With the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan placing retention and development center stage, digital tools such as ePortfolios are gaining traction. This article reflects on how the People Alchemy ePortfolio is already helping NHS Trusts improve training delivery, reduce administration and enable staff progression, supporting a more sustainable workforce.
The retention challenge in the NHS
The NHS continues to face challenges in recruiting and retaining staff across many roles. From nurses and healthcare assistants to pharmacy trainees and operational support, NHS Trusts are under pressure to maintain service levels while managing workforce shortages.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan brings a renewed focus on training and retention as a long-term solution. As of March 2023, over 112,000 vacancies were reported across NHS England. More recently, the number of registered nursing vacancies stood at over 31,000 in March 2024, a 7.5% vacancy rate. These figures highlight the scale of the challenge and the need to think differently about how we develop and retain staff.
Alongside recruitment efforts, there’s growing recognition that development opportunities and a visible career path can help keep people engaged and committed. It’s not just about pay or workload; people want to feel they’re progressing, learning, and being supported.
Workforce development as a retention strategy
Many people leave roles not because they dislike the work, but because they don’t feel valued or can’t see a future. Development-led retention strategies acknowledge this and aim to create a workplace where people feel invested in, both by their employer and in themselves.
Development opportunities:
- help build a sense of purpose and belonging
- show a commitment to each individual’s growth
- give people clarity on what’s next and how to get there
For new starters, including nurses doing a Preceptorship and healthcare assistants completing the Care Certificate, a structured, supported pathway can make a big difference. For experienced team members, quite apart from the clinical competencies they need, ongoing development reinforces that they still have opportunities to grow.
To deliver this at scale, consistently and in a way that responds to different learning needs, we know that a digital solution is the way forward.
The role of ePortfolios
Digital tools, including ePortfolios, are being adopted across the NHS to help support learning and development. Unlike the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) that records if somebody has a Care Certificate, clinical competencies or other passes for courses, ePortfolios are not just repositories for data and training content; they offer a way to manage learning, reflect on progress, and map out development in a structured but flexible way. It is the learning journey and how it is navigated, including a record of the journey, that counts, as well as the tick box at the end.
ePortfolios support:
- onboarding and induction
- formal and informal learning
- competency tracking and assessment
- reflective practice and feedback
They also reduce administrative burden, giving managers and assessors a clearer view of progress and making it easier for learners to track their own journey.
An ePortfolio in practice
The People Alchemy ePortfolio is already being used by NHS Trusts to support workforce development. Its flexibility and ease of use help them tailor the learning experience to suit different roles, while providing a consistent and trackable approach.
For example, East Cheshire NHS Trust introduced the People Alchemy ePortfolio for delivery of the Care Certificate. The results speak for themselves:
- Completion times dropped from 17–20 weeks to 8–10 weeks
- 77 staff members completed the programme in the first 18 months
- enhanced staff satisfaction
- assessors reported real-time visibility of progress
- admin teams saw a reduction in paperwork and chasing
Staff feedback was also positive. Learners appreciated the structure and accessibility of the ePortfolio, while managers valued the transparency it offered. The Trust has since extended its use to support clinical skills development; a testament to the platform’s flexibility.
Creating capability and confidence
At its heart, development is about helping people grow in confidence and capability. When development is easy to access and clearly structured, it creates a sense of momentum. It encourages people to stay because they can see their own progress.
For NHS Trusts, using an ePortfolio creates a space where learning becomes visible — to the learner, to their manager, and to the organisation. It’s not only a tool for workforce development, but also for retention.
The People Alchemy ePortfolio:
- gives people ownership of their learning
- supports consistency across programmes
- reduces admin for assessors and managers
- helps organisations deliver learning that sticks
Are you reviewing your development and retention strategies? Consider how an ePortfolio might support that work at your NHS Trust in a 20 minute platform walkthrough
> Not ready to contact us yet? Read the East Cheshire NHS Trust case study and the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust caste study
