National Healthcare Regulator

Revolutionising training feedback for a national healthcare regulator.

Every NHS trust in the UK is overseen by a national regulator that supports the provision of high-quality healthcare services and aims to continuously improve patient care across the United Kingdom. At the heart of this mission lies the commitment to nurturing excellence in healthcare professionals through education and training programs shaping the future healthcare workforce. This focus on quality assurance and continuous improvement led to the establishment of the National Education and Training Survey (NETS). NETS is powered by SmartSurvey and serves as a key tool in assessing the effectiveness of education and training programs for healthcare professionals.

In this case study, we delve into the partnership between SmartSurvey and the regulator, exploring how NETS empowers them to drive positive change and elevate standards within the healthcare education landscape. By leveraging the comprehensive data gathered through NETS, the regulator can identify areas of excellence, pinpoint areas for improvement, and implement targeted interventions to ensure the ongoing delivery of exceptional healthcare education and training.

Problem

Prior to implementing the National Education and Training Survey (NETs), the regulator faced several challenges in assessing the effectiveness of education and training within the healthcare sector. There was a lack of a cohesive, sophisticated system to gather feedback from the vast number of learners (approximately 240,000) spread across the country. Existing surveys were disparate, basic, and not equipped to cover the entire nation or to generate meaningful, actionable insights. The need was to have a comprehensive survey tool that could not only reach all learners across England but also align with the wider strategic goals of the national health service, specifically assessing against their 49 standards of education quality. Previous solutions were unreliable and not able to handle the scale of responses and there was also a gap in the technical knowledge in the team with how to implement such a complex digital solution to reach and make sense of the data collected from an audience close to quarter of million professionals.

Solution

SmartSurvey was introduced to address this gap by providing a bespoke, sophisticated survey solution that was previously unavailable. The platform empowered the regulator to run NETS which was a unique and complex project given its scale and the need for bespoke functionality. SmartSurvey provided not just licenses to the software but also a managed service that went beyond just deploying a survey; it involved understanding the regulator's specific needs, including technical requirements, and delivering a solution that could collect

and manage data effectively. This solution enabled them to gather meaningful data across the whole country, linking directly to their strategic standards and objectives. The managed service was key in bridging the technical gap on the NETS project team with SmartSurvey able to provide data analytics consultancy and creation of a complex dashboard, combined with project consultancy to ensure the software and its capability was used effectively to achieve the required outcomes.

Results

NETS is now in its fifth year – not only signifying the importance of the data collected but also the relationship and service delivered by the SmartSurvey team.

Gathering direct feedback from learners has been instrumental for the regulator, enabling a thorough evaluation of compliance with its 49 educational standards. This process not only pinpointed areas of excellence and identified where enhancements were necessary but also shed light on good practices across the country. Through this feedback mechanism, they have gained valuable insights, leading to a clearer understanding of its educational performance and the necessary steps for improvement.

From 2021 to 2023, there was a notable positive trend in the quality of the learning experience across various indicators, reflecting enhancements in the educational environment and practice placements/training posts.

These improvements include:

• Overall educational experience increased from 84.19% in 2021 to 85.30% in 2023
• Overall quality of supervision rose from 87.48% in 2021 to 88.13% in 2023
• Inductions improved from 83.12% in 2021 to 85.15% in 2023
• Range of learning opportunities went up from 83.88% in 2021 to 85.78% in 2023
• Ability to learn from other professions increased from 86.70% in 2021 to 87.83% in 2023
• Moreover, 87.25% of learners reported greater satisfaction with how much the people in charge value education and training, underscoring the significance of fostering an environment that prioritizes educational quality.

The incorporation of NETs survey data into the regulator’s strategic planning has not only provided a foundation for targeted improvements and interventions but has also demonstrated a commitment to uplifting the standards of healthcare education and training across England. The survey's success in generating actionable insights marks a pivotal step towards achieving the wider goal of delivering exceptional healthcare education and training, ensuring a well-prepared and skilled future healthcare workforce.