More than 2,500 educators and colleagues across health and care are now part of the thriving Community of Practice (COP) who share knowledge, insights and ideas through the Virtual and Hybrid Learning Faculty (VHLF) which reaches its third anniversary this month.

When VHLF launched on the TEL Learning Hub in October 2021, there were just 800 members, 2 catalogues and 20 resources. Fast forward three years and the numbers have continued to grow attracting more members who are involved in education design, delivery and assessment as they adopt and embrace new technology and ways of working. The VHLF now has over 2,500 members, 3 catalogues and more than 100 resources within its offering.

The VHLF is a successful example of the evolution of education and training and is driving systemic and behavioural changes which will support the ambitions to grow and upskill the health and care workforce at scale.

The VHLF is a core programme for NHS England’s Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) function and has continued to grow and evolve, increasing the capability, professionalism and maturity levels of education professionals across health, care and further.  It is focused on providing strategic support, guidance and leadership supporting educators to choose the methods of learning which best meet their needs and the needs of their learners.

Alongside the community of practice, the Faculty offers CPD masterclass events and specialist resources to help the education community design, develop, deliver and assess virtual and hybrid learning which is evidence-based best practice. It is accessible, equitable and quality driven and activity is continually evaluated to cater for new and emerging needs and technology.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) was published in June 2023, recognising the need to change how we educate and train the workforce to support its big ambitions to grow the workforce. The commitment to the expansion of the Faculty in the LTWP notes the important role VHLF plays in supporting educators and changing education within the NHS.

The VHLF is committed to supporting all educators across the professions in health and care and this past year has seen several new initiatives launched including a CPD and certification service, various pilots to explore new and emerging tech (AI, Dynamic Learning Environments (Virtual Escape Rooms) in education delivery), VHLF Surgeries and the continuation of role modelling hybrid learning opportunities.

VHLF numbers

Since VHLF launched in October 2021 we have:

• delivery of more than 100 CPD events
• released over 100 resources on the Learning Hub which have been launched more than 3,000 times
• welcomed a selection of guest speakers to deliver masterclasses in our CPD programme
• have over 2,500 members as part of the Community of Practice (COP)
• successfully delivered a Master Educators Programme (MEP) pilot, an AI COP pilot and Dynamic Learning Environments (Virtual Escape Rooms) pilot
• Have a dedicated MS Teams channel to support the COP
• Introduced a CPD and Certification service

Get Involved

To join the VHLF Community of Practice (COP), please register here.

Visit the Learning Hub to access the Virtual & Hybrid Learning Faculty (VHLF) catalogues:

https://learninghub.nhs.uk/Catalogue/VHLF-getting-started

https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/VHLF-increasing-your-impact

https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/VHLF-community-of-practice

For further information, please contact england.vhlf@nhs.net