Overview of CEPN
The Community Education Provider Network (CEPN), also known as Training Hub, is a localised model for the planning and delivery of education and training for the health and social care workforce within the community. The model has been pump prime funded through a Health Education England pilot initiative that has been rolled out in various parts of the country.
The CEPN has been active since April 2014, and it continues to plan and deliver joint workforce development programme for health and social care staff in the borough.
So why has the CEPN been set up? And what value does it add to the existing Tower Hamlets education programme?
The mission of the CEPN is to support the development of a community health and social care workforce to enable high quality and sustainable integrated care. The Community Education Provider Networks (CEPNs) model brings together health and social care service providers, community groups and education providers focused around enabling the development of learning communities i.e. different parts of the health and social care workforce, patients and the public systematically improving services by learning with and from each other.
Historically, education in primary care has had a solid infrastructure, particularly through the programme delivered through the monthly Protected Learning Time (PLT) sessions. However there has been limited joint learning with other health and social care partners in Tower Hamlets, and programme has been very General Practice dominated. The formation of the CEPN is enabling the opportunity to extend out to all health care providers in the community. These groups include workforce from social care, public health, mental health, community health teams, community pharmacists, community optometrists, dentists, voluntary sector organisations and others. Although the CEPN is a community led model, it aims to bridge the gap between acute, primary and community.
The CEPN is seen as the vehicle to help deliver the education to its workforce, which will enable us to deliver and maintain high quality integrated health care for Tower Hamlets residents.
CEPN Governance and Structure
Tower Hamlets GP Care Group CIC are hosting the CEPN. The ambition of CEPN is very much to be seen as a provider based network, and the development of the programme is jointly developed by all partners. The programme activities and financial spends are overseen by a steering committee.
The committee continues to evolve in order to facilitate a more multi-organisational representation, a prerequisite of CEPN. The Clinical leadership of the CEPN is currently supported by clinical GP Care Group Clinical Director, Dr Phillip Bennett-Richards. There is representation from a variety of providers as mentioned above, including the CCG to help steer future commissioning intentions. The CEPN has formed a significant association with the ‘Tower Hamlets Together (THT)’ partnership, being a key enabler for local Workforce transformation priorities . Regular updates of CEPN programmes are reported back to the Organisational Development and HR workstream of the THT. CEPN is identified as a key coordinator of education for Tower Hamlets Health and Social Care workforce development, and is very much seen is a long term vehicle to provide joint learning opportunities for community health service education provisions.
Key functions of CEPN
Below are the key functions as identified by the CEPN network:
- For the assessment of education need and support effective workforce planning
- For The preparation of bid proposals for funding
- Input into the design of local education and training
- The scheduling and delivery local events and training courses
- Continuous development of education faculty
- The evaluation of the quality of educational processs and the impact on the workforce