Health and Social Care Partnership Scheme

Develop and offer University of Plymouth accredited modules tailored to your staff needs
Partnership
Through the Health and Social Care Partnership Scheme, partnership health and social care providers are able to develop and offer University of Plymouth accredited modules that support local service delivery and enhance post-qualifying professional development opportunities for their staff.

Benefits

Experience to date demonstrates that the scheme offers a number of mutual benefits, including:
  • supporting health and social care delivery; modules can be designed to match specific service/workforce developments
  • cost effective education; modules can be specifically tailored to provider needs and delivered locally
  • responsiveness and flexibility to identified development and workforce needs; modules can be designed, accredited and delivered in a comparatively short period of time to match changing health and social care needs
  • modules designed and delivered by specialist clinical staff
  • improved access to locally delivered professional development opportunities for health and social care staff
  • a system of nationally recognised quality control and assurance for locally delivered courses
  • enhanced relationships and communications between the University and health and social care providers.
 

Resource implications of delivering accredited modules

The intention to develop and deliver accredited University modules should be undertaken as a long-term commitment that has continuing and significant resource implications for the partner organisation. Partnership organisations have to fully resource all aspects of delivery of their accredited modules. University resources can only complement this provision.
Sufficient time needs to be allocated by partner organisations and their staff for a wide range of activities associated with the delivery of accredited modules. These include:
  • lecture preparation and teaching
  • employing (and replacing) suitably qualified module teachers or leaders
  • academic oversight and management of the module
  • preparing timetables and booking outside speakers
  • student support
  • dealing with queries
  • visiting students
  • preparing, updating and liaising with assessors
  • maintaining records
  • marking coursework
  • attending Subject Assessment Panels at the University
  • preparing reports
  • attending annual University partnership workshops
  • payment of University registration fees per student per module
  • maintaining and updating classroom, library and computer based learning resources
  • professional, subject based updating of teaching staff
  • undertaking module evaluations and preparing module reports
  • contributing evidence to periodic quality reviews of University provision undertaken by outside bodies
  • and designating someone to act in the role of Partnership Programme Manager.
Partner organisations are required to provide and present annual reports on accredited modules that affirm the 'health' of the module, the maintenance of academic standards, their ongoing investment in learning resources and the continued suitability of the clinical learning environment.
 

The University accreditation process

The stages of becoming a partner organisation and developing new modules are designed to assure the University, in relation to its own accountability as an accrediting body, that the health or social care provider is sufficiently resourced to consistently meet the University's educational criteria for the delivery of an accredited module(s). This process also helps the partnership organisation to ‘quality assure’ their own educational processes and delivery. Advice and guidance are given at each stage of the process.
At present Health and Social Care providers are not normally charged for the initial approval process, approval visit or subsequent module approvals. Subsequently the University charges the partner organisation for each student they register on each University approved partnership module. This charge, per module, contributes to administrative costs, University registration, academic oversight of the module(s), quality assurance arrangements and external examining, access to the Digital Learning Environment (i.e. teaching and learning resources), and consultation and advice on new module developments.

Partnerships Lead – Louise Winfield

“I work collaboratively with our local partners to develop and deliver a range of varied continuing professional development opportunities for their staff that has repeatedly shown to make a positive impact both on staff careers and patient care.”
Partnerships Lead - Louise Winfield
 

Education coordinators

Through the Health and Social Care Partnership Scheme, health and social care providers are able to develop and offer University of Plymouth accredited modules. The list below is of the authorised individuals in the organisation who can provide further information regarding partnership modules such as module dates, fees, entry requirements and how to apply.
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Rebeca Holden, rebecca.holden3@nhs.net
Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Training team, DPN-TR.training@nhs.net
Livewell Southwest
Joanne Beniston, joanne.beniston@nhs.net
North Devon Hospice
Rachel McCarty, rachelmccarty@northdevonhospice.org.uk
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
Helen Lewis, helen.lewis22@nhs.net