Bridging the skills gap: how LMS platforms close the gap in the healthcare sector

How a learning management system (LMS) can bridge skills gaps in the healthcare sector.

The healthcare sector in the UK faces a unique set of skills gaps and recruitment challenges. This has been exacerbated by the ageing population, increased medical complexity, growing demand for healthcare services made worse by staff shortage, financial deficit, undesirable levels of efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Looking forward, healthcare organisations must now proactively prepare for the future by engaging in thorough workforce planning, building a strong talent pipeline, prioritising retention of existing staff and attracting new talent into these roles.

So, how can a learning management system (LMS) help to remedy skills gaps and future-proof the healthcare workforce?

The skills shortage in the UK healthcare sector

There were 112,000 vacancies across the NHS workforce in March 2023. Without significant intervention, this shortfall will likely reach 260,000 – 360,000 by 2036/37.

Skills and talent are major areas of focus beyond just the healthcare sector and this is evidenced by this year’s LinkedIn Workplace Learning report, with ‘upskilling’ ranking as the second most important priority for L&D leaders in 2024. As the report notes, upskilling is no longer just a perk for employees – it’s a priority for organisational success (particularly in the wake of AI’s impact).

For the healthcare sector, these skills shortages risk negatively impacting patient experience, service capacity and productivity, and constrains healthcare professionals from providing the care their patients need.

With a lack of skilled workers spanning multiple roles, including nurses, specialists and technical staff, this threatens the quality of care and long-term sustainability for healthcare. 

Bridging this skills gap goes beyond just recruitment – it also demands strategic investment in upskilling and reskilling the workforce.

How learning management systems help close the skills gap

A learning management system (LMS) acts as both a library and delivery method for all of your learning content and resources. It provides an infrastructure for creating, uploading, managing and delivering content, as well as for tracking learner engagement and performance. It also serves as the user interface for learners to engage in learning, discussions and assessments. 

See more in our article ‘What Is A Learning Management System?’ for examples of how an LMS can be used.

In the healthcare sector, an LMS like Totara or Moodle can help address the healthcare skills gap by streamlining the delivery of training and tracking progress. It can also help deliver personalised learning experiences that keep your staff engaged and motivated to learn.

A centralised hub for learning

One of the key challenges healthcare organisations face is the sheer range of training to be delivered. Whether it’s compliance and safety training, specialised medical courses or project management (which 82% of healthcare SMEs have identified as having “concerning” skills gaps), an LMS is a one-stop-shop for all your training content and courses. In sectors as rapidly evolving as healthcare, the flexibility of an LMS is invaluable for managing mandatory training and upskilling opportunities.  

Flexible, 24/7 learning for busy healthcare professionals

Healthcare professionals are under pressure and constantly on the go, so it’s no surprise that learning can easily slide down the priority list. An LMS is a great way to provide healthcare professionals with the learning they need at their fingertips, whenever and wherever they need to access it. 

Long commute on the train? Got half an hour while the kids are at a sports club? Learning management systems such as Totara also come with a mobile app – meaning wherever your staff go, their learning goes with them.

Develop talent for the future of healthcare

The cost of retaining talent in healthcare is rising, but the cost of not retaining talent is higher still. Learning and development is a core enabler for improving staff retention and talent development. Competency profiles within the organisation help map current competencies and can be compared against success profiles to identify those needing development to fulfil critical roles. 

The good news is that learning management systems today often come equipped with talent management functionality to help with upskilling and succession planning. Map out your competency frameworks, identify skills gaps and assign personalised learning paths based on role, qualifications and career goals.

Compliance and certification management

The healthcare sector is highly regulated – think HIPAA and OSHA, for example. The right LMS can support compliance by automating the tracking of certifications, mandatory training completions and renewal reminders. It’s a way to get confident with compliance and ensure everyone is always safe.

How Synergy Learning helps the healthcare sector succeed

At Synergy Learning, we’re at the forefront of helping healthcare organisations implement Totara and Moodle to close their skills gaps. Here are a few examples of how we’ve supported organisations addressing skills gaps in the healthcare sector:

• Upskilling the NHS workforce during COVID-19 – We worked around the clock to build and test a learning platform that gave NHS staff the training they needed to lead the fight against COVID-19. Using Moodle Workplace, we provided bespoke development and UX design to give NHS staff easy access to more than 60 different courses. The courses followed five distinct learning pathways, which were tailored to each user’s role. In the days and weeks after the NHS Nightingale Birmingham MOOC launched, thousands of NHS staff and volunteers completed training to boost their knowledge of treating COVID-19 or get the skills they needed to take on new roles with confidence.
  
• Providing a unified solution for a diverse and dispersed global healthcare workforce – We worked with healthcare services provider UDG Healthcare to introduce key functionality that had been notable in its absence from its previous system, including a dashboard, featured courses, badges and push messages. These Totara Learn features have been used to raise awareness of learning opportunities, improve engagement levels and increase compliance. Employee logins immediately increased from 1,000 per month under the previous platform to 18,000 logins in the month of the LMS group-wide launch.
  
• Developing a culture of online learning for the emergency services – We worked with East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) to design and build a Totara Learn platform to give EMAS the tools it needed to begin its transition to digital learning. This included the capability to get meaningful data on the reach and effectiveness of its learning programme. With a culture of online learning growing throughout the organisation, 99% of employees are now logging in to the new Totara Learn LMS regularly. Compliance levels have also improved dramatically – completions of statutory and mandatory training have increased from 50-60% pre-LMS to around 98% now.

Through centralised learning, personalised learning paths and seamless compliance management, healthcare organisations can upskill their workforce, develop thriving learning cultures, meet regulatory requirements and ultimately deliver better patient care.

Want to discover how the right healthcare LMS can be a game-changer in addressing skills shortages in the sector? Get in touch and let’s chat about what we can achieve together.

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