Information Transfer and Priory Group win award for extensive corporate e-learning programme
Information Transfer and Priory Group have won a prestigious E-learning award 2006 for their work on a corporate e-learning programme. The award gave recognition to "the best e-learning project securing widespread adoption."
The programme, Foundations for Growth, is an ongoing project supporting all learning and development activity for Priory Group, Europe's leading provider of independent mental health care for acute, secure, rehabilitation and specialist educational services.
"We're delighted to have been recognised for this collaboration," said Owen Rose, the Information Transfer partner responsible for spearheading the project. "Priory has been great to work with. We've all put in a great deal of effort, and their enthusiasm and commitment have been fantastic."
The blended learning programme has, at its heart, 25 bespoke e-learning modules which help meet key learning objectives for staff working across all of Priory's care services. The learning, delivered to over 5,000 staff at 47 sites, is managed and tracked via bespoke learning management technology developed by Information Transfer. The e-learning also links to offline learning activities, which the learner completes locally, in addition to incorporating classroom training and other development activities.
The content and learning management technology of Foundations for Growth was specifically developed to meet the needs of carers working in a people-focussed environment. Communication, change management and launch events also helped create a user response better than the most optimistic projections. At the end of its first 12 months, a staggering 73,000 e-learning module completions had been recorded, representing over 38,000 training hours delivered! User feedback has been excellent with average approval ratings over 80%.
Encouragingly, the highest approval ratings of all come from among support services staff, (caterers, gardeners etc.), the group who have least regular access to computers. Many specific examples of improvements in care-based practice have been recorded across units, and Foundations for Growth has been praised by regulators (including the Healthcare Commission and Ofsted).
"I am delighted to hear that Foundations for Growth has been recognised with an e-learning award," said Mandy Stevens of the Priory Group's Farmfield Hospital. "The Senior Management team at my hospital fully endorse Foundations for Growth as an innovative, thorough and user-friendly tool which promotes learning and development both within the hospital and company wide. It also gives credence and assurance that there is a high standard of learning, growth and development across the entire workforce. It has been embraced by all."
"Our work at Priory is very personal and very human," said Dr. Chai Patel, Priory Group Chief Executive. "We strive to make a difference to people's lives. By helping each of us to improve our skills, our knowledge and our performance, Foundations for Growth has made an enormous contribution to the realisation of our vision.".
The awards celebrate the best industry has to offer and competition was fierce, with twice as many companies competing for the 11 awards this year. Projects were judged independently by members of the eLearning Network. The awards ceremony, held on 8th November at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, was co-ordinated by e.learning age Magazine and the eLearning Network.
Information Transfer and Priory Group have also been short-listed for the IT Training Awards, to be announced early in 2007.