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Training and induction

For further information on all training matters please contact your regional training facilitator (RTF) or Chris Dye, Head of Training & Development at eventline@apcomm.nhs.uk or call the Helpline on 0870 240 3801.

Regional news

All regions now have a calendar of events issued quarterly outlining the events being held nationally and locally. These are normally distributed through chairs, but if you have difficulty accessing one, please contact your RTF. Sue Bedward, the RTF for West Midlands is currently on maternity leave, but we are expecting her back in April. Until then, John Hunter (East Midlands) is to continue to cover her absence with support from Helen Smith (both based in Nottingham at the Trent SHA Headquarters). Each region also has a section set up on our website that will outline activity and keep you up to date with events in your area.A number of regions are also considering working with the Institute of Directors to bring their 'Chartered Director' training events to their locality. These are of a very high quality and explain the more generic issues about being on a board such as team working, staff issues, governance, finance etc. As soon as any events are finalised, they will be issued on the website, in the regional calendars and in future bulletins.Finally, we have been working with the NHS Confederation with a view to running joint events during the afternoons on the days when there are Confederation regional meetings. These would probably continue the topic of the morning session but specifically from a board/non-executive perspective.

Induction

Three induction events for new non-executives were held in London, Leeds and Oxford during January. Feedback from the events was positive and they will be run again in July. Dates, venues and invitations will be issued shortly.The induction events for new chairs are also being very well evaluated.  Additional dates organised so far are 5-6 April in London, 18-19 April in Leeds and 25 -26 May in Oxford.In future, induction events for both chairs and non-executives will include an additional specific section on diversity and equality of opportunity. This will be designed to reflect national initiatives and approved by our two advisory groups for black and minority ethnic and disability issues.

Audit committee conferences

As a follow up to the events last year, two more conferences were held on 26 October in Leeds and 4 November in London. Once again these were very popular with almost 200 delegates at each. Evaluation was excellent and views would be welcome to establish if it would be useful to run similar events towards the end of 2005.

Finance training

The subsidised programme for 2005 has been designed with three different agendas. These cover: an introduction to NHS finance, a more advanced session on the role of non-executives in the finance agenda, and a specific programme covering Payment by Results.You should already have received notification of the dates and venues of these programmes, but if not, full details can be seen on the regional calendars.Immediate events are as follows:
* Not just Money & Numbers, an introduction to NHS Finance
26 April - Leeds* The Non-Executive Role in the Future of NHS Finance
17 May - LondonFull information and booking details are available by contacting the HfMA on 0117 929 4789.

Patient safety events

This programme of events has been running since October and evaluation feedback has been very positive. It is therefore intended that we work with the National Patients' Safety Agency (NPSA) again to run other events later in 2005.The current programme concludes in March. Training needs identified through the appraisal process.As mentioned in the last bulletin, a number of training and development needs will be identified through performance, development and review processes. In order to ensure that our training programme takes account of such findings, we have set up an e-mail address of appraisals@apcomm.nhs.uk for chairs and non-executives to let us know of training that would be helpful to either themselves or non-executives identified during appraisal processes.  Please do contact us with this information, and any significant findings will be included in future bulletins.

Competency-based recruitment training

All chairs have now been offered this training. Between November and mid April, there have been two events per week (one per month in each region). Inevitably with busy diaries there are some chairs who have so far been unable to attend. To remedy this, a final six events will be held in the last two weeks in April and the first week in May. Chairs who have not booked on to the current dates will be offered the opportunity to attend any of these six events: one event to take place in Birmingham, Preston and Sheffield and three in London.All chairs should then have been able to attend training; without the training, it will not be possible for chairs to shortlist or interview for non-executive positions using the new competency framework. Additionally, all independent assessors will have been trained in these procedures by the same date. Regional Training Facilitators (Sue Slade for London) will be co-ordinating this and can answer any queries you may have.For new chairs, the training will become an integral part of the residential induction events.

Foundation trusts

The Commission is currently looking at ways it can help current foundation trusts with their needs and designing a programme for potential foundations to assist them with the application process and immediate training needs for their boards and their Governors.  Details will be available soon.

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