South East Coast Strategic Health Authority has set up a virtual learning environment to help new ‘clinical commissioning groups’ share their experiences and tap into the expertise of other workers in Primary Care Trusts and local authorities.
The Learning Network is a collaborative web site that is intended to provide support to those members of the regional health authority, which covers Kent, Sussex and Surrey, who will be responsible for budgets and services when the NHS‘ new structure takes shape.
More than 250 groups of GP practices across the country have so far come forward to replace Primary Care Trusts in directly commissioning local services. Once authorised as clinical commissioning groups, they will take on responsibility for health care budgets as of April 2013.
Julia Ross, programme director for commissioning development at the health authority, said: "The Network is a brilliant resource that will really help us to deliver on our priorities over the coming year. It will also help us to engage with colleagues from a wide range of roles and locations in an innovative way."
The site enables members to create profiles, invite others to join their network of contacts, share information, views and experiences as well as set up forums and groups. Members can upload and view video content, news, podcasts and webcasts. There is also a web seminar and conferencing functionality .
Paul Duthoit, managing director of Chatham-based Netsite, which developed the Learning Network, described it as ‘managed social networking’. "We are creating a platform with controlled access that enables groups of employees and customers to collaborate and improve services," he said.
