Message from Training Programme Director
This month’s message is from Dr Owen Driskell
HSSTs taking responsibility for their own training is key to successful navigation of the programme. This was affirmed by attendees in the HSST roundtable at this month’s Collaborative Meeting, an opportunity for the School to listen and gather views from hundreds of healthcare scientists simultaneously.
To help stay on track, HSSTs need to know who has responsibility for (and so who to contact about) the different aspects of their training. For aspects relating to the academic qualification at the University (the DClinSci or PGDip) their first point of contact is their University. For issues relating to aspects of their work-based training environment and training provision the first port of contact would be their workplace supervisor and their employer.
The School recruits HSSTs to the programme, monitors progressions and certifies candidate completion. Ultimately, The School controls who is on the programme by monitoring if they are meeting its requirements. It can provide support for trainees and sometimes, through the appropriate processes. This can involve adjusting the timelines of the overall programme to reflect challenges they have faced. However, this doesn’t change the requirements of the other organisations involved in delivering elements of the programme. For example, if they need adjustments to course work or thesis submission deadlines it is the University they need to agree this with.
Following the wrong lines of communication can delay a resolution to the challenge. So please take the time to understand who you need to talk to about the different aspects of your training.
New email addresses
We are switching over to NHS.NET email addresses. Any emails sent to HEE.NHS addresses will be re-directed. Our new email addresses are:
EPA: england.nshcsepa@nhs.net
Accreditation: england.nshcs.accreditation@nhs.net
Assessment & Progression: england.nshcs.assessment@nhs.net
Curriculum: england.nshcs.curriculum@nhs.net
EDI: england.nshcs.edi@nhs.net
Events: england.nshcs.events@nhs.net
Programme Support: england.nshcs@nhs.net
HCSApplicants: england.hcsapplicants@nhs.net
The Digital Servicedesk will remain as nshcs.digital@hee.nhs.uk for the foreseeable future. Servicedesk addresses will be changed at a later date.
Click here to find all the email addresses for the National School
Information for trainees
OneFile webinar recording
The NSHCS Digital Team gave trainees an introduction to OneFile, showing how to navigate the system, how to create submissions in OneFile and offering some tips to help trainees and their supervisors get the most out of the e-portfolio software during their training.
This webinar was broadcast on Friday 17 November 2023.
Click here to view the getting to know the OneFile e-portfolio service webinar for HSST trainees
Healthcare Science Innovation Fellowships
The Office of the Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England is hosting a webinar on Thursday 23 November at 12pm on the 2023 NHS Healthcare Science Innovation Fellowships Programme. The NHS launched the Fellowships programme in collaboration with the NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Co-operative, NHS Wales, the National School of Healthcare Science and the Academy for Healthcare Science.
The theme of this year is Reducing Health Inequalities, through supporting technologies for diagnosis, monitoring or management of long-term conditions.
The annual programme is an opportunity for healthcare scientists from England and Wales to gain knowledge, skills and confidence to develop new technologies, and initiate and lead innovation projects. Host departments of fellows will be awarded a £15K innovation fellows bursary to cover costs associated with the fellowship.
In this webinar, attendees will hear from previous fellows about the benefits of the course and how you can get involved.
For more information on the programme, please email: c.bartlett1@nhs.net
Click here for more information about the Healthcare Science Innovation Fellowships Webinar (expired link)
Senior Leadership Development Programme for healthcare scientists
The Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England and The Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) are inviting expressions of interest for a senior leadership development programme for healthcare scientists.
This funded part-time leadership programme is for 12 months, starting in April 2024. Expressions of interest are requested by 1st December 2023, with further information and application details to then follow. Interviews will take place at the end of January/early February 2024.
NIHR pre-application support fund
Are you thinking about applying for NIHR funding? Applications require a lot of preparatory thinking and work to ensure the best chance for success. The Pre-Application Support Fund is a new scheme providing extra support to those who need it to enhance their chances of making a successful application to an NIHR career development scheme in the future.
The current round for this support fund is open and more details are available at link below. There will be successive rounds of this funding to a total of three times a year. It could be worth considering if you had a project in mind and just needed some time and space to develop it into an application. It may seem a little strange to apply to get time to apply for something else, but this is intended as a lighter touch application to support the development of a significant application. Investing in ensuring the best possible applications go to the panels for funding decisions, improves the chances of funding the best possible research.
Click here for more information about the NIHR pre-application support fund
Information for supervisors
Learning resources on the NHS Learning Hub
To support you to develop the knowledge and skills associated with the School’s recently published training standards, we are developing a suite of short training resources within the NHS Learning Hub. These are not mandatory and are meant to support you in your own professional development as a trainer, irrespective of the programme.
To access the NHS Learning Hub you will need to have an account with the service. The details on how to do this can be found within the training standards pages on our website, linked to below.
The following modules are already available on the NHS Learning Hub. Please click on the links to access them:
- Supporting your trainee with reflective practice
- Giving effective written and verbal feedback
- Reviewing trainee progress, including having difficult conversations and target setting
- Developing independent learners
Modules coming soon:
- Planning for learning and assessment
- Strategies for managing many trainees at once
- Motivational interviewing
- Developing coaching skills
- Developing as a mentor
- Explore opportunities in practice to embed EDI
- The principles of differentiated and adaptive practice
- Embedding the NHS values into training
- Approaches to learning
- Andragogy and pedagogy
- Motivation and learning
- Evaluating your own practice
- Supporting neurodivergent trainees with their training
- Developing evidence to demonstrate proficiency in work-based training
If you would like training on a specific topic and it does not appear amongst the NHS Learning Hub resources (already available or proposed), please contact the School’s Education Training Manager Sally Clee at s.clee@nhs.net as we are keen to ensure that the offering is responsive to the needs of trainers, assessors and educators.
Click here for the training standards and their associated support resources
Healthcare Science Education and Training Collaborative meeting summary
On our website you can find copies of some of the key presentations made at the Healthcare Science Education and Training Collaborative meeting held in November 2023.
Missed a previous edition of the HSST Monthly Memo?
We’ve published copies of the Monthly Memo for HSST trainees and training officers on our website.
Click here to view previous editions of the HSST Monthly Memo.