Addressing health and social care challenges: Empowering your workforce

In today’s evolving health and social care environment, the demand for skilled professionals continues to rise, placing significant pressure on organisations to meet the growing needs of service users. A key question for your organisation is: How can you effectively equip your workforce to meet these challenges?

Recent government reports, such as the NHS workforce plan, reveal a critical skills gap directly impacting service delivery. With plans for nursing workforce growth, a focus on apprenticeships, and an emphasis on leadership skills development, the challenge is clear: more nurses and better leadership are needed to ensure high-quality care. However, finding effective solutions to bridge these gaps, especially with the funding challenges that exist for upskilling current staff, remains a significant obstacle.

The Open University (OU) can help.

- the estimated extra health and social care workers needed by 2040*

- the increase in Adult Nursing places required by 2028/29**

- the increase in Student Nursing Associate places required by 2028/29**

*The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England 2024
**NHS long-term workforce plan v1.2

Supporting workforce development: Tailored solutions for your organisation

The key to overcoming these challenges is to build a workforce equipped with the right skills to deliver high-quality care. Effective workforce development doesn’t just focus on system knowledge, but empowers staff to identify improvement opportunities in clinical practice, patient care, and organisational processes.

The Open University (OU) offers a broad range of courses, apprenticeships, and development programmes to help you create a workforce that’s prepared to tackle both current and future health and social care challenges. Our flexible learning model allows employees to train without interrupting their work, while our CPD options support continuous professional growth.
Procurement frameworks: We are on various procurement frameworks, including the CPD Health Offer via the Salisbury Framework, enabling easy access to our educational programmes for healthcare providers. Visit Procuring via Framework System for more information.
Improving local healthcare outcomes: By partnering with the OU, you can build a workforce that not only supports care delivery but also drives improvements at a local level. Our flexible learning options enable your team to learn in a way that fits their work and life commitments, all while ensuring that healthcare services in your region are continually improving.
Integrated Care Systems (ICSs): As ICSs continue to grow in importance, the OU is here to support not only individual employers but also ICSs themselves. Our approach allows flexibility and scalability, offering education solutions that can benefit multiple healthcare providers within an ICS. Whether it’s through developing nursing skills in rural areas or providing leadership training for managers across systems, we are ready to collaborate with ICSs to ensure workforce development meets the needs of both healthcare providers and service users.

Get in touch to discuss your requirements

Success stories: Real impact across health and social care

Discover how organisations like yours have successfully addressed skills shortages and built a stronger, more skilled workforce with the OU’s training programmes.

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Risedale Nursing Homes

Key result: Making nursing education accessible to develop a loyal, local workforce

Discover how Risedale Estates is turning nursing aspirations into reality by offering life-changing apprenticeship opportunities that empower local residents to become skilled, dedicated nurses without the burden of traditional university costs.

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust

Key result: Leveraged flexible learning and delivery methods to develop local talent

Learn how NHS Northamptonshire is shaping the future of nursing by offering flexible apprenticeship opportunities that open doors for local talent and address critical workforce challenges.

Isle of Wight NHS Trust

Key result: Enabled flexible nursing education in isolated regional areas

Discover how the Isle of Wight NHS Trust is addressing local nursing shortages by offering flexible apprenticeship opportunities that allow residents to train, work, and give back to their community.

The OU learning model works for the Trust and it’s not only flexible for employers, but flexible for learners as well. I feel very proud and privileged to be part of this programme.
James Barclay
Learning and Development Officer, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust

Nurture talent: Nursing apprenticeship programmes

Is your solution to workforce shortages already within your organisation? Our nursing apprenticeship programmes offer tailored learning pathways that help develop existing staff or attract new talent, ultimately enhancing both care quality and organisational productivity.

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Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship

Tailor the content to your organisation's specific needs

Develop healthcare professionals into fully qualified NMC (Nursing & Midwifery Council) Registered Nurses.

Location: England
Duration: 3-4 years
Funded through the apprenticeship levy (England)

Success story: Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT)

The strength of The Open University is across the country and how practice and learning can be shared to support organisations grow, particularly with the apprenticeship model and how that is going to fit into the government’s ambition for the long term.
Lisa Gammon
Apprenticeship Lead, NHFT

Read full NHFT success story

Nursing Associate Higher Apprenticeship

Supports healthcare assistants to become registered Nursing Associates

Boost the skills and qualifications of your workforce.

Location: England
Duration: 2-3 years
Funded through the apprenticeship levy (England)

Upskill: Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

The NHS and health and social care sector are investing heavily in CPD initiatives to help address workforce gaps and improve patient outcomes. The Open University offers a wide range of undergraduate programmes, individual modules, and short courses designed to meet the needs of your staff, all while being flexible enough to fit around their work schedules.

From short courses to full degree pathways, we provide a progressive learning journey for healthcare professionals looking to enhance their skills, whether it’s in clinical practice or leadership roles.

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BSc (Honours) Nursing

Degrees and individual modules

Ideal for those working in healthcare roles who want to study while continuing to work. This programme offers flexibility to choose from four nursing specialisms and gain eligibility to enter the NMC professional register.

Confers eligibility to enter the NMC professional register on successfully attaining the degree.
Delivers a balance of theory and practice through practice-based and distance learning.
Allows employees to work part-time whilst studying to become a nurse.

BA (Honours) Health and Social Care

Degrees and individual modules

Provides a critical understanding of policy, theory, and practice, exploring how to address the evolving needs of the sector, including leadership development for managing change and improving care delivery.

Applies new ideas to real-life issues and situations that affect us all.
Explores the context and processes of change.
Develops new ways of working across agency and professional boundaries.

BSc (Honours) Public Health and Wellbeing

Degrees and individual modules

This degree provides a critical understanding of public health and wellbeing, and its policy and practice aims. Learn about how to prevent infectious diseases and how to promote health and wellbeing.

Explore a rapidly developing area of health and social care.
Critically evaluate how inequalities in society impact individual and community health.
Learn about the ethical, legal, economic and political issues that influence healthcare provision.

Explore the full catalogue of health and social care courses

Create your own degree

Take advantage of our Open Qualifications (BA/BSc and MA/MSc), and create a programme tailored to your workforce’s specific needs—whether it’s focused on specialised care skills, leadership, or management.

Explore Open qualifications

Get started: Free learning resources for health and social care

Kickstart your team's learning journey with OpenLearn, our platform offering free, accessible courses tailored to the health and social care sector. These resources are a great starting point for upskilling staff and addressing immediate learning needs.

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Nursing collections hub

A collection of free courses and resources for personal and professional development in the four fields of Nursing Practice.

Innovation in health and social care practice

Learn how digital technologies and innovations are reshaping roles in health and social care.

Working with diversity in services for children and young people

Gain insights into how diverse social identities influence the lives of children and young people, and how to adapt services to meet their needs.

See more free courses on health and social care

Go deeper: Reports, guides and webinars

Explore in-depth resources on developing a skilled workforce in the health and social care sector.

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Report: Transforming nursing education with enquiry-based learning

A joint report between the OU and National Health Executive exploring the use of enquiry-based learning in nursing education.

Webinar: The importance of flexibility and innovation in nursing

Reflect on how lifelong learning and strong employer-learner relationships can drive workforce development.

National Apprenticeship Week employer webinar: What lies behind the success stories

A panel of experts share their insights and experiences on what makes a successful apprenticeship programme.

Why the OU?

For over 50 years, The Open University has been a leader in providing accessible and flexible learning solutions for the health and social care sector. We’ve helped over 2.3 million learners, including NHS trusts, local authorities, and private healthcare providers, develop their workforce.

Proven expertise: 50+ years of delivering high-quality, flexible education.
Industry partnerships: We collaborate with leading healthcare organisations to ensure our courses meet evolving sector needs.
Trusted by leading employers: Health and social care organisations across the UK rely on us for workforce development solutions.

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Find out how we can help your organisation

Find out how we can support your organisation’s workforce development goals, whether through tailored apprenticeships, customised training, or comprehensive development programmes. We’re here to help.

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