Developing a multi-professional e-learning mentor update package

Students from healthcare programmes within the United Kingdom are supported in their clinical placements by appropriately qualified members of staff who require annual updates to maintain their currency in this role; a professional and regulatory body stipulation. In response to increasing pressures within the workplace that are negatively impacting upon opportunities to access the current method for delivering these updates, an alternative has been sought. In a cross-Department initiative at the University of Huddersfield, an online, multi-professional package (currently for Nursing, Midwifery and Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs)) is in development. It is designed to replace the traditional face-to-face delivery method whilst maintaining the required quality and standards inherent within a professional programme. This paper will outline the process to-date, discuss how design and content issues are being addressed towards producing a tool which aims to meet the demands of all stakeholders, and consider future directions for the project