Employer Case Study
As a UK healthcare apprenticeship training provider, tend understands balance more than most.
When King’s College Hospital approached us to help them achieve their goals, our team knew exactly what was needed to ensure that balance was maintained for the long term.
It’s a delicate balance for care providers to strike. The tightrope walk that is maintaining high standards of contemporary care, whilst also complying with regulatory requirements, and fostering various levels of exceptional leadership.
In this healthcare apprenticeship success story, we’ll reveal how we provided one of the UK’s best-known care organisations the balancing pole they needed to walk the line of care excellence, and never falter.
What is King’s College Hospital?
King’s College Hospital (also referred to as KCH) is one of London’s largest and busiest teaching hospitals. Located in the London Borough of Lambeth, it serves a population of over 1 million people.
Established in 1840, KCH has a rich history. Known for its specialised services in areas such as liver disease, neurosciences, and transplantation, it is recognised for its innovation in healthcare, including pioneering surgical techniques and significant contributions to medical research. The hospital is also a major trauma centre, playing a crucial role in providing care to both local and international patients.
The challenge: elevating and already-excellent care provider
Our team looked at the hospital’s current situation in deep detail. Right away, we knew that healthcare apprenticeship training would be an invaluable component of the solution we would build out for KCH.
tend identified their primary needs and made a plan to:
- Upskill healthcare staff to ensure the highest care standards in an evolving sector
- Meet and surpass compliance regulations and requirements
- Foster exceptional leadership at a variety of levels
- Meet the set Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker (SHCSW) standards
- Improve data literacy across teams
Now we had what needed to be done, our task was to design and facilitate a plan to achieve it.
The beauty of tend UK healthcare training programmes is that we can tailor them to specific needs, and provide flexibility in areas more generalised training providers are less able to recognise.
Our team set to work designing a way forward that included:
- Bespoke training pathways that adhered to SHCSW standards, while improving data analytics and streamlining operations
- Learning aligned with national healthcare criteria
- An equal mix of theoretical knowledge and practical skills
- Continuous support for learners and line managers
Customising apprenticeships to the organisation’s specific needs addressed their immediate and long-term goals, while also enabling apprentices to gain hands-on skills directly applicable to their roles – skills that could be applied in the workplace instantly. This ensured an immediate, positive impact on patient care and operational efficiency.
All these elements together would not only keep the training relevant and impactful, but also maximise outcomes for King’s College Hospital’s teams, and ultimately, those receiving care.
- Improved efficiency through learning: Completing apprenticeships enabled KCH staff to develop advanced data analytics skills, support timely decision-making, streamline operations, and improve operational performance.
- Enhanced patient care quality: tend apprenticeships adhere to national healthcare standards, equipping staff with up-to-date patient care best practices. Strengthened compliance ensures patients receive consistently high-quality care.
- Increased employee retention rates: KCH’s apprenticeships have boosted morale among learners. Staff report heightened confidence and job satisfaction, plus a stronger commitment to their roles within the hospital.
- Substantial gains in operational efficiency and patient care: After witnessing a significant enhancement of efficient operations and care quality, a further 92 staff members enrolled in the Senior Healthcare Support Worker (SHCSW) apprenticeship over the course of 11 months, demonstrating the programme’s relevance and value.
King’s College Hospital were also able to maximise apprenticeship levy funds, which they reinvested in workforce development, ensuring this level of sustainable growth and improvement across departments.
Why care providers choose tend
Balancing excellence with compliance while keeping things cost effective can be challenging. As a trusted healthcare training provider, tend’s deep understanding of the care sector means that the service we provide goes beyond the training alone.
When you make us your partner in success, we:
- Deliver the highest-quality education for learners, delivered by Development Coaches with sector-specific experience
- Help care providers, facilities and services stay ahead of changes and trends
- Improve healthcare staff retention and boost team morale
- Reduce healthcare recruitment costs by providing free services, plus no-cost support with enrolment and funding opportunities
We do much more than train UK healthcare teams, and we do that exceptionally well, as proven by our 99% success rate. This is why tend is often employers’ first choice for health and social care training in the UK. We’re proud to be a trusted healthcare training provider.
As a sector specialist training provider, tend also keeps a close eye on what’s possible for its valued employers. If there are savings to be made, our team will find them. We’ll assist you in making the most of what’s possible.
Organisations like King’s College Hospital are why we do what we do. By creating careers with heart, and skills with purpose, and facilitating UK healthcare workforce development
we are helping to bolster the care teams of tomorrow. Seeing our valued employers take excellence to a whole new level is proof that we repeatedly get the balance right.
Upskill your healthcare workforce with tend to maximise outcomes and achieve balance in your organisation. Reach out to our team today. Call 01753 596 004, or email info@tendtraining.co.uk.
