outcomes so that the project can be developed further. Enhancing the education and training of the health and social care workforce Evaluation of the lead mentor role Dr Sinead Mehigan and Kathy Wilson are undertaking two linked projects following on from an earlier scoping of practice learning and models of mentorship across NCEL. The first is an evaluation of the lead mentor role as a model to provide additional support for mentors in facilitating a positive student learning experience. The need for additional support/ time for the mentor in practice was a dominant theme in many interviews and particularly featured in discussions with placement facilitators in the earlier scoping and was also reflected in data collected from the mentor questionnaire. In two trusts a lead mentor or key mentor role has been established with responsibilities for the co-ordination of student learning and one other trust has recently developed a role descriptor for a similar role. This role is typically undertaken by a senior mentor who is identified as the main contact for all communications regarding the student allocation, oversees the monitoring of the learning experience of the student in that area and provides guidance and support to the other mentors locally. In one of these trusts the lead/key role is afforded protected time though in others time has to be negotiated with the ward manager and so models do vary. The aim of this project is to evaluate current initiatives, identify the potential benefits against other models and propose a core model that will provide additional support for mentors and enhance the student learning experience in practice. Decision-making in regards to placement capacity The second project aims to analyse the decision-making processes regarding student/placement capacity and develop key criteria to support more effective and consistent allocation of student numbers and access to available learning opportunities. This was one of the recommendations from the earlier scoping , and has potential for exploring the possibility of developing clearer guidance to support decisions regarding placement capacity. Kathy and Sinead have also been involved in a project to support learning opportunities in GP practices. Middlesex University have been coordinating a project, on behalf of Health Education North Central and East London involving the LETB, HEI representatives as well as representatives from all 9 Community Education Network Providers (CEPNs) working collaboratively to develop the practice nurse workforce and promote practice nurse placements for pre-registration nursing students. This reflects the HE-NCEL Nursing and Midwifery Education and Primary Care Strategy. Practice nurse placements have occasionally been utilised for nursing student placements though access to these areas has been challenging in a
maximise language learning efficiency and autonomy. We were very impressed with the dedication of the nurses who stated that they had enjoyed the course and gained new skills and confidence in their work. We very much enjoyed working with all at NMUH on this enriching project and we would welcome the opportunity to work on similar projects in future. Evaluation of the Islington Community Education Provider Network Super Hub. Professor Michael Traynor and Dr Kevin Corbett were commissioned by the Islington Community Education Provider Network (CEPN) which focuses on local joint learning for service improvement, to carry out an evaluation of their CEPN Super Hub. The CEPN aims to align health and social care service providers, community groups and education providers, in order to focus on developing a learning community. The Islington Super Hub is a workstream of the Islington CEPN which aids the learning and development of community nursing and new apprentices. The Super Hub and the CEPN are hosted by Islington Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Our approach was similar to that of Pawson and Tilley called ‘realistic evaluation’ (Pawson and Tilley 1997). This approach assumes that material causal relationships emerge around new initiatives, such as the CEPN and the Super Hub. It also assumes that local participants have special relevance for the successful implementation and evaluation of such initiatives by enabling a particular focus on the real world links between context, mechanism and outcome. In order to evaluate the context, mechanism and outcome of the Super Hub we undertook an electronic survey of 277 staff which included district nurses and health visitors employed by Whittington Health (an Integrated Care Organisation), practice nurses and practice managers employed in Islington general practices, and care home managers employed in Islington care homes, as well as 36 pre-registration BSc Nursing students. Twenty in-depth telephone interviews were also conducted with members of the above staff groups in order to collect qualitative data. Our evaluation found that staff in the ICO thought Integrated Care: has positive effects; helps collaborative working; enables professionals to work with others across all care settings; helps develop a flexible workforce who can work across primary, community and acute care. A range of useful mechanisms and outcomes were identified for workforce development and planning. Staff were also found to be heavily engaged in and highly motivated to develop Integrated Care. Based on our evaluation a number of recommendations were made, and can be seen in the main report