Purpose – Public services such as healthcare face a variety of challenges. This paper aims to show how the use of a new generation of learning and support tools could make a significant contribution to tackling current problems and addressing future issues. Design/methodology/approach – Learning and support tools can make it much easier for people to understand areas that are inherently complicated and do difficult jobs. The paper shows how an approach to improving the performance of professionals and knowledge workers can be employed in healthcare. Key lessons from early adopters are summarized, and questions posed for training and development professionals. Findings – Tools examined in other contexts have increased the performance of key workgroups and yielded a first year return on investment of over 20, 30 and 70 times. Applying the approach that is suggested to healthcare could address challenges facing the system and benefit both practitioners and patients. Practical implications – Benefits of the suggested approach include better engagement with patients, greater understanding, improved productivity, reduced costs, quicker responses, faster dissemination of beneficial changes, less stress, higher standards of patient safety and care, and evidenced compliance. Areas examined include education and training, induction, continuing professional development, ensuring patient safety, maintaining standards, monitoring practitioners, diagnosis, ensuring optimum care pathways, reducing stress and improving productivity. Originality/value – Many responsible boards would like to address the challenges facing public services such as healthcare, but they lack a practical and cost effective way of doing so. The approach outlined represents a cost effective way of integrating learning and working, and uses a framework for managing information, knowledge and best practice, and related learning tools to support the development, updating and practice of healthcare professionals, and ensure adherence to relevant procedures, regulations and standards.
