Health and care academies: supporting nursing staff of the future

Crowle, Sharon
Wigens, Lynne

Authors Sharon Crowle is clinical workforce education lead, James Paget University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and clinical workforce education lead, Norfolk and Waveney Sustainability and Transformation Partnership; Lynne Wigens is East of England region director of nursing, NHS England and NHS Improvement.

Nursing Times 116(11):p 54-55, November 2020.

This article has been double-blind peer reviewed

In this article…

The two types of health and care academy and what participants learn at each
Benefits of participation and the careers paths graduates have taken
How the programme has been rolled out and how it can support the NHS workforce

Abstract

The health and care academy approach is being implemented across the East of England region. Higher-education institutions and healthcare providers worked in partnership to form two types of academy to encourage young people to consider a career in health and social care: a half-day junior academy for 14-15-year-olds and a longer, structured senior academy for those aged 17-19. As well as gaining life skills and confidence from the programmes, many academy graduates have progressed into healthcare training. A regional roll-out of the academy approach has been funded, and nine health and care academies are being developed.