1,000th NHS trainer achieves TAP (R) qualification
When Chantal Brookes, a trainer from the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, was awarded a TAP (R) Certificate in Training Delivery Skills on 25 April, she became the 1,000th person working for the English NHS to have achieved a qualification within the Trainer Assessment Programme since its launch in 1998. No other employer worldwide has 1,000 in-house trainers externally certified to the same standard.
Chantal feels that it is a privilege to have played such a central role in this milestone for the National Health Service.
She joined the Trust's training team in December 2004 from her previous role as an IT lecturer at a Further Education college and had previously completed a Certificate in Education focused on teaching in Further Education. Commenting on the difference between the two qualifications she said:
"I loved every minute of the TAP Delivery Skills Refresher course. Initially I had expected that lecturing in IT and working as an IT Trainer would be very similar. However I now realise that there is a big difference. Traditional lecturing tends to be more about talking at learners and leaving them to develop their own skills, whereas effective training involves constant coaching and engagement in a two-way conversation through which the learners' knowledge and skills are developed."
Jean Cox, Senior Customer Services Manager at the Trust commented: "The first members of our staff that went through the TAP Delivery Skills Refresher course could not praise it highly enough, which is why we have continued to put all our trainers through the programme. When we are looking for new trainers this is the qualification we are looking for; they will either have, or work towards, TAP Certification."
Nick Mitchell, The Training Foundation's Chief Executive, commented: "It hardly seems possible that less than two years have passed since Gary Turnbull of Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health Trust became the 500th NHS trainer to become TAP-certified. TAP certification is now a de facto standard within the Service, widely adopted by trainers across all disciplines.'
Speaking in 2003 Gary Turnbull commented: "Within the role of IM&T Trainer/ ECDL Test Centre Manager I provide a wide range of training. Now the TAP® training methodology provides the 'backbone' to all of my training sessions. I feel that the TAP programme is a vital tool whatever the subject matter and could be used in sessions ranging from IT Training to First Aid Training throughout the NHS."
Nick Mitchell continued; "2005 is proving to be a significant year for The Training Foundation. In May we became the first training organisation in 40 years to be awarded the UK's most prestigious business accolade, the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation. The Innovation Award recognised the creation and continuous development of TAP® by The Training Foundation since 1998 and its proven success in raising the quality of training across the spectrum of both private and public sector organisations.'
Diane Benjamin, Head of Health Informatics Standards Development, NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre, explained the reasons behind NHS support of the TAP programme; "There is a growing acceptance of the important role the skilled trainer fulfils. We are concerned that NHS trainers and those contracted in to supply training are appropriately qualified to carry out this role. The TAP Certificate in Training Delivery skills, awarded following assessment under the Trainer Assessment Programme is now a de facto standard in the UK and is our recommended standard. Current work on National Occupational Standards for Health Informatics staff reinforces the need for competence-based professional qualifications which provide the skills needed in the workplace."