Skills for Health welcomes the Leitch Skills Pledge which encourages employers in England to invest in the training and development of all their staff. This in turn will play a critical part in enabling employers to meet priority skills needs. Skills for Health has also signed the Skills Pledge as an employer.
The Skills Pledge calls for a united approach among employees, employers and the Government to invest more in skills. It is a voluntary commitment from employers to support all their staff without a first level 2 award.
This follows on from the Leitch Review of Skills 2006 which called for employers to support such an initiative. By championing the Skills Pledge, Skills for Health is acknowledging its important contribution in promoting investment in the skills of the healthcare workforce and ultimately delivering an improved health service.
We are supporting the skills pledge through the coordination of the implementation of the Joint Investment Framework - enabling employers to develop and deliver organisation-wide plans for investment in the workforce at levels 1-4.
"Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust, by signing the Skills Pledge, is making a public commitment that it will actively encourage and support our employees to gain the skills and qualifications to meet the needs of our business and support their future employability within our Trust."
Anne O'Conner
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust, Vocational Workforce Development Manager
