Further Research Evidence for Education as a Healthcare Lever

10 October 2011

Education for Health today join the growing chorus of voices calling upon the Care Quality Commission to ensure training levels in GP practices are a key factor in its new registration process, which will come into force next year.

The research¹ demonstrates the clear benefits a well trained practice can have in treating conditions as diverse as diabetes, hypothyroidism and COPD and complement's Education for Health's own body of research.

Monica Fletcher, Education for Health’s Chief Executive and Chair of the European Lung Foundation, said of the new research;

“These findings are just further evidence of the vital impact that educating our health care professionals can have on patient outcome. It is essential that the CQC recognise the role that training plays in healthcare and that the government considers this evidence as it implements its changes across the NHS.”

For those working in the field also, today’s findings are no great surprise. Catherine Tutt, a leading trainer in COPD awareness with Education for Health, said of her own experiences of delivering training in primary care;

“The effect of better training is amazing. Where nurses are supported, and their training and education needs are met, we see patients benefit and hospital admissions reduced and, for the nurses themselves, it is an inspirational experience. As a trainer I have seen the impact of training in primary care. Since we started delivering training we have seen hospital admissions for COPD drop from 11% to around 8% and we are aiming for 5%.”

¹ Griffiths, Peter, Maben, Jill and Murrells, Trevor (2011) Organisational quality, nurse staffing and the quality of chronic disease management in primary care: Observational study using routinely collected data. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 48, (10), 1199-1210.

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