Induction programme for the Mental Health Tribunal, Scotland

The new Mental Health Tribunal was formed as part of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. Walkgrove won this OJEC advertised contract to develop a blended learning induction solution for newly appointed members of tribunal panels whose role is to make and review decisions on the long term, compulsory care and treatment of people with a mental disorder.

The blended solution comprises approximately 30 hours of learning:

• e-learning
• e-reading
• pre-course workbooks
• a two-day residential course including a mock tribunal

The target audience is large, diverse and dispersed throughout Scotland.

Tribunals are made up of three members, one legal member (lawyer), one medical member (psychiatrist) and one general member (person with experience and/or qualifications in social care).

From the outset of the project and before the members were appointed it was clear from the defined core competencies of the positions that a major challenge would be engaging learners with such diverse backgrounds and needs.

Another important factor for us to consider was that tribunal members are usually in full time employment and their tribunal duties are conducted on a part-time basis, typically involving two or three days a month. Therefore, their time is both precious and in short supply!

Underpinning knowledge was covered by the e-learning and e-reading. The highly participative workshops allowed members to practise the skills they needed in a ‘real’ situation.

Within the e-learning, a new medium for many, we adopted a highly modular and flexible design, presenting the materials in ‘bite-sized chunks’. We also included a pre-course diagnostic assessment comprising 40 questions, randomly drawn from a bank of 100 so that when the learner first enrols on to the course, a recommended and individual learning plan is generated.

This approach ensures that:

• the learner only studies the materials that he or she needs to (although they can access all modules if they wish)
• the content presented is appropriate to the levels of their knowledge and experience.

The solution is accessible and SCORM compliant and delivered on the internet via a Learning Management System hosted by ourselves.

The programme won an IITT Award for Staff Development Programme of the Year and was shortlisted for the WOLCE Blended Programme of the Year.

The success of this programme, proven by a full Level 3 evaluation, led to further contracts to develop and deliver bespoke training to Convenors (lawyers) and Sheriffs (for restricted cases) and, for the whole target audience, dealing with those who in addition to a mental health problem, have a learning disability.

Walkgrove have also just won a competitive competition for a single source four year call-off contract to continue to design and deliver training to MHTS.