Priory Group delivers e-learning over intranet

The Priory Group, providers of acute and secure mental healthcare, neuro-rehabilitation and specialist educational services, is to invest in e-learning for non-medical induction training for staff.

The private healthcare group has also launched a new corporate intranet for its 5,000 staff in the UK, allowing them to undertake vital e-learning training they need for their day-to-day jobs.

Paul Greensmith, Priory’s chief operating officer, said: “Our new intranet is an internal resource that will become a valuable and enjoyable part of our working lives. It is key to staff development and communication here at the Priory Group.”

The e-learning programmes and intranet were developed by British-based communication and training specialists, Information Transfer, and have been implemented at each of the Priory’s 47 UK sites. The system aims to allow staff to share news and information as well as continue with their staff development programme.

A spokesperson for Information Transfer told E-Health Insider: “Engaging employee training and communication materials are at the heart of everything we do. These may take the form of a set of e-learning courses, an employee intranet, audio ‘podcast’ training, or paper-based materials.

“This blended learning programme has, at its heart, 25 bespoke e-learning modules which help meet the key learning objectives that support Priory’s care services. The e-learning also links to offline learning activities, which the learner completes locally, in addition to incorporating classroom training and other development activities.”

Information Transfer said they spent time liaising with Priory Group staff before implementing the system and found that Priory’s commitment to learning and development was something that staff wanted to be made easier for them.

“Having listened to staff, we made it easier for them to begin or even just to book relevant e-training modules, by personalising their home page, so they were alerted when they needed to do some training. We trained 80 people initially and the feedback we had was great.”

Staff are being trained on how to contribute content onto the site and Information Transfer say users are slowly building confidence with the software.

To some, the Priory is better known as the rehabilitation centres for celebrities with addiction problems. Information Transfer insists that the Intranet is secure and individual patient records will not be visible online.

“Patients can rest assured that their patient confidentiality will remain a strictly enforced rule and staff will not be allowed to post any content relating to any patients who visit our clinics. The e-learning modules will reinforce the importance of confidentiality and data protection to staff.”

The e-learning package has also caught the attention of the judging panel for the eLearning Age award for excellence in the e-learning industry.

The shortlisted projects will be judged independently by members of the eLearning Network and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony gala dinner at the Royal Garden Hotel in London on 9 November.