Information for trainees
Managing complexity and the HSST – Owen Driskell, Deputy HSST Training Programme Director
Earlier this month I was privileged to travel up to Manchester to visit HSSTs and academic staff at their DClinSci A2 unit workshops. There are some complex systems out there and the NHS is no exception. Our understanding of the complexities informs our actions and behaviours and determines our successes within the NHS. Learning to navigate and lead others through these complex systems is part of what the HSST is about. The A units are where HSST candidates explore and engage in these challenges under the tutelage of experienced and knowledgeable minds dedicated to studying and developing the language to describe them.
The HSST programme can be quite easily thought of in 2 parts: an academic part (the DClinSci – unless prior approved PhD) and a workplace part (a professional portfolio). The role the DClinSci plays in the HSST programme is important – it provides access to teaching and opportunities for learning to underpin professional development. However, it is in the workplace where the HSST applies that learning and development to establish themselves as a clinical scientist capable of consultant-level practice with real world experience.
As an HSST you are not supernumerary. You are contributing to the meaningful work of your service. It is through that meaningful contribution to the workplace that you obtain your experience to prove your capabilities. As such your development journeys will vary from trainee to trainee depending on your needs and the needs of the service. You will work with your workplace supervisor to plan for and take the opportunities you need to demonstrate your capabilities. You collect these activities and evidence them in your e-portfolio (OneFile) and map them to the HSST programme’s namesake standards The Higher Specialist Scientist Standards of Proficiency (HSS SoPs) – to reassure your assessors that you are capable and deserving to complete the programme. It is completion of this portfolio of evidence submitted at the end of the programme that defines your Higher Specialist Scientist practice and your attainment of the benchmark for eligibility to apply for consultant-level posts.
Whilst up in Manchester it was good to take the opportunity to speak to candidates about one or two things and take questions. One of these was the importance of knowing the completion requirements for your HSST. These are slightly different for each speciality. Another was the need for the HSST to be aware of their HSST programme timeline. This is important as it can change if a candidate makes a request through the Exceptional Extenuating Circumstances process. There are 2 important dates that define the HSST programme timeline:
- The end date, which is the date which defines the end of the HSST funding.
- The completion deadline, the date by which the completion of all programme requirements must be evidenced by the candidate in an application for a HSST certificate of completion.
A summary of the HSST completion requirements is contained in a podcast featuring Dr Lisa Ayers available here: https://nshcs.hee.nhs.uk/programmes/hsst/trainees/hsst-completion-podcast/
The DClinSci is a requirement of the HSST Programme (unless you have a prior approved PhD) and is awarded by the university. It is important to know the separate timeline for the completion of the DClinSci as it needs to be awarded with enough time in advance of the HSST programme completion deadline to allow you to apply for your HSST certificate of completion. It is important to know that the university provider controls the award of the DClinSci (for example assessment deadlines, thesis submission deadlines, viva, and the submission of corrections). If any extension granted by the university (usually a thesis submission deadline) impacts on your ability to obtain your DClinSci with enough time to apply for HSST completion before your completion deadline, you would need to apply to the National School for an adjustment to your HSST programme timeline at the same time.
Knowing these simple facts about the requirements and timelines of your programme (and planning for them) helps you deal with any perceived complexity about your programme and access the right support and those in a position to help you. This will help you in successfully navigating your programme. As developing scientific leaders, you understand complex science, scientific systems and through the A units the complex organisational management and leadership interplay in making things happen in the NHS. HSST admin will soon seem like a breeze.
Information for trainees and supervisors
HSST Sharing Good Practice webinar series
We are pleased to announce the following Sharing Good Practice webinars, featuring talks delivered by current HSST trainees.
Sharing Good Practice: Skills and behaviours of a Consultant Clinical Scientist
Monday 31 March 2025 – 10:30am to 11:30am
View further details and register for this webinar (expired link)
Sharing Good Practice: Skills and behaviours of a Consultant Clinical Scientist
Thursday 10 April 2025 – 10:30am to 11:30am
View further details and register for this webinar (expired link)
Sharing Good Practice: Skills and behaviours of a Consultant Clinical Scientist
Tuesday 29 April 2025 – 11:30am to 12:30pm
View further details and register for this webinar
The webinars will be recorded and made available on the School website.
Search and browse our catalogue of Sharing Good Practice resources
Are you interested in sharing your practice?
If you or your network have developed practice that you feel could be valuable to share with your peers, please express an interest in sharing your practice via the form linked to below.
Express an interest in sharing your practice
The Academy for Healthcare Science’s HCS Leadership Journal
Owen Driskell, the School’s Deputy Training Programme Director for the HSST, recently had the privilege of joining the editorial board for the Academy for Healthcare Science’s HCS Leadership Journal.
Recognising the importance of developing scientific leadership the Academy founded the Journal in 2021. It provides a publication where a broad spectrum of leadership perspectives can be shared from experienced to developing leaders. It has proven a successful journal with Higher Specialist Scientist Trainees regularly contributing articles about their contributions to the NHS and their leadership development journeys.
One of those successes is a current HSST, Usman Lula, who has taken on the role of co-editor for the Journal working alongside a diverse and dedicated editorial team. The Journal is published twice a year and is advertised in the AHCS Vox newsletter and HSST Monthly Memo.
View the latest and previous editions of the HCS Leadership Journal
Are you interested in supporting neurodiversity in the workplace?
On the NHS Learning Hub we have developed a resource which includes 2 recordings on neurodiversity:
- Jo Horne ‘Supporting neurodiversity in the workplace’
- Rachel Lennon ‘Neuroinclusive communication’
The resource also provides a guide to developing an inclusive work and training environment.
To access the resources, you will need an NHS Learning Hub account. If you have an NHS email address create your account on the NHS Learning Hub website. If you do not have an NHS email address please complete this short form.
Access ‘Supporting neurodiversity in the workplace’ on the NHS Learning Hub
National Education and Training Survey 2024 results now available
The results of the National Education and Training Survey (NETS) 2024 are now available.
NETS is the only national survey of learners across all healthcare education and training settings, providing valuable insights into their experiences.
We work regionally and nationally with education and placement providers to monitor the quality of the education and training taking place within healthcare learning environments for all our healthcare learners.
With this year seeing the highest response rate since NETS opened in 2019, the NETS results provide critical insights into the quality of the learning environment from the perspective of the learners.
Information for supervisors
Become an IAPS examiner for the HSST programme
The Independent Assessment of Professional Skills (IAPS) is the assessment that forms part of the HSST for physiological, physical and bioinformatics scientists. (Life scientists undergo Royal College assessments as part of their HSST instead of IAPS.) We are looking to grow the number of professionals who can support this assessment as examiners.
This is an opportunity to assess at the highest level of healthcare science. You are able to be part of the conversation in the wider establishment of consultant-level practice in your profession and to network with experienced peers. If you are the workplace supervisor for an HSST in the physiological, physical or bioinformatics sciences then as an IAPS examiner you gain first-hand experience to support your own HSSTs through the programme. If you have completed HSST 2 or more years ago you are also eligible to apply, and we would encourage you to get in touch.
To contribute to the validation of your professional workforce at the highest level, and gain experience to support your departments and trainees in their development explore the requirements for becoming an IAPS examiner and express your interest.
A call to all current contacts for support have gone out to support the May 2025 IAPS (taking place in the period Monday 12 May to Friday 23 May 2025). If you can support during these dates in the following disciplines then we are particularly interested in hearing from you before May 2025:
- Audiology
- Clinical Bioinformatics Genomics
- Clinical Bioinformatics Physical Sciences
- Imaging Physics
- Radiotherapy Physics
- Respiratory and Sleep Science
- Vascular Science
Missed a previous edition of the HSST Monthly Memo?
You will find previous copies of the HSST Monthly Memo on our website.