Aims and achievements — About | Genomics Education Programme

Background and aims

Rapid advances in technology and understanding mean that genomics is now more relevant than ever before. As genomics increasingly becomes a part of mainstream NHS care, all healthcare professionals, and not just genomics specialists, need to have a good understanding of its relevance and potential to impact the diagnosis, treatment and management of people in our care.

In 2014, Health Education England (HEE) launched a four-year £20 million Genomics Education Programme (GEP) to ensure that the NHS workforce has the knowledge, skills and experience to keep the UK at the heart of the genomics revolution in healthcare.

Funding for the programme has been extended to enable us to continue our work in providing co-ordinated national direction of education and training in genomics and developing resources for a wide range of healthcare professionals.

The GEP’s overarching aims are to:

identify NHS workforce needs;
build and join networks across the country;
help educate and develop the NHS workforce; and
increase awareness of genomics across healthcare.

Key achievements

The GEP has developed a broad range of educational resources, from informal learning to formal qualifications. Here are some of the standout achievements:

The Master’s in Genomics Medicine framework is designed to be delivered as a full Master’s degree, a postgraduate diploma or certificate, or as standalone modules. More than 2,000 people across all professional groups in the NHS have studied at least one Master’s module, thus increasing genomic knowledge throughout the healthcare system.

GeNotes – genomic notes for clinicians – has been developed to support NHS England’s strategy to ‘mainstream’ genomics across the healthcare specialties, and is designed to align with the National Genomic Test Directory. Developed by clinicians for clinicians, GeNotes covers 10 specialty areas of healthcare and features more than 500 articles across its two main sections, In the Clinic and Knowledge Hub.

The Genomics Training Academy (GTAC) was established to increase specialist genomics training capacity in the NHS through a hub-and-spoke model. GTAC provides a central ‘hub’ of online learning materials and supports seven regional ‘spokes’ with trainer-led resources, such as immersive reality laboratory skills.

The Clinical Pathway Initiative (CPI) aims to support the integration of genomic competences into the education and training of the NHS workforce with a nationally co-ordinated and consistent approach. The CPI works by mapping clinical pathways to the required competencies – and associated education and training – needed to deliver each step on the pathway.

In addition, the programme has delivered a wide range of online education: short online courses and interactive sessions; factsheets and guides; games, videos, animations and infographics for learning and teaching; and expert-led workshops and events.

Future objectives

As well as continuing to meet its overarching aims, the GEP directly supports the delivery of genomics education noted in a number of national strategy and policy publications. These include: