Last updated 08:47, Friday, 05 December 2008

A STATE-of-the-art online learning programme is set to be introduced at West Cumberland Hospital.

E-learning is designed to develop the knowledge and skills of clinical and nursing staff.

Hospitals throughout north Cumbria will all benefit from the programme which has been developed by award winning cancer specialist Mark Irving.

The tool will be launched at West Cumberland Hospital on Friday.

Director of Nursing for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust Sandy Brown said: “The trust is making significant investment in training and development by providing staff with additional, flexible learning opportunities. This will also benefit patients as skills develop.”

Staff have been invited to log on and complete online courses. To date the site has 750 members in the north of the county and 22,000 members worldwide.

Courses on offer include: Venepuncture, a method of extracting blood for laboratory testing, Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation, the method of inserting a needle into a vein, and IV Therapy, injecting a liquid into a vein.

Mr Irving is based at Cumberland Infirmary.

He said: “www.nclearning.org.uk is a fantastic new development for our clinical and nursing staff and opens doors to learning.”

Each course is spilt into modules and at the end of each one there is a multiple choice test.

After completing the course staff can print out a certificate of achievement which they can keep in their personal profile and use to further their careers.

For more information on the course visit www.nclearning.org.uk