This innovation project will allow the exploration of workforce development, clinical service leads and advanced practitioners requirements to be made available in Northamptonshire to address Continuous Practice Development (CPD) requirements for staff. This involves partnership working to address relevant workforce needs in three phases and includes an evaluation component.

Phase 1: A series of marketed online (virtual) drop in focus group discussions targeted at clinical service leads, advanced practitioners, matrons and work force development.

Phase 2: A series of marketed “Career clinics” targeted to address the needs of postgraduate health professionals held at linked hospitals (x5) within Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire.

Phase 3: An evaluation form at the induction of programme/module/study day addressing the applicants’ journey to enrolment. This will include career advice, marketing roles, administration support and timeframes.

The project aims to capture and retain healthcare staff in postgraduate courses that are relevant to individual career aspirations and continuous practice development in Northamptonshire. This will be achieved through targeting each of the five-hospital trust and healthcare sites linked to UoN undergraduate education (Northampton General, Kettering General, Milton Keynes General, St Andrews and Berrywood) with career clinics. These clinics will be tailored to trusts’ and practitioner requirements, drawn from learning from the focus group discussions with clinical service leads, advanced practitioners, matrons and work force development. The career clinics will raise the profile of postgraduate education for healthcare practitioners at Northamptonshire, presenting UoN as a preferable option to complete their CPD training. This will result in increased engagement in the University of Northampton’s postgraduate healthcare courses and ensure validated courses are appropriate to practitioners’ career aspirations.

Covid 19 contingency: The focus group discussions are currently planned to be virtual to ensure multiple access to sites, the career clinics are to be based onsite with virtual engagement however this could be virtual if required. The evaluation component is at UoN induction and could be virtual if students are required to engage virtually.