Accreditation for high standards in education and development

The Health Academy at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded with a national quality standard for excellence in education and development.

The matrix standard is a quality framework for organisations to assess and measure the support that they provide for individuals in their choice of career, learning, work and life goals. In particular, the matrix accreditation looks at the information, advice and guidance offered to learners.

The Health Academy was successfully awarded the accreditation and received positive feedback specifically related to the way that the organisation is led and managed due to the clear importance placed on education by the hospitals as a whole, and the importance of the health academies in providing a facility and forum for learning. The team was also recognised for their focus on the wider organisational values being well embedded into recruitment and selection.

The team were also praised for the way in which the service is being delivered. Primarily, the Health Academy was celebrated for the range of programmes aimed at developing individuals and “growing their own”. The LIFE Centre received particular accolade for its role in supporting individuals to take up careers in health and social care.

The accreditation recognised the wealth of practical experience in a hospital environment provided to learners. It was recognised that there is a fantastic support structure and consistent guidance offered by Medical Education Facilitators and Clinical Practice Facilitators to coach individuals through their progression. This includes the development of relevant skills, giving them what they believe to be ‘an edge’ over others.

Karen Swindley, Workforce and Education Director at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: “We are so pleased that our Health Academy has achieved this accreditation. This is testament to all of the hard work and commitment of our staff in ensuring that we provide a culture of learning and development. We are proud to be a teaching hospital, and as such work hard to ensure that we are providing these opportunities to develop.”