Welcome from Helen Elsaghir, Workforce Lead Nurse

I have worked within general practice nursing for over 27 years and currently remain clinical. My previous role involved leading on the student nursing associate programme for which I keep involved in and have developed positive working relationships with our local universities and nurse education teams across our trust partners.

We have a highly educated and skilled nursing workforce across Coventry and Warwickshire with a wealth of experience and I will always champion the role of the GPN and the value it brings.

I am supported by a small but great team who are passionate and keen to encourage our nursing workforce to stay up to date with the ever-changing  world of general practice by directing them to some of the training and programmes we have on offer.

As a nursing team within the Training Hub, we would like to be able to support the attraction of new nurses into general practice by showcasing a career pathway from healthcare support worker to advanced clinical practitioner. We continue to strive to increase the number of student nurses and nursing associates, train them to deliver high quality standards of care and retain them so they can share their experience and expertise with both future nurses and the increasing wider roles that we now have working in our general practice teams.

General Practice Mentoring Scheme

Mentoring is the opportunity to have comfortable guided conversations with someone who understands your role in General Practice and can share ideas, knowledge and experiences.  A Mentor can support with a range of areas, such as: appraisals, career development, complaints, leadership, partnership, parental leave, career break/return to work and retirement.

For more information on how to register for this scheme, please visit our Mentoring page.

Your Health and Wellbeing

We understand how busy and challenging working in healthcare can be. That’s why recharging your batteries is so important.

The Training Hub offers a wide variety of resources and programmes to support your wellbeing.

  • Work Well Programme (Shapes Toolkit)
  • Employee Assistance Programme (Vivup)
  • Wellbeing Sessions with MIND
  • Health and Wellbeing Champions
  • And more!

For more information and to view all our resources, please visit our webpage.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) funding

Government funding has been made available to support Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), Nurses and Midwives with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) across the UK. The funding is there to help you build upon existing skills that are vital to the services and communities we support.

The funding equates to £333 over the financial year 2024/2025. Funded CPD should be specifically linked to your personal professional requirements, as well as system and population health priorities.

How to access CPD funding

For details on how to access your CPD funding contact us on cw.traininghub@nhs.net.

Booking your CPD course

There are three ways to book onto a course:

  1. Independently and be reimbursed via your practice up to £333 by invoicing cw.traininghub@nhs.net
  2. Request reimbursement up to £333 of a course(s) already taken within the 24/25 financial year by invoicing via your practice to cw.traininghub@nhs.net
  3. Book your course through the Training Hub
Book onto a CPD course here

If you are requesting reimbursement, we will need the following information:

  • Training provider, Course name and Cost
  • Your contact details
  • Evidence of the booking (e.g. invoice)

CPD Frequently Asked Questions

Who can receive the CPD funding?

Primary care Nursing Associates, Registered Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) who work in the NHS in England are eligible for CPD funding.

What can the CPD funding be used for?

The CPD funding is intended to be used as an individual development fund for frontline clinical professionals to:

  • Equip them with new clinical skills to enhance the care they provide to patients and develop their careers.
  • Support staff in moving between sectors, for example, by enabling nurses and AHPs in hospitals to move to new roles in primary care and community care, supporting improved primary care access and out of hospital care.
  • Support the maintenance of their continuing professional registration by helping them to meet requirements from their professional regulators.

What is the payment structure?

You will need to use your annual allocated funding budget of £333 within the current financial year. Remaining balances can’t be carried over to the following financial year. You can choose to use to use this budget in one sum or in multiple amounts. You are unable to request the full amount upfront.

Can CPD funding be used to pay for backfill to allow attendance at a conference?

You can use the funding to cover conference fees if it aligns with your agreed personal development plan/annual appraisal.

What happens if I’m moving from a CPD-funded role into a new area?

If you are moving to a role which is eligible for the CPD funding scheme, you can take your current funding balance with you to your new role.  

Is the allocation pro-rata for part timers?

No, all eligible staff groups are entitled to the same amount of funding, regardless of the hours they work.

Learning Opportunities and Support For All Career Levels

Royal College of Nursing (RCN)

Improve your digital skills with the RCN’s training resource which covers the following six areas:

  • Digital identity, well-being and safety
  • Communication, collaboration and participation
  • Teaching, learning and self-development
  • Technical proficiency
  • Information, data and media literacies
  • Digital creation, innovation and scholarship

Join one or more of the RCN’s many nursing forums and networks to connect with peers. There are groups for different job titles and specialist areas or interests.

The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI)

The QNI educational grant programme offers grants of up to £1,000 to help you enhance your clinical knowledge. You can apply online at any point and request support to fund a training course that demonstrates a clinical benefit to patients.

Nurse on a tablet

Nurse Placements

For more information on Nursing placements and what this may involve, please visit our Placements page.

Nurse Peer Support & Clinical Supervision

Peer Support and Clinical Supervision involve clinicians meeting regularly to reflect on practice with the intention of reflective learning, developing practice, and providing high-quality, safe care to patients.

The Training Hub will be offering a series of Peer Support and Clinical Supervision sessions in small groups to registered nurses. These sessions will take place via Microsoft Teams, to register your interest, please email us.

Student Nursing Associates (SNA)

What is a SNA?

A nursing associate is a member of the nursing team in England that helps bridge the gap between health and care assistants and registered nurses.

Nursing associates work with people of all ages, in a variety of settings in health and social care. The role contributes to the core work of nursing, freeing up registered nurses to focus on more complex clinical care.

It’s a stand-alone role that also provides a progression route into graduate level nursing.

Career Resources for Student Nurses/Newly Registered Nurses

Whether you’re looking to apply for your first nursing role or gain work as a healthcare assistant alongside your studies, careers resources from the RCN can help you to improve your employability and be job ready.

To view these resources, please click here.

Becoming a SNA

Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub are welcoming expressions of interest from applicants for the next intake of the SNA apprenticeships at Coventry University. To be eligible, you need to be employed full-time within general practice.

This is a 2-year foundation degree at Level 5. This is an “earn as you learn” degree to support growing our own General Practice Workforce. Apprenticeship working patterns vary across the system and are set by managers to ensure 50% theory and 50% practice, completing 2,300 hours over 2 years.

For more information, please see this flyer. Alternatively, if you want to register your interest for the next cohort, please click here.

For Practices/PCNs

Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub are welcoming expressions of interest from practices/PCNs for the next intake of the SNA apprenticeships at Coventry University.

For practices/PCNs looking to hire a SNA, expressions of interest and job adverts are needed. CWTH is able to provide a list of the next steps and assistance that we can offer throughout this process.

For more information, please see this flyer. Alternatively, if you want to register your interest in hosting a Student Nursing Associate, please click here.

Early Career

Discovering a Nursing Career in General Practice

Nurses looking to start a role in general practice can now undertake a three-month module to gain a better understanding of the role and assist with applications to general practice nursing.

Fully Funded Fundamentals of General Practice

Please email cw.traininghub@nhs.net for more information on this course.

This course will provide a solid foundation to further develop your career as a General Practice Nurse. The course will develop your clinical, academic and research skills. You will focus on the health needs of the general practice population alongside the core skills required to work as part of the interdisciplinary team.

Preceptorship/Induction programme

A period of induction supported by a Legacy mentor Nurse/preceptor to allow you to become familiar with your new clinical environment, attend and meet specific statutory and mandatory training that will help you to maintain a healthy and safe working environment.

For more information, please email cw.traininghub@nhs.net

Legacy Nurse Mentor

An experienced General Practice Nurses (GPN) or Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP) providing four Two hourly sessions in your clinical practice offering supervision, coaching, support and pastoral care by sharing their knowledge, skills, experience and insights to newly appointed GPNs /ANPs to primary care.

For more information, please email cw.traininghub@nhs.net

Clinical Supervision

Reflect on practice with the intention of reflective learning, developing practice, and providing high-quality, safe care to patients.

The Training Hub will be offering a series of Peer Support and Clinical Supervision sessions in small groups to registered nurses. These sessions will take place via Microsoft Teams, to register your interest email cw.traininghub@nhs.net

For more information, please email cw.traininghub@nhs.net

Continuing Professional Development

Our Training Hub Calendar shows upcoming training and education events for all primary care roles across Coventry and Warwickshire.

To view, or book onto these sessions, please click here.

Mid Career

Fully Funded Advanced Clinical Practice Msc

We are delighted to confirm that we have a number of funded places for the Advanced Clinical Practice (ACP) programmes that NHSE has agreed to support for 2024/25.

MSc Advanced Clinical Practice

This course is aimed at experienced healthcare practitioners registered with a relevant professional body (NMC/HCPC/GPC) who wish to be prepared to fulfil specific Advanced Clinical Practitioner roles, upon successfully completing the course.

MSc Advanced Practitioner top-up

Applications are reviewed with NHSE to assess whether applicant would be eligible for top-up funding.

For a list of Higher Education providers and cohort dates please click here.

If you would like to submit an expression of interest (EOI) for either of these options, please respond with; name of nominated colleague, their current role, preferred programme and email address. An application form and conditions of funding will then be sent for completion by the employer and applicant, in preparation for this you will also need to find an appropriately qualified supervisor.

Please ensure your nominated colleague meets all of the course criteria before submitting an EOI. We will only accept expressions of interest that are submitted through your Practice/PCN to cw.traininghub@nhs.net

Wise 5 – General Practice Nursing

Welcome to Wise 5

Welcome to the General Practice Nurses Wise 5 page, where you can find useful links/resources to support you at this stage in your career.

As experienced senior nurses, we want you to recognise how important you are to clinical practice – sharing your valuable knowledge, skills and experience with newly qualified nurses, those new to general practice and moving new initiatives/services forward.

Wise 5 aspires to explore new roles, opportunities and flexible working to attract you into remaining in clinical practice, support you in practice and ensure you feel personally/professionally valued and fulfilled.

For more information on our Wise 5 GPN offers, visit this page.

Leadership development

Midlands Leadership and Lifelong Learning Academy

The academy offers a series of leadership programmes to support you with developing your skills, attitudes and behaviours to achieve the highest standards in health and care.

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Leadership Forum

Join 12,500 others in the Nurses in Management and Leadership forum led by the RCN, where you can help shape the future of nurse leaders and connect with like-minded individuals.

Why not also get support from your peers in the RCN’s Facebook group.

Compliance

Revalidation

To maintain your registration to practise, you’ll need to go through the process of revalidation with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) every three years. Both the NMC and the Royal College of Nursing have useful resources to help you prepare for revalidation.