A digital skills partnership led by Lambeth College is helping NHS staff across London grow in confidence, strengthen essential workplace skills, and open up new opportunities for progression.

Digital confidence is now a vital part of everyday working life, especially in healthcare, where staff are expected to use online systems, complete digital training, communicate effectively, and manage information with confidence. Yet for many adults, those skills have not always been easy to access or develop. A recent partnership led by Lambeth College is helping to change that.

Working with NHS partners including Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, Lambeth College has delivered an Essential Digital Skills programme designed to support staff from the very beginning of their learning journey. The programme has focused on building practical, everyday digital skills in a supportive environment, helping learners develop confidence at a pace that works for them. 

The impact has been strong. Feedback shared through the NHS digital transformation network showed that staff felt more confident, were better able to open and work with Word documents, create posters, save their work, and felt more in control of the digital tasks they need to complete in their roles. Some learners also said they were now “hungry to learn more” after completing the course.

Daniel Gonzalez, Curriculum Head for Entry to Employment at Lambeth College, said the programme was about far more than simply teaching technical skills. It was about helping adults see themselves differently as learners and giving them the confidence to keep developing.

At the heart of the programme was a simple but powerful approach. Sessions were built around practical tasks relevant to both work and life, with clear guidance, repetition where needed, and a learning culture where questions were welcomed. As confidence grew, learners became more willing to explore, solve problems independently, and engage more positively with digital systems.

That supportive approach was recognised by NHS colleagues. Susan Pieterse, Apprenticeship and Work Based Manager at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, thanked the college for its support during the recent eight-week pilot, saying it had strengthened staff confidence, expanded their digital skills, and created a positive space for growth. She also praised the lecturers for the patient, one-to-one support that helped ensure everyone could progress at their own pace. The employer feedback published by the NHS also described the programme as highly effective, with clear improvements in both skills and confidence. 

Onika Gregory of Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also highlighted the positive impact on learners, noting improved confidence, strong engagement, and 100 per cent attendance from the first cohort, with plans for a further cohort later in the year.

The programme is already reaching widely across the capital. The NHS feature notes that six NHS trusts are now offering this programme with Lambeth College, showing how a local partnership can grow into something with London-wide impact.

This success also sits within a broader pattern of recognition for South Bank Colleges’ work with healthcare partners. In a separate but related strand of workforce development, South Bank Colleges and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were shortlisted for the HSJ Partnership Awards 2026 in the category Best Educational Programme for the NHS for their Functional Skills and Fundamental Digital Skills training for the workforce. That national shortlisting reflects the growing reputation of partnership-based education that supports staff development and stronger patient care.

For Lambeth College, the project is a strong example of how colleges can work hand in hand with employers to remove barriers to learning. By combining expert teaching with a real understanding of adult learners, the college is helping people build skills that matter immediately in the workplace while also supporting longer-term progression.

Programmes like this do more than improve digital literacy. They help people feel capable, included and ready for what comes next. In a fast-changing world of work, that kind of confidence can make all the difference.