Message from Training Programme Director
This month’s message is from Jane Lynch:
Welcome to the August ETP memo.
As part of our continual improvement process, we are collecting feedback around the impact of our regional training leads and recently asked trainees on the ETP to complete a survey around this. We would like to extend this to all training officers and will be sending further information around this soon, so please look out for this. We also intend to re-open the survey for trainees to allow anyone who missed the previous deadline to comment.
We are delighted to welcome the University of the West of England as a provider of the Postgraduate Certificate. Further information around which trainees will be attending each university is available on our website: Which universities deliver the ETP? Dates for the teaching blocks will be communicated to trainees directly from the university and will be added to the website as we receive them.
Our next Healthcare Science Education and Training Collaborative meeting will be held online. This will include an opportunity to join an ETP roundtable discussion. All training officers are invited. Please see below for details.
I look forward to welcoming our new cohort of trainees at the 2023 Induction event in October.
Information for trainees
Completion 2024
Unless you have an approved extension via the School’s Exceptional Extenuating Circumstances policy (EEC) or the University, you should be aiming to have achieved the following by 8 April 2024:
- 100% completion of your e-portfolio – One File
- Pass in the PGCert in Clinical Echocardiography
- Accreditation with the British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) – theory and practical examinations
If you have concerns about meeting the requirements of the programme in the timeframe allowed come and talk to the School. We will be happy to advise you. You can email us at nshcs@hee.nhs.uk
Tips to help you complete your programme
We’ve pulled together a few top tips to consider now you are approaching the end of year 1 of your programme:
- Make sure you plan, review and act regularly and discuss your progress with your Training Officer.
- The BSE will endeavour to offer places for people on the ETP at the appropriate practical assessment. Please ensure they are aware you are on the programme if you are unable to gain a place immediately.
- Make sure you have planned to have completed both the theory and practical elements of the BSE accreditation before the completion deadline. If you fail the practical exam, you will be permitted up to 6 months to resit and pass it and still be able to complete the ETP. Any further time required will need to be discussed with the School.
- If you are having problems with collating sufficient cases for your BSE practical exam then speak to your Training Officer early and come and talk to the School about your options.
- Trainees who do not achieve the requirements by the deadline and who have not previously notified the School of any barriers to completion may fail the ETP. If you do not plan effectively and communicate early we won’t be able to help you.
- Completion of your e-portfolio is a mandatory requirement. If you don’t achieve this without sufficient reason this outcome will be reported to NHSE commissioners and quality teams, which may impact on future funding for the programme.
- If you have exceptional circumstances impacting on the progress and completion of your programme you can seek more time or adjustments via the School’s Exceptional Extenuating Circumstances policy.
Teaching dates for UWE 2023/24
- Block Week 1 9 – 12 October 2023
- Block Week 2 16 – 20 October 2023
- Block Week 3 8 – 12 January 2024
- Block Week 4 15 – 19 April 2024
Online lectures are offered weekly on a Tuesday for a 9-week period, from the following dates: 24 October 2023 and 16 January 2024.
Teaching dates for Newcastle 2023/24
- Block 1 – 13 to 24 November 2023
- Block 2 – 4 to 16 February 2024
Click here to find the university teaching dates
Information for training officers
Changes to the annual monitoring process for 2023
Annual monitoring is a requirement for ETP accredited departments. The new process will require you to report on:
- Staffing and organisational changes
- Changes to training planning and the availability of resources
- Engagement in ‘Train the Trainer’
- Challenges encountered in delivering the programme
- Support provided for equality, diversity and inclusion
Previously, annual monitoring was completed in September of every year. Going forward annual monitoring will happen in July of every year.
The annual monitoring process for 2023 will open on Wednesday 26 July 2024 and will close on Monday 30 September 2024. The reporting period will be retrospective, now focusing on the academic year September 2023 to August 2024.
If you have just been endorsed for the ETP you will be exempt from completing the process for the upcoming round.
Click here for more information about the annual monitoring process
Induction package for trainees starting in 2023
As part of the induction package for trainees starting in 2023 we have a combination of face-to-face and online sessions.
Below are the key dates to be aware of when working on your trainees’ training plans:
- Wednesday 4 October – face-to-face induction day in central Birmingham
- Friday 27 October at 1:00pm – online webinar: getting to know the OneFile e-portfolio service
The School events team will be in touch with the incoming trainees directly with registration links and information.
Guidance about the educational training support funding
Commissioners of the Echocardiography Training Programme will allocate £2,000 per trainee, for the first academic year and £1,000 for the final six months of the programme (£3,000 in total) for educational training support and transfer the funding to individual employers via the agreed contractual arrangements.
The primary purpose of this funding is to contribute to the travel and accommodation expenses that a trainee will incur as part of the academic component of the programme. As successful completion of BSE TTE Accreditation is a requirement of the programme, this funding may also be used to cover the costs of the process.
Next Healthcare Science Education and Training Collaborative meeting
Our next Healthcare Science Education and Training Collaborative meeting will be online on Tuesday 7th November.
The Healthcare Science Education and Training Collaborative has been set up to enable collaboration between the healthcare science work-based training centres, the relevant Higher Education Institutes, the professional bodies and the National School of Healthcare Science.
As ETP training officers you should have received an invtiation to our next meeting earlier this month. You can also find the agenda and registration link on our website.
Curriculum review update
The ETP Curriculum Review Group met again in July to continue the discussion around the curriculum with another meeting scheduled for August.
The group picked up the conversation on the ETP and STP modules and the appropriateness of each for the ETP based on the group’s experience of the programme and practice. The aim is to review curriculum content and to ensure the skills and knowledge provided by the curriculum is current, fit for purpose and equips trainees for the workforce.
Missed a previous edition of the ETP Monthly Memo?
We’ve published copies of the Monthly Memo for ETP trainees and training officers on our website.
Click here to view previous editions of the ETP Monthly Memo.