The Department of Health and Social Care has opened a preliminary market engagement to support plans to develop a national workforce development framework and curriculum designed to promote consistency in skills, competencies, training, and professional development.
With a maximum value of £1.3 million, the contract is split into two phases, with the first to establish the framework covering core competencies and skills, guidance on supervision models, advice on career progression, and principles for continuing professional development. An evidence and landscape review, along with structured stakeholder engagement, will also be carried out and fed into a report setting out baseline competencies and recommendations.
Phase two will move on to training design and development, with the chosen supplier to develop a baseline national training curriculum in line with phase one, including core knowledge and skills, specialist learning content, and learning materials suitable for digital and blended delivery. An independent quality review will be conducted, before work with NHSE’s tech and enhanced learning team will reportedly support digitisation and testing.
Suppliers should be able to demonstrate expertise in areas across work and health, stakeholder engagement, competency framework development, and curriculum design, according to DHSC. Feedback is sought on current capabilities to help define the procurement strategy, and interested parties are given until 10 July for engagement.
A tender notice is expected around 3o July, with the contract to run from October 2026 to October 2028 with a possible extension to October 2030.
Wider trend: Workforce skills
For a session exploring best practices around building workforce digital literacy and skills, HTN was joined by an expert panel from across the health sector, including Shanker Vijayadeva, GP lead – digital transformation in primary care, London Region, NHS England; Neill Crump, associate director for innovation and partnerships at The Dudley Group and Sandwell and West Birmingham; and Rebecca Ellis, associate director for education at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Findings from phase one of the Scottish Government’s Future Medical Workforce Project have been published, noting mixed feelings on the future use of AI, a need to focus on the basics, and a desire for greater IT enablement. More than 200 doctors attending focus groups and over 1,800 doctors sharing their views through a national survey contributed to the report, which asked for insight into how the role of a doctor needs to evolve, what makes a medical career sustainable and fulfilling, how workforce planning can be improved, and what the workforce might look like in 2045.
South Yorkshire ICB has launched three digital strategies designed to modernise services, strengthen cyber resilience, and empower its workforce with digital skills to continue to deliver safe and effective care. Published alongside the digital and cyber strategies, the ICB sets out planned actions in its digital workforce and skills strategy, including the creation of professional networks for digital training colleagues to support the sharing of resources, and a review of current training programmes. It also plans to look at current approaches to the assessment of digital skills across the system, with the intention of better matching training to individual needs and role requirements. Partnerships will be explored with education providers to support training demand, and a system-wide digital skills training plan will be developed to support delivery.
