectivesIn order to achieve this aim the lot will:•Gain a general understanding of current and future business and skills needs amongst SME health employers in Wales •Understand their motivations behind therunning of their businesses and what types of business and learning support they might wish to undertake •Explore the propensity of different types of SMEs health sector employers to engage in business and skills development activities•Test what approaches health sector SMEs might find useful to inspire and inform productive change for their organisations. Such testing to include the application of consumer and health profiling (such as ACORN health) as well as other similar stimulus materials•Understand how the business and learning support available to health organisations in Wales currently helps them achieve their business ambitions •Provide recommendations to Skills for Health and the Welsh Government on products and services that will help SMEs with different motivations to achieve their business aims and objectivesLOT 2: Assistant/Associate Practitioners in WalesAimThis research aims to understand the current implementation of Assistant/Associate Practitioners across the health sector in Wales including both the NHS and the independent /voluntary sector and to recommend future activities by Welsh Government and Skills for Health to assist in their development. ObjectivesIn order to achieve these aims, the following objectives will need to be met: •Establish a recent history of how Assistant/Associate practitioner roles have been developed throughout Wales, taking into account unique drivers for development in the country including political and geographical context•Develop a forward looking perspective about the development of these roles in Wales•Understand opportunities and barriers to the further development of these roles in Wales•Explore how Assistant Practitioners are recruited to the roles and career progression routes for those in these roles•Explore the current use of qualifications and training provision to assist in the effective development and deployment of these roles in Wales. There will also be a comparison and analysis between the development of Assistant/Associate Practitioner roles in Wales with developments across the rest of UK•Build on our understanding of opportunities and barriers in order to to develop meaningful recommendations to take forward the development of Assistant/Associate Practitioner roles in WalesLOT 3: Increase Participation in Health Apprenticeships across WalesAimProvide recommendations to improve the uptake of apprenticeships amongst health sector employers.ObjectivesIn order to achieve the above aims, the following questions would need to be addressed: •What are the reasons for this lower than anticipated uptake of health apprenticeships across Wales?•What are the opportunities associated with the promotion of health apprenticeships in Wales? •What can be done to improve the uptake of health apprenticeships in Wales? •What models of delivery might improve uptake?•Who do we need to work with to improve uptake? TIMESCALES•Invitation to tender issued 4th February 2013•Deadline for questions and queries14th February 2013•Responses to email questions 18/19th February 2013 •Closing date for bids12 noon - 25th February 2013•Evaluation panel/process Feb w/c 25th February 2013•Contract awarded week commencing w/c 4th March 2013•Projects completed circa three months from contract date