Heartbeat: Unity end user training now underway – are you booked?
August 20, 2018
The process to get nearly 5,500 of us trained in how to use Unity started on Monday 13 August and will run through to Friday 26 October.
Twenty four courses are on offer ranging from ‘inpatient HCA’ to ‘consultant and doctor’. However, with a huge number of colleagues to train over the next few months there is still over 2,000 of us who have not booked on to training.
The great thing is once you are trained, you can have access to the Unity Play System to enable you to keep your newly learned skills fresh, as well as practice in a safe environment and raise questions you might have.
Heartbeat caught up with Paula Gardner, Chief Nurse and executive lead for Unity training who explained more.
“Unity will affect each and every one of us, and will change how we work and look after our patients. Colleagues need to realise that these training sessions are mandatory and essential for their work. We all need to know how to use Unity to safely treat our patients, and therefore, colleagues are expected to attend training.
“We have now reached a stage where anyone not currently booked should do so as a matter of urgency. If colleagues have not booked on by Tuesday 28 August, all non-booked staff will be automatically booked on to appropriate training and required to attend those sessions as a reasonable management request.”
It is the responsibility of everyone to look at the training schedules on Connect and ensure they are booked on. There are plenty of dates available with spaces on each date. Line managers are asked to ensure their staff are aware of the dates, and that they are planning cover, backfill and sorting rosters, so please get yourself organised and liaise with your line manager. It is critical that you are booked on, and plan for the course location and travel time accordingly.
The great thing is once you are trained, you can have access to the Unity Play System to enable you to keep your newly learned skills fresh, as well as practice in a safe environment and raise questions you might have.
Colleague feedback about the training
We caught up with colleagues attending the first day of training on one of the inpatient therapy courses.
Principal Physio – Frail Elderly and Medicine, Suzanne Miles is already trained as a digital champion, she said: “The training has been a really helpful refresher on how the system works. It has been a logical and easy to follow set of training that has given me a lot of confidence ahead of go-live.”
Rotational Physiotherapist, Tom Mahoney is also a digital champion, he added: “The training has been really good. The more you get exposed to Unity the more used to it you get.”
Senior Occupational Therapist, Joanna O’Donoghue said: “I was anxious about coming on the training, but now that I’ve seen how Unity works I’m not so worried.”
Managers can book their teams onto the training via Connect. If you would like a member of the Unity team to come to your area to assist with the booking of your staff, please contact swbh.informaticsbookings@nhs.net with your availability and a contact number, and arrangements will be made at a suitable time for you. The team will also help with any queries regarding the training and the booking system.