Health, Education, Policing and Sciences

Continuous professional development (CPD) and training

Reach new horizons with Continuous Professional Development (CPD) healthcare programmes delivered as part of the Centre for Health Innovation and enhance your skills and career potential.

We offer short courses as well as undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, all designed alongside professional bodies to make a positive difference to the quality of care from Level 3 (A-Level equivalent) to Level 8 (PHD).

Our courses cover a broad range of topics ranging from areas such as lifesaving, Research and Development, academic qualifications, and skills development for local communities. We also provide a wide range of academic qualifications including micro credentials and degree level qualifications.

All our courses are focused on life-long learning and skills development, and you’ll benefit from the very latest treatment simulation techniques and the expertise of our clinically experienced lecturers.

We also offer employers access to a large portfolio of flexible professional training, short courses, CPD masterclasses and bespoke training packages, while also providing access to progression pathways to higher education through micro-credentials. To find our more about how we can support your organisation, please email CHI@staffs.ac.uk.

Our Centre for Health Innovation is endorsed by INACSL whose Healthcare Simulation Standards Endorsement is designed to recognise healthcare institutions and practices that have demonstrated excellence in applying all four of the following simulation standards from the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best PracticeTM (HSSOBPTM) in their educational simulation programs:

  • Prebriefing: Preparation and Briefing
  • Facilitation
  • Professional Integrity
  • Debriefing

CPD courses for healthcare professionals

Nursing and midwifery practice

Short term courses

Advanced Health Assessment

This module enables health care professionals to gain and expand knowledge and skills in the performance of advanced health assessment and clinical diagnostics across the lifespan.

Advanced Mental Health Practice

The purpose of this module is to enable you to gain and expand your knowledge and essential skills in advanced mental health practice as a health care professional.

Applied Anaesthetic Care

Are you a Registered Nurse looking to expand your scope of practice? Equip yourself with the knowledge and skills to gain competence in delivering anaesthetic care.

Assessment of Patients with Minor Injuries

Are you a health professional looking to expand your knowledge on the assessment of children and adults with minor injuries? Join the experts at Staffordshire University and get the latest tools you need to make informed decisions in clinical environments.

Care and Management of Asthma and COPD

This module will develop knowledge, understanding and management of COPD and Asthma. The module is delivered by a wide multi-disciplinary team to give a holistic approach to care.

Care and Management of People with Diabetes mellitus

Are you a working health professional looking to develop a deeper understanding of the care of patients with diabetes? Join Staffordshire University and get access to the experts in the field that put you at the forefront of diabetes care.

Clinical reasoning and Decision Making

This module at postgraduate students working at advanced practice level. It will introduce students to the psychology of decision making, as applied to in clinical practice, with a view to enhancing their understanding of the decision processes involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Contemporary Issues in Healthcare Education

This module will help you to evaluate the contemporary role of education in healthcare. Educational delivery requires constant updates and revisions to ensure the ongoing contemporary requirements of professionals are met. This module assists with the identification of the social, economic and cultural factors that shape contemporary agendas.

Independent and Supplementary Nurse Prescribing

This qualification will enhance your practice and your ability to complete episodes of care more effectively. Following completion, you will be eligible to register your qualification with the Nursing and midwifery Council (NMC) and subsequently prescribe a wide range of medicines from the British National Formulary (BNF).

Infection Prevention and Control

This module aims to provide you with a range of expert knowledge and skills and consolidate existing knowledge and skills to initiate and facilitate service improvements in infection prevention and control to assure patient safety.

Leadership Role in Quality, Innovation and Change

Acquire knowledge and skills in critically appraising leadership theories, healthcare innovations and change management and become an effective leader helping people and institutions in achieving quality improvement and development following evidence-based leadership frameworks.

Principles and Practice of Palliative and End-of-Life Care

Develop an understanding of the definitions and concepts of palliative and end of life care and relevant legislation and related guidance. Gain an understanding of the nature and insight into, the support and management of a patient's physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs using a holistic perspective.

Principles of Physical Assessment

Gain the physical examination skills you need to enhance patient care and optimise service provisions in your role as a nurse or health professional.

Research Methodology and Methods

Join the experts at Staffordshire University and develop an in-depth understanding of research methodology and methods. Academic research often favours a polysyllabic terminology, but often what is behind the long words is entirely compatible with our everyday understanding of the world!

Long term courses

Advanced Clinical Practice MSc

For nurses, midwives, paramedics, emergency care practitioners, pharmacists, community matrons and other allied healthcare workers who are advanced practitioners or will be expected to fulfil an advanced practice role.

Healthcare assistants

Short courses

For Health Care Assistants: Delivering Care in the Community

This two-module combined course allows applicants to achieve a Certificate in Continuous Professional Development. The modules centre around the relevant knowledge and skills to perform the Healthcare Assistant (HCA) role in primary care and/or the community in a confident, safe and patient-focused manner.

Individual modules

The Role of the Healthcare Assistant in the Community

Develop the relevant knowledge and skills to perform the Healthcare Assistant (HCA) role in primary care and/or the community in a confident, safe and patient-focused manner. Your role as a Health care assistant will be enhanced in your current role such as Doctors surgery, Nursing Home, Community.

Caring for people with long-term conditions

This course will give you an understanding of why you do certain things as an HCA and provide practical ideas, hints, and tips to support your practice which will enable you to link theory to practice and enhance your role caring for patients with long term conditions. It supports you to link theory to practice and improve the patient journey.

Paramedic and allied health professionals

Short term courses

Advanced Health Assessment

This module enables health care professionals to gain and expand knowledge and skills in the performance of advanced health assessment and clinical diagnostics across the lifespan.

Advanced Mental Health Practice

The purpose of this module is to enable you to gain and expand your knowledge and essential skills in advanced mental health practice as a health care professional.

Assessment of Patients with Minor Injuries

Are you a health professional looking to expand your knowledge on the assessment of children and adults with minor injuries? Join the experts at Staffordshire University and get the latest tools you need to make informed decisions in clinical environments.

Care and Management of Asthma and COPD

This module will develop knowledge, understanding and management of COPD and Asthma. The module is delivered by a wide multi-disciplinary team to give a holistic approach to care.

Care and Management of People with Diabetes mellitus

Are you a working health professional looking to develop a deeper understanding of the care of patients with diabetes? Join Staffordshire University and get access to the experts in the field that put you at the forefront of diabetes care.

Clinical reasoning and Decision Making

This module at postgraduate students working at advanced practice level. It will introduce students to the psychology of decision making, as applied to in clinical practice, with a view to enhancing their understanding of the decision processes involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Contemporary Issues in Healthcare Education

This module will help you to evaluate the contemporary role of education in healthcare. Educational delivery requires constant updates and revisions to ensure the ongoing contemporary requirements of professionals are met. This module assists with the identification of the social, economic and cultural factors that shape contemporary agendas.

Independent and Supplementary Prescribing for Allied Health Professionals

This qualification will enhance your practice and your ability to complete episodes of care more effectively. Following completion, you will be eligible to register your qualification with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) and subsequently prescribe a wide range of medicines from the British National Formulary (BNF).

Infection Prevention and Control

This module aims to provide you with a range of expert knowledge and skills and consolidate existing knowledge and skills to initiate and facilitate service improvements in infection prevention and control to assure patient safety.

Leadership Role in Quality, Innovation and Change

Acquire knowledge and skills in critically appraising leadership theories, healthcare innovations and change management and become an effective leader helping people and institutions in achieving quality improvement and development following evidence-based leadership frameworks.

Pre-Hospital Practice Education

Do you need to sharpen your skillset as an educator in the field of pre-hospital practice? Join the experts at Staffordshire University on a module designed to promote you as a leader within a practice educator role.

Principles and Practice of Palliative and End-of-Life Care

Develop an understanding of the definitions and concepts of palliative and end of life care and relevant legislation and related guidance. Gain an understanding of the nature and insight into, the support and management of a patient's physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs using a holistic perspective.

Principles of Physical Assessment

Gain the physical examination skills you need to enhance patient care and optimise service provisions in your role as a nurse or health professional.

Long term courses

Advanced Clinical Practice MSc

For nurses, midwives, paramedics, emergency care practitioners, pharmacists, community matrons and other allied healthcare workers who are advanced practitioners or will be expected to fulfil an advanced practice role.

Healthcare leadership

Short courses

Clinical reasoning and Decision Making

This module at postgraduate students working at advanced practice level. It will introduce students to the psychology of decision making, as applied to in clinical practice, with a view to enhancing their understanding of the decision processes involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Human Factors and Ergonomics

This module introduces the foundational principles of Human Factors/ Ergonomics (HF/E). It covers the scope of the science and how to take a systems approach to interactions between people and technology, environment, task, and other socio-technical system elements.

Leadership Role in Quality, Innovation and Change

Acquire knowledge and skills in critically appraising leadership theories, healthcare innovations and change management and become an effective leader helping people and institutions in achieving quality improvement and development following evidence-based leadership frameworks.

Research Methodology and Methods

Join the experts at Staffordshire University and develop an in-depth understanding of research methodology and methods. Academic research often favours a polysyllabic terminology, but often what is behind the long words is entirely compatible with our everyday understanding of the world!

Long term courses

Human Factors for Patient Safety MSc/PgCert

This course focuses specifically on Human Factors within the Health and Social Care sectors with the aim of helping health and social care professionals to improve performance in this area.

Healthcare educators

Short courses

Approaches to Teaching and Learning in Healthcare

The module will facilitate the evaluation of teaching practice within the workplace from planning a teaching session, through to its delivery and evaluation. This will enable consideration of alignment between planning and delivery across the learning journey.

Assessment and Appraisal in Healthcare Education

Do you need to sharpen your skills in assessment and appraisal in healthcare education? This specialist module is designed to give you the latest skills to undertake valid and reliable assessments of teaching in the workplace.

Contemporary Issues in Healthcare Education

This module will help you to evaluate the contemporary role of education in healthcare. Educational delivery requires constant updates and revisions to ensure the ongoing contemporary requirements of professionals are met. This module assists with the identification of the social, economic and cultural factors that shape contemporary agendas.

Long term courses

Simulation Based Education MSc

This course has been designed for professionals who are currently utilizing or considering the pedagogy of simulation for teaching, learning and assessment.

Medical Education MSc/PgCert

This distance learning course is designed for health and social care practitioners and educators who are involved in teaching/supervision, in some capacity, within their working role.

Psychological and mental health professionals

Short courses

Introduction to Basic Counselling Skills

This ten week course provides an introduction to basic counselling skills and personal development. The course is suited for people who have little or no counselling experience who are interested in developing their counselling-related skills to either enhance their work or as the starting point for further training in counselling.

Advanced Mental Health Practice

The purpose of this module is to enable you to gain and expand your knowledge and essential skills in advanced mental health practice as a health care professional.

Long term courses

University Certificate in Counselling

Whether you’re planning a career as a counsellor, or need counselling skills in your current employment, this one-year course provides an essential foundation for your development.

Psychotherapeutic Counselling

This two year course will develop you into a reflexive counsellor who can work effectively with clients on a diverse range of issues.

Advanced Clinical Practice MSc

For nurses, midwives, paramedics, emergency care practitioners, pharmacists, community matrons and other allied healthcare workers who are advanced practitioners or will be expected to fulfil an advanced practice role.

Bespoke healthcare CPD courses

These are continuing professional development courses that can be delivered bespoke to institutions/NHS/Business or in some cased booked on to as individual candidates. For more information on any of these courses please email CHI@staffs.ac.uk

Debriefing Effectively

This  one-day interactive course  allows participants to use a range of models in a variety of contexts including care settings, academic settings for teaching, learning and change.

Foundations of Simulation – Clinical

This two-day course is aimed at those new to simulation or who are considering implementing this within their work or area of practice e.g. hospital, community, social care setting, school, or college.

Foundations of Simulation – Non-Clinical

The course is not specific to any professional group and will provide all participants with the opportunity to design a simulation – based experience within their own setting by being guided through the process.

Immunisation Training for Healthcare Support Workers/Healthcare Assistants

This foundation course adheres to the National Minimum Standards for Immunisation Training (2015) and includes flu, pneumococcal, shingles vaccination and intranasal (spray) influenza for children (2-17 years. The first day is taught online via Teams, the second is face to face in the skills laboratory which also teaches injection technique.

Initial Cervical Sampler Training

This course is designed to meet the continuous professional development of healthcare staff involved in cervical cytology screening.

Simulation for Assessment

This one-day course will focus on creating scenarios for formative and summative assessment e.g., Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) using simulation and immersive technologies.


Endorsed by INACSL whose Healthcare Simulation Standards Endorsement is designed to recognize healthcare institutions and practices that have demonstrated excellence in applying simulation standards from the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best PracticeTM

for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

Top 5 for Social Inclusion

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025

for First Generation Students

The Mail University Guide 2025

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021

for Facilities

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Four Star Rating

QS Star Ratings 2021