Provision of an Online to upskill a cohort of nurses in Genomics and Genetic counselling skills

The Genomics Education Programme (GEP) was established in 2014 following an initial investment from the Department of Health to pump prime genomic education and training activity to support the delivery of the 100,000 Genomes Project. At the beginning of financial year 2018/19 the GEP became part of business as usual within Health Education England (HEE) and in collaboration with NHS England (NHSE) continues to support the newly launched NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS).

In 2020 the GEP funded 30 nurses to undertake a CPD course which ran over a 15-week period online, designed for nurses with little-to-no previous knowledge of genomics. We received a lot of interest from nurses to be funded for the course and would like to allow students to apply annually. .

3. Scope of the Contract

The GEP want to provide the opportunity for nurses to learn the fundamentals of genomics as applied to rare diseases, cancer, and infectious disease, and an introduction to genetic counselling skills in the context of the new Genomic Medicine Service. The Authority is inviting quotations for the provision of an innovative, post-graduate blended learning course in Genomics and Counselling Skills for an annually funded cohort of nurses at Clinical Nurse Specialist or equivalent level. A contract would cover 3 years (with the option to extend for a further 2 years dependant on GEP budget allocation) with the course running at least once a year (or with notice and agreement with GEP dependant on budget twice a year)