| 1 April 2025
In the healthcare sector, ensuring high-quality training is not just a goal – it is a necessity. The effectiveness of learning and development directly impacts patient safety, regulatory compliance, and the overall standard of care. Quality assurance auditing (QA audits) plays a crucial role in maintaining these high standards, providing healthcare organisations with the insights needed to refine and enhance their training.
For anyone managing training within their organisation, such as Learning and Development (L&D) Managers, Clinical Educators or Trainers across both the NHS and private healthcare, maintaining robust learning and development is essential to delivering safe and effective care.
Why do quality assurance audits matter?
QA auditing goes beyond verifying compliance; it provides a structured approach to evaluating training effectiveness. It helps identify opportunities for improvement across the entire process, including all staff involved in learning opportunity provision. In healthcare, where training directly influences patient outcomes, QA audits serve several critical functions:
Ensuring compliance and regulatory adherence
Healthcare training must meet strict regulatory standards to ensure professionals are fully equipped to perform their roles safely and effectively. QA audits help organisations identify gaps in compliance, reducing risks and reinforcing best practices.
Improving training effectiveness
A robust audit process evaluates whether training programmes are engaging, up to date, and aligned with industry standards. This ensures that employees receive the most relevant and practical education, boosting confidence in their ability to deliver high-quality care.
Building stakeholder trust
Whether it is internal teams, regulatory bodies such as Care Quality Commission (CQC), or patients, trust is built on the assurance that training meets high standards. A well-audited training programme demonstrates a commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.
Identifying growth opportunities
Through independent reviews and feedback, QA audits highlight areas for innovation and development. By acting on audit insights, organisations can refine their learning strategies, enhance professional development, and future-proof their workforce.
Key areas of quality assurance audits
To ensure a comprehensive evaluation, the QA audits Skills for Health carry out focus on four core areas.
Quality of education – Examining how training content, delivery, and learning resources align with healthcare sector needs. This includes assessing whether courses are accessible, evidence-based, and adaptable to evolving industry requirements. We’ll evaluate whether your training meets the different needs of learners and levels of competence and knowledge of your trainers and staff.
- Behaviours and attitudes – Ensuring the right behaviours are present to deliver a quality training experience. This can include professional conduct, ethical decision-making, and the right mindset for healthcare professionals.
- Personal development – Evaluating how organisations support ongoing learning (including CPD), career growth, and skills development to maintain high professional standards.
- Leadership and management – Assessing how effectively leadership teams engage with stakeholders, implement QA recommendations, and maintain a culture of learning and development.
The benefits of an independent, unbiased audit
An independent QA audit removes internal biases and provides a transparent evaluation of training functions. By working with expert auditors, healthcare organisations gain valuable external perspectives that can refine processes, improve engagement, and ultimately enhance the overall quality of education provided.
Our work with Scottish Ambulance Services
Skills for Health have worked with Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) to review their Incident Response and Command Course. With over 5,000 staff members and 1,200 volunteers, SAS serves a population of more than 5 million people, managing around 1 million patient transports annually and transferring 90,000 patients between hospitals. The audit carried out by Skills for Health brought several positive outcomes for the SAS.
- Validation of good practices: The audit confirmed that the IRAC Training Team was already implementing many good practices.
- Actionable recommendations: Skills for Health provided targeted recommendations to further enhance the training programme, ensuring it remains aligned with best practices.
- Enhanced quality assurance: The comprehensive review and subsequent report offered SAS a clear path for continuous improvement in their training processes.
Thanks to Skills for Health, we’re now confident that the IRaC course syllabus and our training policies are aligned with Skills for Health best practice and effectively equip our Incident Commanders with the skills and knowledge required to deliver positive patient outcomes. We have already begun implementing their recommendations and are seeing positive results.
John Carolan Cullion, Training Compliance Manager for The National Risk and Resilience Department at Scottish Ambulance Service
Explore how Quality Assurance Audits could strengthen your training
Our expert team offer independent, professional audit services to take your learning and development strategy to the next level. Book a free consultation today.