6.5 Training and support: Case study examples

Tip 7. Offer 'take-away' materials: County Durham Cancer IP pilot and Darlington pilot site

• In County Durham community nurses and GPs issuing IP are provided with a small, laminated card that will fit into a 'filofax' or diary, which details the key steps in the IP process and provides useful contact numbers.
• In Darlington, the Health Click project has involved producing credit card sized information slips that provide the website address and information line number for IP recipients. In this site, the IP directory is open-access and users, therefore, could potentially be any member of the population. 'Training' potential users therefore, focused on raising the profile of the directory and making clear that it was available to all and simple to use. The information card was made available in a wide range of locations across the community, for example, at primary and acute care centres, in libraries and during public events.

Tip 8. Focus on how IP fits in with existing systems, structures and processes: Mid-Trent IP pilot and Isle of Wight pilot site

• Mid-Trent developed training materials that focus on how the IP process maps onto clinical pathways. This is an example of how to make materials relevant to a clinical audience as well as how to demonstrate the way the IP process is aligned with, and seeks to enhance, existing working practice.
  
  A document outlining the 'operational process for issuing IPs' written by Mid Trent and used for training professionals.
• The Isle of Wight pilot worked in conjuction with a local college, to incorporate IP training into the relevant NVQs so that students are introduced to it at the level of formal training, in order that it can be integrated into their usual ways of working.

Tip 9. Tailor approaches to different groups: North Tyneside pilot site

North Tyneside has developed an IP training pack for staff involved dispensing information. The pack contains sections on:

• How to use the directory – what information to select
• Navigating around the directory
• Information categories in the directory
• Accessing local services
• How to select the right information
• Dealing with complex enquiries
• Communicating with people with Parkinson's disease via telephone
• Other communication challenges
• Other tips for communication via telephone.

Tip 10. Think of training as an ongoing process

• A number of sites publish briefing notes, newsletters for different staff groups and/or posters to keep stakeholders up-to-day with the progress of IP implementation. See, for instance, Monthly briefings and a poster [PDF, not tagged, 338KB] for staff at Mid Trent, to keep them up to date with IP project developments. And a similar leaflet designed for health and social care staff [PDF, not tagged, 1MB] in Staffordshire
• Several sites set up an informal 'helpline' service, simply by publicising the telephone number and email address of the IP project manager and emphasising strongly that this person could be contacted for support or information about the project. Knowing that there is someone at the end of the phone to provide answers to day-to-day queries can help to reassure staff. It can also be useful for forging relationships between the IP team and the wider organisation(s) involved in IP delivery.
• Many sites enlisted the help of 'champions' within a particular professional group or team in influencing their peers to secure buy-in for IP.