Vital training for former NHS staff who are re-joining the workforce to help fight the Coronavirus pandemic will be provided by the University, starting next week.
It follows a call from NHS England for former nurses and other healthcare professionals who have left their profession in the last three years to return, to boost their workforce to provide expert patient care in the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From resuscitation to infection prevention and control, colleagues in the Faculty of Health Science team will deliver training through online video conferencing platforms in order to update their essential skills required to provide the highest standard of patient care.
Deborah Robinson, Faculty Director of Professional External Engagement, who is leading on the project, said: “Former staff returning to the NHS to assist with the COVID-19 response will provide a significant boost to the healthcare workforce.
“By helping them get up to date with their mandatory training needs and providing learning support, they will be able to be mobilised as quickly as possible.
“We are immensely proud to be able to support them and the NHS in these unprecedented times in this way.”
The training also includes manual handling, safeguarding and equality and diversity as well as fire safety.
Natalie Teal, Co-Director of Simulation and Clinical Skills in the Faculty of Health Sciences, said: “More than 7,500 former NHS staff have already responded to the government’s call to re-join the health service to expand the workforce.
“Along with final year student nurses – they are one of the main elements of the NHS’s drive to ensure it is ready to provide expert patient care in the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak. As a faculty, we are committed to providing support to all those joining the workforce.
“Special thanks go to Lifesize video conferencing platforms who have upgraded our system free of charge to enable us to deliver this training.”