From CEPNs to Training Hubs: a decade of population-level workforce education and their strategic role in delivering the NHS 10-Year Plan
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Since 2013, CEPNs-and, from 2018, Training Hubs-have provided locally led, multi-professional mechanisms for workforce education in primary and community care, aiming to match training supply and skill mix to population health needs. AIM: To synthesise the development, evolution, and impact of CEPNs/THs and assess their strategic alignment with the NHS 10-Year Health Plan (July 2025). DISCUSSION: Evidence from local evaluations and national guidance indicates CEPNs/THs expanded placement capacity, supported interprofessional learning, integrated new roles into primary care, and improved links between education providers and employers-albeit against a backdrop of regional variability and short-termism in funding. The 10-Year Plan's 'three shifts' (community-first, digital enablement, prevention) map directly to Training Hub functions, but require stronger place-based embedding, stable investment, and outcomes-focused evaluation. CONCLUSION: With explicit policy backing, multi-year funding, and standardised impact measures, Training Hubs can function as the operational bridge between national strategy and local delivery for the decade ahead.
Source: Education for Primary Care
Author: Sanjiv Ahluwalia
Institution: Anglia Ruskin University
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4415219447