NHSU online learning forums may close

The future of the Contact, Help, Advice and Information Networks (CHAINs), online forums for sharing research, ideas and event announcements, is in jeopardy pending the shutdown of the NHSU.

A message sent to the group’s 4000 members explained that NHSU’s replacements, NILSI and the NHS Institute would not continue to support the service, and neither would the NHSU’s transition team.

"The team expects us to have ‘completed’ our work by 30/6/05," reads the email. "We do not share the view that CHAIN should end then, and consequently our own campaign to find a new sponsor (or sponsors) has just begun in earnest."

David Evans, head of CHAIN’s development, told E-Health Insider that he was "dispirited" by the news, but was confident that the service would find more sponsors. "If it were in the hands of the NHSU, yes, we are down as of the 30 June and that’s the end of the line. But I am determined that isn’t the case and reassured that won’t happen."

Evans confirmed that he was speaking to a "range of stakeholders" with a view to continuing sponsorship and development of the site.

Well over 250 messages of support by CHAIN’s users have been collected by the administrators so far, with 100 in the last week.

Linda Hodgkinson, an NHS e-learning manager in Cornwall, said: "The remote geographical nature of Cornwall NHS as well as financial constraints on attending conferences/seminars means this informal email network has helped me to bridge the gap between research and practice."

Andrew Bearsall, clinical governance facilitator at Bassetlaw Primary Care Trust, said that CHAIN brought value for money to e-learning within the NHS: "The educational events I have attended which have been organised through CHAIN (sometimes in collaboration with the NHSU) have been of far more practical use than those run through the private sector. On average a two day private education event would cost upwards of £600 and are often a waste of limited educational time."

And Alan Wilson, a charge nurse at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, expressed his frustration: "I am extremely upset to think that the help and information that I have retrieved through CHAIN will no longer be available, I believe this to be extremely short sighted by NILSI and the DH."

Evans said that the systems started from a small regional project in 1997 in North Thames, and blossomed as more and more people join.

"It became apparent that we had hit on something. Although there were networks for people who were interested in research they tended not to be multi-professional. What we wanted was a much more comprehensive type of people in all people on the learning curve. It fulfils a need."

There are currently two CHAINs; one concentrating on evidence-based practice, and another on workplace-based learning. A third, in the process of being set up before NHSU’s closure was announced, was due to have focused on patient and public involvement in health and social care.

A study of CHAIN published in the British Medical Journal found that the personalised nature of the forums was an enormous bonus for those searching for ideas and feedback. "We documented many detailed examples of how informal support and knowledge exchange (both explicit and tacit) enabled CHAIN members to bridge the research/practice gap," found the researchers.

"Critical success factors for such networks appear to include broad based membership from both the research and service communities… the presence of a strong network identity and culture of reciprocity; and the opportunity for new members to learn by ‘lurking’."