1 November 2022
The NHS Leadership Academy
The NHS Leadership Academy (NHS LA) was established in 2012 on the back of the Francis report of the Mid Staffordshire Trust public inquiry. The Academy’s ambition is to develop inclusive and compassionate leaders across health and care, to improve staff engagement and ultimately improve patient care and population health. The Academy delivers leadership and management development programmes for health and care staff at every level, and the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson MSc programme has been a part of the portfolio of programmes since the Academy’s inception.
Anderson Programme
The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (Anderson) programme is a well-established and fully accredited programme that leads to NHS Leadership Academy Award in Senior Healthcare Leadership and a Master’s in Healthcare Leadership. It has been designed for any middle to senior level leader responsible for other leaders and aspiring to take on a more senior role while, at the same time, looking to have a wider impact by leading a culture of compassion and inclusion. It is an incredibly popular programme with 3200 alumni, is consistently oversubscribed and has more than 1,000 on the expression of interest list.
Level 7 Senior Leader and Anderson
The NHS LA is keen to extend the reach of the Anderson programme in line with the NHS People Plan, the NHS Long Term Plan and the Messenger report, and is aware that the health and care sector is becoming increasingly eager to utilise the levy and apprenticeships for recruitment and development.
The current providers of the Anderson Programme have converted the existing programme to the Senior Leader Apprenticeship (SLA) which required some significant academic redesign in order to comply with the legal and regulatory requirements of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and the need to keep the programme broadly within the 2-year timeframe. They have commenced delivery of the Anderson SLA as a pilot consisting of 4 cohorts (192 participants).
Anderson Licence
The NHS LA has successfully used a licensing model with other programmes such as the Mary Seacole programme for first-time leaders, enabling apprenticeship providers to purchase a licence, map the content to the apprenticeship standard and embed it within their delivery.
The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson SLA Licence will cost £41,180, which is a one-off payment. No profit will be made by the NHS LA from this licence, the cost covers virtual campus, training of facilitators, quality assurance and admin fees. The licence is for 5 years with a 2-year exit clause.
As an example, for 2 cohorts (96 learners), the potential levy received would be £1,344,000, however as there is no upper limit to the number of learners, there is no limit on the potential earnings. As participant numbers go up, costs per participant go down ensuring a better return on investment.
We are expected to deliver the programme across England, and therefore encourage providers from every region to contact the NHS LA to discuss further. Providers will be encouraged to work collaboratively to ensure geographic spread across England, with an expectation for workshops to be face to face delivery unless otherwise agreed (eg, virtual universities).
Our expectations
Interested providers will need to be able to demonstrate excellent feedback from employers and apprentices. As Ofsted becomes the norm, providers will require a continuous Good or Excellent Ofsted rating.
Interested providers will also need proven equality, diversity, and inclusion and carbon-zero credentials. Preferable to have proven health and care engagement.
Providers will be expected to design the Senior Leader Apprenticeship (SLA) utilising the existing Anderson programme as is with wrap around modules, ensuring compliance with ESFA standards. The SLA must be a minimum of 2 years in length and include the master’s qualification. In addition to the £14,000 levy, providers can charge a top up fee of £2500 – £3500 for face-to-face delivery and £1500 – £2500 for virtual delivery per person, ensuring compliance with ESFA funding rules.
NHS LA and experienced delivery partners will train and monitor the provider’s facilitators through face-to-face workshops and a buddy system for the duration of the first cohort delivery. Quality assurance and evaluation of the programme will be built throughout the licence. The training includes NHS LA Diversity, Inclusion, Power and Practice (DIPP) workshop which will aid in building their skills and knowledge around equality, diversity, and inclusion in their own practice.
The expectation is that the provider will have the ability/capacity to deliver a minimum of 2 cohorts per year (96 learners) for their own benefit, with no upper limit subject to market interest. NHS LA current understanding of the market is that there is high demand for the Anderson programme which will only increase in response to the Messenger review.
The SLA will be co-branded. Learners will benefit by graduating with a triple award; the NHS Leadership Academy Award in Senior Healthcare Leadership, a Master’s in Healthcare Leadership and a Level 7 apprenticeship.
The NHS LA will provide support around the marketing of the apprenticeship, utilising our well-established relationships with organisations across the health and social care system.
Contact
To discuss this licence opportunity in further detail please email Corinna Thomas, Senior Programme Lead – [email protected]