The Learning Hub will be a powerful new digital platform that will provide easy access to a wide range of education and training resources for the health and care workforce.  It is being developed by Health Education England’s (HEE) national Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Programme.

The Learning Hub’s Service team is making significant progress on the technical requirements for the platform’s functionality for the Beta launch, early in 2020.

Over the past few months key areas of the Learning Hub’s design have been shared with users from all over the UK and from a variety of NHS, health and care backgrounds.  The Learning Hub team’s focus on user research is ensuring that users are central to the platform’s design; listening to the needs of the users and upholding the commitment to deliver a Learning Hub that meets the learning requirements of the health and care workforce.

The ability for users to share content across NHS communities and the wider health and care sector forms the cornerstone of the Learning Hub. As part of the process for making this possible, a series of one-to-one task-driven user research sessions were recently carried out. Each session focused on understanding how users interact with screen designs and testing vital user journeys, while also gathering invaluable feedback and thoughts on how improvements can be made to the existing designs to make this specific user journey as user-friendly as possible.

The uptake on these sessions has been very good and feedback gathered has already been shared with the service team designers; generating fresh ideas on how to further improve this part of the development and design of the Learning Hub.

In sharing his experience of being involved in the user research exercise John Battersby, Training and Workforce Lead, Public Health England, said: “First impressions of the prototype screens for uploading and managing resources on the Learning Hub are really positive.

“The interface looks clean and allows a logical workflow. Everything is very intuitive and easy to use.”

The Learning Hub team is calling for individuals with resources they wish to share and contribute to the platform to email to begin discussions in readiness for the Learning Hub’s launch.

For more information about the Learning Hub

• Follow us on Twitter: @HEE_TEL
• email us
• Read blogs about our journey so far or
• Read more about Technology enhanced learning from HEE 

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

• NIHR provide this online charge free of charge. It does require a little time to register but there is no charge.  An NHS e-mail is needed.  Enrol here

e-Learning For Health (eLfH)

• There is lots of useful material on the eLfH website and this includes a series of modules which have been assembled to address the requirements for doctors and dentists.
• eLfH, like NIHR needs an NHS e-mail but is free to use.

Good Clinical Practice (GCP)

• GCP Is a requirement for OMFS STs at CCT. It is also , but is a valuable course for all of those who might be dealing with patients who are part of a clinical research programme. It will take 4 or so hours to complete.

Granule

• Granule is another course which sits alongside GCP. It is also on the NIHR website. It is targeted at students or anyone new to research. It consists of a series of videos with some interactive questions. about 90 minutes work

Research and Audit on E-Learning for Health (eLfH)

• e-Face 16_08 – Research: There are a full set of modules which, if completed, will tick the needed box for ‘research methodology’ requirement at OMFS CCT. Complete all the modules to generate your certificate. Approximately 8 hours work.

Module 1 Research and Audit Core Knowledge

• There is an overlap between research and audit in principle and also on eLfH. This module is a series of courses which cover a lot of areas.

Module 2 Perioperative Improvement Science and Management (PRISM-ed)

• Focussed on audit, but also includes human factors.

e-Face is an online resource within e-lfh with lots of OMFS material which is aimed at DCTs working in OMFS and new STs in OMFS. It also includes modules on generic professional skills.   It was put together some years ago by Carrie Newlands and Daljit Dhariwal and kept up to date for BAOMS by Jason Green.

Medical Skills in OMFS

• Is a good package to recommend to new STs but especially for your DCTs. Worth being familiar with so you can direct and support your DCTs or introduce CTs to the specialty. It includes managing the unwell patient.

Oral surgery and the principles of care of the elective surgical patient

• Includes Radiology in oral surgery, Pre and post-operative care in oral surgery and Assessment of the dental patient

Facial pain

• Covers facial and dental pain.

Essentials of good oral and maxillofacial surgery practice

• Includes, ethics and professionalism

Other OMFS modules

• Craniofacial trauma, Head and neck oncology, Salivary glands, Facial deformity, Head and neck infections, Surgical dermatology and Craniofacial surgery