Arden University helps Nottinghamshire upskill to build a better, stronger integrated care system

The problem: Upskilling during a challenging time

The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS) aims to improve outcomes in population health, tackle inequalities, enhance productivity, ensure value for money and support broader social and economic development.

As people are now living longer, with multiple, complex, long-term conditions, patients are increasingly requiring support from many different services and professionals.  This means to ensure services continue to meet the needs of the population, there is a requirement to strengthen and streamline connectivity between health and social care, including GPs, hospitals, care homes and mental health services.

During a difficult time for the NHS, The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System wanted to be able to develop health and social care senior leaders, so they are able to collaborate with their ICS colleagues to tackle pertinent issues across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

The solution: Efficient and effective learning

As the ICS is less than two years old, its leaders must have strategic leadership and management skills, as well as strong knowledge of health and social care.  However, a lot of the postgraduate diplomas or master’s programmes available to develop these skills, as well as provide a recognised chartered management qualification, are not health and care focused.

To address this, Arden University worked with the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICS to devise a Level 7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship plus Executive MBA contextualised Health and Care Programme, which takes 24 months excluding end point assessment (this takes around 3 months).  This can be completed remotely, to ensure it appeals to employees and fits around their working and home life.

By partnering with Arden University, the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICS was able to offer its staff the chance to join a unique apprenticeship programme that was tailored to the demands and needs of the health and care sector.  Arden developed the Health and Care Programme to shape the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours of clinical or non-clinical, mid-tier leaders to enable their development as outstanding leaders.

The contextualised course awards an executive MBA, CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice, ILM Diploma in Leadership and Management and Chartered Manager status.

The results: Executive MBA certified staff ready to lead the ICS

Covering topics such as strategy, leading teams and organisations, financial management and managing digital transformation, the course leaves employees with a strong skillset and mindset that reflects the sector’s current and future needs.

This programme has further allowed the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICS to support employees with career development.  So far, this approach and investment in staff has increased employee motivation and engagement, allowing apprentices to feel more valued.  The course will further continue to boost the confidence and competence of ICS staff looking to apply for more senior positions.