Academy for Healthcare Science Update NHS Education for Scotland Healthcare Science Advisory Committee Friday 29 th May 2015 Dr Kerry Tinkler, Director of Professional Standards
Contents Communication... 3 New President... 3 Governance... 3 Leadership... 3 Annual Congress... 4 Service Accreditation... 4 The Register... 4 Scientific Training Programme (STP) equivalence... 4 Practitioner Training Programme (PTP) equivalence... 4 Higher Specialist Scientist Training (HSST) Programme equivalence... 5 HCPC... 5 Page 2 of 5
Communication We have over 7000 people signed up to Vox (our newsletter) now through our networks of professional bodies, Lead scientists and individuals. If you have an article or something that you think would be of interest to colleagues contact comms@ahcs.ac.uk. New President Respiratory Physiologist Dr Brendan Cooper, Consultant Clinical Scientist and Hon. Research Fellow at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB), has been appointed as the first President of the Academy for Healthcare Science. The AHCS President is the chief professional representative of the Academy, liaising with constituents and then articulating the views of the profession to government, the health & care system and other stakeholders. The President also chairs the Professional Council of the Academy and represents the Academy at external events. The President serves a two-year term. Governance The Academy s Governance structure now represents a mature model that is achieving better engagement from stakeholders Leadership The Professional Scientific Leadership Committee met on the 13th May. Some of the areas being discussed for action include: Identifying the benefits of releasing healthcare scientists to participate in professional body activity Page 3 of 5
Securing dedicated time/funding for CPPD Highlighting the role and value of lead healthcare scientists to provide a focus for healthcare science within NHS Trusts and other organisations Developing a route for healthcare scientists into director and non executive roles. Workforce related issues and forward planning Generic issues which affect the profession Annual Congress The second AHCS Congress is to be held on the 7th December 2015 in Edinburgh. This year it will be a one day event with a congress dinner the evening before. Further details coming soon. Service Accreditation The improving Clinical Engineering and Physical Science Services (icepss) programme, being developed by the AHCS working with IPEM is in the pilot phase. This service accreditation programme has followed the same principles as the Improving Quality In Physiological Services (IQIPS). The Register The Register for Healthcare Science Practitioners is fully open. It is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA). It is the first accredited register for the Healthcare Science workforce, and the only one that is supported by the NHS. The Accreditation quality mark signifies that the Academy has met the PSA s high standards in governance, standardsetting, education and training, management of the register, complaints handling and information; assuring the public and employers. The numbers of registrants are increasing with almost 500 registrants in the short time of going live. Scientific Training Programme (STP) equivalence The AHCS has successfully completed two pilots in genetics, a physiology pilot and two early implementer programmes in Scotland and Wales. We have carried out fast track HSST applications as they required clinical scientist registration before beginning the HSST programme and the 2011 STP cohort were assessed and granted equivalence. The new system went live in October 2014 and opened for applications. Since then we have run two assessment days and granted equivalence to 22 applicants. There are currently 72 applicants compiling their portfolio. There are further assessment days planned in July and October. There are 1117 expressions of interest and 237 applications in progress. There have been over 200 certificates of STP equivalence awarded to date. Practitioner Training Programme (PTP) equivalence This pathway opened slightly later and there have been 6 awards of equivalence granted at practitioner level. There are 112 applications in progress. Page 4 of 5
Higher Specialist Scientist Training (HSST) Programme equivalence The Standards of Proficiency have been finalised following public consultation. The handbook and guidance is drafted and will be tested through the early implementers. The IT system is to include HSST equivalence based on the current STP and PTP platform. We will begin early implementer recruitment, assessor recruitment and assessor training over the next few months. HCPC The Academy has Education Provider status for STP and is responsible for independently quality assuring STP programmes. The Academy submits an annual return accounting for STP programmes and makes a major change application for the approval of any new STP course. In 2014, the Academy successfully gained approval for new STP courses in Critical Care Science, Clinical Pharmaceutical Science and Reconstructive Science. It is hoped that Clinical Bioinformatics will receive formal approval shortly. Page 5 of 5