A digital toolkit for the National Workforce Skills Development Unit

The National Workforce Skills Development Unit (NWSDU), part of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, appointed Curio to build a ‘toolkit’ of resources aimed at those responsible for workforce planning of the mental health support workforce. This toolkit formed part of a wider project to deepen understanding of the career pathways and barriers to progression and development facing those in the mental health support workforce.

The project’s aim was to help the healthcare system better build on the mental health support workforce to meet service requirements, and in the process create a more representative and culturally competent workforce by encouraging attainable career options.

What we did:

• Map and prioritise content based on user needs 
• Scope technical requirements
• Iterative design process following NHS brand guidelines
• Rapidly build html5 page templates

Starting with a workshop to understand toolkit user needs and content requirements, Curio worked closely with the NWSDU to iteratively develop the content and design of the toolkit, fleshing out a series of storyboards for each section with increasingly detailed content and technical requirements over the course of a month. Adherence to NHS brand and accessibility guidelines was a key part of this process. The platform needed to be flexible, so we built the toolkit as a set of HTML5 page templates that could be presented wherever in a digital estate in the future.

The toolkit provides curated guidance, research and policy for direct managers and those responsible for workforce planning, with an easily navigable design that enables users to quickly access the information most relevant to their needs. The range of resources help build an understanding of the demographics of this workforce and provide practical guidance on induction, retention, training and development to support managers to advocate for this staff group. Resources also support managers to increase access to learning and development and progression opportunities available to the workforce.

Designed as ‘grab and go’ resources, in an easily digestible format, the practical resources encourage conversations around workforce planning and support services, whilst also highlighting the opportunities that exist for the support workforce.

Curio successfully designed and built the toolkit within a month, and it is now with the executive non-departmental public body who funded this project as they prepare to launch it as part of a wider communications campaign to raise the profile of the mental health support workforce.