How the NHS is Working With Colleges in North West London

David Warnes, Deputy Principal of Strategy, Planning and Communications at West London College, and senior members of staff at the Imperial College Healthcare and NHS Trust, the Greater London Authority and the Association of Colleges participated in a webinar which provides an in-depth look at how the NHS can maximise the relationship with colleges.

The webinar explored:

• the emerging relationships in North West London, including how and why colleges, NHS employers and other partners decided to collaborate and what are they seeking to achieve
• how collaboration aligns with NWL ICS priorities, the WLA economic strategy and college priorities
• lessons learned and the plans for future collaboration

The NHS Confederation jointly published a report in September 2020 with the Commission on ‘the College of the Future’, setting out steps to maximise this relationship to deliver the NHS People Plan. In North West London the NHS has been working together for a number of years with the six West London colleges that deliver health and social care vocational qualifications on a range of employment and skills programmes. These programmes support the area’s overarching aim to increase the number of West London residents working for local health or social care organisations, a particularly important priority in light of the impact of COVID-19 on the local economy.

David Warnes, Deputy Principal at West London College, said: “West London College is delighted to be working directly with key employers and policymakers in West London as this type of approach leads to more effective results and sustained and meaningful change.”

The speakers at the webinar included:

• David Warnes, Deputy Principal, West London College
• Mary Vine-Morris, London Director, Association of Colleges
• Sharon Probets, Head of Learning, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
• Forogh Rahmani, Senior Manager, Strategy, Policy & Relationships, Skills and Employment, GLA
• Michael Wood, Head of Health Economic Partnerships, NHS Confederation and Senior Workforce Lead, NHS London