Findings from a venture into elearning
in NHS Wales

Access to emedia-based information for the continuing professional development of NHS managers is being thwarted by inadequately sophisticated computers and, perhaps, poor computer-driving skills. Ruth Treharne and Professor Siobhan McClelland explain how they reached these conclusions.

keywords: elearning, it hardware, computer-literacy, information access, nhs management development, professional development.

abstract

The Centre for Health Leadership Wales produced a CD-ROM offering an induction and introduction to NHS Wales for NHS staff and their partner organisations. It can also be used as a learning tool and now provides one of the main components for Pathways to Performance, the new CPD framework for healthcare managers in Wales. It has proved a big success, with over 2000 copies distributed.

It is felt this approach to information giving and elearning could have wider application, not only in Wales but across the UK. The evaluation showed most users thought the tool was valuable and improved understanding. It was also clear, however, that many users possessed only the most basic IT hardware, meaning they could not take advantage of some aspects of the CD such as the sound card and media players. There is also a wider question of how computer-literate most healthcare and socialcare staff are.

Br J Healthcare Comput Info Manage 2004; 21(1): 33–5.