Case Study: Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust supports healthcare assistants into nursing with NHS Employers and the Open University

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Customer Case Study

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, working with NHS Employers, wanted to create a better route for healthcare support workers to progress into professional nursing. The trust faced barriers including strict local entry requirements, a lack of recent academic study among staff, and the financial difficulty of leaving paid work to study full time.

NHS Employers supported the trust’s partnership with the Open University to launch a part-time, distance-learning pre-registration nursing pathway with partial salary support and a pilot of eight commissioned places. The approach improved accessibility for support workers, generated strong interest, and early feedback showed higher motivation and better staff retention prospects, while helping identify the need for numeracy and literacy support to widen participation further.

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust