TRUST IS FIRST TO ACHIEVE PRESTIGIOUS GOLD ACCREDITATION

Being the first NHS Trust in the country to gain national recognition for IT training is certainly something to be proud of.

Health informatics staff in Wakefield, who train staff, service users and carers in IT skills, are celebrating after the South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust was the first NHS organisation to gain gold accreditation status from the Institute of IT Training (IITT).

Acknowledged by the NHS and widely recognised across the IT training industry the Institute’s ‘Departmental Accreditation Programme’ provides a national standard of excellence against which departments are comprehensively and independently benchmarked. All of the trainers from the service were put through the IITT’s Trainer Assessment Programme. The effort invested by the staff in achieving high standards resulted in the Gold Accreditation status being awarded.

Speaking about the team’s success Vicky Harris, health informatics training manager said ‘It’s really important to us that we keep improving the quality of the training service and that we gain recognition for all the hard work that the team do. The IITT has helped us to focus on specific areas for improvement and has given the trainers individual accreditation for their training competency. I am delighted that we are the first NHS organisation to achieve the Gold Accreditation which is testament to the commitment of the team.’