The health sector provides a range of mandatory work-related learning, to develop staff and improve their ability to do their job.
But people worried about their skills in LLN may avoid attending courses in case they are unable to take part in every aspect of the training. People who have had a negative experience of education or who do not have confidence in their ability to learn may be reluctant to come forward. You may find that you need to support these colleagues, to ensure that opportunities for skills development are taken up.
Although some staff may need to improve their skills, they still make a vital and skillful contribution at work, even contributing to the development of better qualified staff.
These cover reading, writing, speaking and listening. Adults need to be confident that they can communicate effectively in the workplace. Using the telephone, interacting with colleagues, being able to read a variety of texts and fill in forms are everyday skills that many of us take for granted.
It is worth remembering though that 'a beginning writer is not necessarily a beginning thinker'.
Increasingly, people in the workplace need to be numerate, yet numeracy levels are often even lower than literacy levels.
Numeracy skills include manipulating numbers - adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, measuring, estimating and understanding diagrams, graphs and charts. Without these skills, adults can not perform accurate calculations, may have difficulty in estimating and rounding and may not understand simple graphical or statistical information. People may have difficulty gathering and understanding information and solving numerical problems.
Find out more about NHS Education for Scotland's current work in improving numeracy skills amongst the Scottish Healthcare workforce. There is also a link to the pilot of a numeracy course on the calculation of drug dosages (South Glasgow University Hospitals Division).
Some of your staff may not speak English as their first language and may need specialist ESOL support. This group of people will have a varied experience of education so far; some may have very high level qualifications. Use the link at the bottom of the page to find out more about ESOL.
You will find guidance in the document 'A guide to assessment of LLN for Health Sector Managers', produced by Skills for Health.
Use the link on the right to access the Department for Children, Schools and Families' employer toolkit: 'Skills for Life: Make it your business'.
It has been designed to help employers address issues, face challenges and find solutions to the problems they encounter as a result of poor LLN skills in their workforce.
Move On is a national project aimed at helping adults to brush up their skills and gain the National Certificate in Adult Literacy or Numeracy. Use the link opposite to visit their website. If you register, you can access a range of free resources, such as the report into the Move On in the NHS Pilot Project.
Get On At Work is the strand within ‘Skills for Life' that focuses on improving employees' literacy and numeracy skills to Level 2 (GCSE A*-C) and gaining a national qualification.
