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Bulletin
for allied health professionals
AHP Bulletin: December/January 2002/2003 Welcome to the December edition of the AHP bulletin. I am still working through my induction programme, which has included meeting with key policy makers. I am pleased to report that all the people that I have met value the work and contribution that the Allied health professions make to health and social care. I would like to thank all those who are working to develop 10 Key roles for Allied Health Professionals. I am sure that many of you have seen Developing The Key Roles For Nurses And Midwives: A Guide For Managers and Liberating the Talents, both of which use the10 key roles for nurses as drivers for change and practice development across health communities. For more information about these documents check out www.doh.gov.uk/newrolesfornurses/index.htm and www.doh.gov.uk/cno/pcts-aw.pdf I am sure that we can develop a statement of roles which can be a powerful tool for enhancing the way we work across health and social care and which you can use to support changing practice in the workplace. There will be a stakeholder event to agree the roles in the New Year and I will make sure that you have information about this in the next bulletin. In the New Year we will be revamping the bulletin. We have already started asking those involved in other areas of policy making to contribute so that we can make sure that you are well informed about initiatives in the Department of Health. I have had a number of suggestions about format and layout but would welcome suggestions for a more ‘reader friendly’ bulletin. There will not be a January Bulletin so the next time you receive information will be in February. I know that many allied health professionals will be working hard or be available 'on call' over the Christmas period to ensure that services continue to operate during holiday times. I know you will make sure that patients, carers and other service users receive the best care possible care if they are in a hospital setting over Christmas and that you will do your best to ensure that people are able to spend the holiday with their families rather than in hospital. This is a very important contribution to health care and I hope that despite all the hard work you are able to enjoy the holiday. Best wishes Contents:
All editions of every bulletin are available on the Department of Health website at www.doh.gov.uk/publications/bulletins.htm Anyone wishing to receive the AHP bulletin by e-mail can do so by e-mailing certain details to DH-Test-Emails@doh.gsi.gov.uk Clicking on the link above will give you access to an already addressed email - you should then enter details of your name, organisation, full postal address, phone and fax numbers and e-mail address before sending it. The all-important e-mail address can be your personal one at work or home (or both), or the address of a manager or a group of people at work – whichever is most convenient. If you do not have easy access to an electronic copy of the bulletin, paper copies can be obtained by phoning the NHS Responseline on 08701 555 455. The content of the bulletin will be restricted to matters that relate directly to the organisation and delivery of AHP services and matters that will be of direct interest to AHP staff. Developments in the NHS generally, and more specifically in the medical and nursing fields, are set out in the chief executive's, chief medical officer's, and chief nursing officer's bulletins which are available on the DH website at www.doh.gov.uk/publications/bulletins.htm 3. NatPaCT and the AHP significant issues group The National and Primary Care Trust development programme (NatPaCT) was established following the publication of Shifting the Balance of Power in the NHS to provide organisational development support to PCTs. The core business of NatPaCT is to help PCTs to become ‘connected and competent’ organisations and to develop the organisational capability and capacity to deliver the challenging new agenda. To find out more, you can visit the website at www.natpact.nhs.uk Initial work for NatPaCT involved the development of a generic PCT competency framework, which is intended as a self-assessment workbook for PCTs to establish areas for organisational development. Through discussions with PCTs it became evident that there were parts of the framework in which PCTs need to develop advanced competence, and so significant issues groups have been set up to address these areas. One of the areas identified as a ‘significant issue’ was the allied health professions. An allied health professionals significant issues group (AHP SIG) was established in September. Members of the group include Kay East, CHPO, professional bodies, PCT members and Jo Dent, CHI’s AHP advisor. The remit of the group is essentially to deliver on two key objectives:
The PCT AHP self-assessment framework The vision for the framework will be to provide a useful working document that PCTs at any level and profession within the organisation can use. However, it will be particularly targeted at two audiences:
Rather than reinvent the wheel, we have agreed that the AHP framework needs to include only those areas which have a particular significance for AHP services and which can advance both the development of AHP services and the contribution AHPs can make within the wider PCT agenda. Timescale We plan to have completed the first draft of the framework by the end of December 2002 and to pilot it in a range of PCTs during January 2003. The earliest anticipated date for launching the framework nationally will be March 2003 onwards. Support events will take place following the launch of the framework. It is likely that these events will take place at a strategic health authority locality level. How can you get involved or find out more If you want to:
then please contact Lucy Eve, project lead, on 0207972 4144 or email at lucy.eve@doh.gsi.gov.uk 4. Improving Working Lives - guidance for AHPs and healthcare scientists Allied health professionals and health care scientists play a vital role in the delivery of NHS patient services. Their work underpins patient care. The recruitment and retention of qualified and motivated staff remains a priority. National initiatives encourage growth and retention of NHS staff. Local measures are equally important to make the NHS an attractive option for new recruits and encourage retention amongst existing staff. The cornerstone of local initiatives is Improving Working Lives (IWL). Launched in October, the IWL guidance for allied health professionals and health care scientists recognises the fact that implementing the IWL standard is sometimes problematic for this group, because of the specialist nature of their work and the fact that they often operate in small teams, creating particular problems around flexible working and career progression. The guidance contains information on the IWL standard, guidelines and examples of good practice, following on from earlier guidance for doctors and the pharmacy team. It can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/iwl/publications.htm or obtained from the Responseline on 08701 555 455. 5. Protocol-based care information pack The Government’s vision for the future of the NHS is one of a modern service, delivering excellent care, and shaped around the needs and expectations of patients. The development of protocol-based care is a key part of this vision. The protocol-based care information pack, developed around National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance and other recognised standards, facilitates the translation of evidence into practice, and enables NHS staff to address the key questions of what should be done, when, where, and by whom. The pack:
The pack is available at www.modern.nhs.uk/protocolbasedcare For further information e-mail anne.hackett@doh.gsi.gov.uk or call 020 7210 5469. 6. Health Professions Council publishes feedback from public consultation The Health Professions Council (HPC) will publish the feedback from their three-month UK-wide public consultation exercise at an event in Cardiff on December 9th 2002. Welsh Assembly government minister for health and social services, Jane Hutt, will help launch the feedback from a process in which almost 10,000 professionals, organisations and members of the public took part between July and September this year. In addition, the HPC will release a preview of the key decisions taken by the council in relation to the consultation feedback. These decisions cover key areas such as:
These decisions will form the basis of HPC's proposed regulation of the health professions in the future. A full version of the rules and procedures will be published at the end of December. Professor Norma Brook, President of the HPC said: "The response we have received from professionals, organisations and members of the public has been excellent. This feedback is the first step towards achieving our goal of being the best organised, best managed and strongest professional regulatory organisation in the United Kingdom." Background information The Health Professions Council (HPC) is a new independent, UK-wide regulatory body responsible for setting and maintaining standards of professional training, performance and conduct of the 12 healthcare professions that it regulates. The HPC has been set up to safeguard the health and well-being of patients using the services of the professions it regulates and to ensure that the public has access to and is treated by health professionals who are qualified and competent. The HPC regulates registered professionals from the following professions: arts therapists, chiropodists/podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, medical laboratory scientific officers (MLSOs), occupational therapists, orthoptists, prosthetists and orthotists, paramedics, physiotherapists, radiographers, and speech and language therapists. The HPC consultation process The HPC Public consultation took place from July to September 2002. Over 150,000 consultation documents were distributed to registrants, professional organisations and members of the public during this period. The documents were also made available in an interactive format via the HPC website www.hpc-uk.org 7. PCT AHP/HCS PEC member development, Leadership Centre The AHP and HCS leadership programme is undertaking a project to develop AHP and HCS PEC (Professional Executive Committee) members. A one-day event for AHP/HCS PEC members – ‘Developing Effectiveness as a PEC Member’ was held on 25 November 2002 in Birmingham. This gave the 130 PEC member attendees the opportunity to think about their own development needs and to start to further develop their influence and impact in this role. The longer-term work plan is to identify from PEC members themselves what they consider their specific leadership development needs to be. This information is being gathered in the form of an anonymous survey and the results will be used to shape the form and content of some pilot developmental workshops and to measure change over time. The developmental pilot workshops will be developed depending on the results of the survey and will be piloted in two different regional areas in February. These pilots will help to shape the direction for future PEC development training. For further information and comments please contact Rebecca Lacey on: rebecca.lacey@blueyonder.co.uk (Tel 07801 269969). 8. ICES - integrating community equipment services Community equipment services play a vital role in helping disabled people of all ages, including children, to develop their full potential and to maintain their health and independence. The Government is making a significant investment in modernising and expanding these services so that more people can benefit from an integrated approach to meeting their needs. The NHS Plan set out the Government's aims. The ICES team have their own developing website aimed at assisting those people tasked with integrating and improving community equipment services in England. The aim of the team, and the website, is to:
The ICES website is www.icesdoh.org 9. NHS University consultation The Government is carrying out a consultation over its plans to establish a new ‘corporate university’ for the NHS – NHSU. A key element of the NHS Plan, NHSU is designed to make learning a right and a reality for everyone working in health and social care, from cleaners to consultants. By unlocking the potential of all staff, including those who may not have experienced learning since leaving school, NHSU can make a key contribution to the development and modernisation of the NHS. Included within NHSU’s proposals is the opportunity to study for a foundation degree within five years of joining the NHS; and junior scholarships for 14-16 year olds, to encourage more young people to consider a career in health care. NHSU will be launched in Autumn 2003 with an initial portfolio of programmes, some of which are already being piloted. These have been designed to address high priority initiatives including induction, communication skills, first contact (triage), cleaning and infection control, skills for life (numeracy and literacy), management skills and health informatics. Copies of the NHSU development plan, Learning for everyone, are being mailed to HR directors together with a staff briefing pack, and to staff representative groups. In addition a series of events and meetings are being hosted to listen to ideas from a wide range of audiences including staff and their representatives, patient and carer groups and learning organisations. If you would like to know more about the consultation or to give us your views, log onto www.nhsu.nhs.uk or ring 0800 555 550. 10. New quality assurance team for the Department of Health's Human Resources Directorate In a continuing effort to streamline, integrate and make the impact of external quality assurance on educational provision more meaningful, the Department of Health has appointed a quality assurance team (the DH QA Education Team) within the Human Resources Directorate. Sandy Goulding heads up this team and is supported by four Senior Quality Assurance Co-ordinators representing the North, Midlands, London and South each hosted by workforce development confederations. The DH QA Education Team is working with the relevant stakeholder groups - WDCs, regulatory and professional bodies, education providers, and across the Department itself, to establish a shared framework for the quality assurance of healthcare education. In the first instance, the DH QA Education Team will focus on NHS-funded professional education, i.e. nursing, midwifery and allied health professional programmes. For further information on the vision for a shared quality assurance process and the key elements of the work of the DH QA Education Team please click on http://www.doh.gov.uk/hrinthenhs/learning/section3/aboutus.htm 11. Quality assurance for nursing and AHP education The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), under contract with the Department of Health (DH) in England, has conducted six prototype reviews of NHS funded programmes for nursing and allied health professional education in six higher education institutions. The Department of Health is working in partnership with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the Health Professions Council (HPC) and NHS Workforce Development Confederations (WDC) to facilitate the development of this new streamlined and integrated approach to quality assurance. The Prototype Review cycle is now complete and reviews have taken place at six English Higher Education Institutions. For further information about these reviews and the next steps in this process, please click on http://www.doh.gov.uk/hrinthenhs/learning/section3/majorreview.htm 12. Professional Adviser for Allied Health Professionals (Recruitment, Retention and Return) A national secondment opportunity is available from the end of January to lead the implementation of the Recruitment, Retention and Return (R,R&R) strategy for allied health professionals in the NHS outlined in the HR in the NHS Plan and "Meeting the Challenge". The current secondee is Foluke Ajayi who will be taking maternity leave early next year. We envisage the secondment will be for 12-15 months - we welcome interest from full time staff, part time staff, jobsharers etc. The post can be based anywhere provided the secondee can travel regularly to London or Leeds and around England. We are looking for a senior manager in the NHS with a good understanding of the R, R&R agenda. Funding is available to support the secondment. We expect the secondment to concentrate on the following areas over the next few months: Primary Care If you are interested please send your CV by 21 December to Peter Grummitt peter.grummit@doh.gsi.gov.uk. We are planning to interview in week commencing 5th January. For further details or to talk about the secondment please contact: Peter Grummitt [NHS Employment Branch] on 0113 254 6072 peter.grummit@doh.gsi.gov.uk
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