A BBC apprenticeship levy donation, facilitated by Warwickshire Skills Hub, is upskilling nine health service employees across Coventry and Warwickshire.

The employees, ranging from senior directors to entry-level administrators, are undertaking Digital Support Technician apprenticeships with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) productivity, delivered by training-provider Multiverse.

Their training will include the basic uses of AI and explore how to ensure that it is used safely, most effectively and with an appropriate balance of human input. AI is an integral part of the future and this training will add new and relevant skills to the existing expertise of the apprentices.

They include personnel in finance, data, management and administrators in clinical work - all professionals upskilling within their roles. The nine will also share their learning and develop training material for others so the positive impact will spread.

News of such an innovative scheme in Coventry & Warwickshire is already getting round. Other ICBs and education providers have been in touch to ask for advice about it.

It is a great example of proactive partnership working, between the BBC, Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Integrated Care Board, training provider Multiverse and Warwickshire Skills Hub. And it would not have been possible without the BBC agreeing to allocate part of their Apprenticeship Levy funding to the scheme.

Louise Brown, Industry Partnership Manager, BBC Apprenticeships said: “We are delighted to have supported this brilliant collaboration. This is a great example of how partnerships can work and we could not have done this without the introductions and facilitation by Louise Stolz at the Warwickshire Skills Hub, and the partnerships that already existed. Digital Skills are a huge part of the future and they need to be in every organisation, including the NHS. It’s great to see the BBC’s Apprenticeship Levy being used to upskill the workforce in this way”

Launched in 2017 by the Government, the Apprenticeship Levy allows for organisations to pay a certain amount each year towards the costs of enabling new apprenticeships and upskilling existing employees. Organisations generally use their levy to support those that take up apprenticeships in their own workplaces, but when that money is not spent it can be transferred to SMEs who do not have a levy fund themselves to cover apprenticeship learning and development.

Kate Kells, Head of HR & Organisational Development at Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Integrated Care Board, said: “For the BBC to use their Apprenticeship Levy in this way is fantastic. The apprenticeships are a perfect combination of on and off the job learning. There are the monthly workshops in academic settings for learning theory but also the apprentices spend at least 20 per cent of their time outside their normal job description, on hands-on work. It’s a really nice combination of learning and being able to input that learning into a day-to-day job.

Diane Baynham, Director of Digital Care Pathways & Chief Information Officer said “AI is such an important part of the future, it is really important to make sure we understand how to use it most effectively. At the moment, people use it mostly on an individual basis to do individual things, but as time goes by we will see more and more complex and innovative uses of AI so the baseline of getting the governance right is crucial.

“If we start looking at decision-making and process-forming through AI, we absolutely need the humans to oversee it in the best possible way.”

Adam Blyde, NHS Transformation Lead at Multiverse, said: “It has been a pleasure to be part of this groundbreaking collaboration. The Coventry & Warwickshire Integrated Care Board has been truly pioneering here and the Levy Funding from the BBC has been so flexible. This is a real success story, delivered because the local ecosystem, connected by Warwickshire Skills Hub has been so effective.”

If you'd like to donate any of your unspent Apprenticeship Levy to Warwickshire based SME's, please email louisestolz@warwickshire.gov.uk