Curriculum launch for 2022 and what you need to know now webinar
On Wednesday 21st July at 12:30pm Health Education England’s (HEE) CEO, Navina Evans, will be joining the School in hosting a webinar to launch the new Scientist Training Programme (STP) curriculum.
We will talk about:
- what you need to know now
- where to find the new curricula
- where to find the stakeholder feedback from the review process
- our schedule of communications going forward and how we will support you
- what information is needed for the 2022 expressions of interest
NHS 73rd Birthday – July 5, 2021
The NHS will mark its 73rd ‘birthday’ on July 5 after a year like no other. It has been an extremely challenging year for the NHS and the country as a whole, but also a year of hope.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic hospitals have cared for around 400,000 seriously ill Covid patients, including more than 100,000 admitted in January alone, along with millions more besides.
At the same time the NHS has rolled out the biggest vaccination programme in our history, the fastest in Europe and most precise in the world.
The NHS could not have achieved all this without the skill and dedication of our people, along with the support of thousands of returners, volunteers, other keyworkers and, of course, the public who played their part by following the social distancing rules.
So we want to use our 73rd birthday as an opportunity to Say a Big Thank You to you. Without you and your support, we could never have achieved what we have over the past year.
STP equivalence England registration drive
With the aim of increasing the number of healthcare scientists holding statutory registration, the School recently teamed up with the AHCS to award Health Education England funding to support 200 applications for the STP Equivalence process in England.
We were overwhelmed and delighted with the response to this. Over 600 people expressed an interest and met the criteria. This far exceeded our expectations, and the successful first 200 applicants meeting the criteria were awarded funding.
We wish the successful applicants all the best for the process.
STP non-England HCS trainee pre-registration
We have introduced a pre-registration process for new entrants onto the STP/HSST programmes that have not been through the School recruitment process, for example incoming STP trainees from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
To ensure the trainees are included in the 2021 cohort employers and commissioners need to complete the survey below for each trainee by the start of September 2021.
School's Quality and Standards Committee (QSC) looking to appoint members
The School’s Quality and Standards Committee (QSC) provides governance and oversight to ensure the quality of the STP enabling those successfully completing the programme to fulfil the requirements of the HCPC to register as a Clinical Scientist.
We are looking to appoint members to the STP Quality and Standards Committee.
- Chair of the QSC committee (1 position)
- Clinical Scientists representatives (4 positions)
- HEI academic representatives (2 positions)
- Learner representatives (2 positions)
Click here to find out more about the QSC and the roles are we looking to fill
Haematology workforce working group report
Haematology is a diverse and complex clinical and laboratory specialism comprising a wide range of multi-professional roles and expertise. The report aims to identify ‘service gaps’ that medically qualified consultant haematologists have been unable to fulfil because of recruitment issues, gaps in specialist expertise issues or workload pressures. The report has been researched and written by a ‘task and finish group’ of scientifically and medically qualified haematologists (a sub-group of the Haematology Workforce Working Group of the National School for Healthcare Science (NSHCS) in Health Education England (HEE)). It forms part of a larger report to be presented to the joint NHSEI and HEE’s Pathology subgroup which is part of the larger diagnostic group in HEE/NHSEandI.
Click here to view the Haematology workforce working group report
New developments on the Topol Digital Fellowship programme as Cohort 2 begins
February 2021 saw the successful appointment of 35 Fellows to Cohort 2 of the Topol Digital Fellowship Programme. This Fellowship provides time for the Fellows to design and deliver digital health innovation projects within the NHS. Our aim is to support NHS organisations to invest in clinical staff to develop specialist digital skills and to also to support learning in leading digital health transformation. The Topol Digital Health Fellowship offers:
- A series of informative workshops followed by drop-in sessions to support the fellows with their digital projects
- Pastoral support such as 1:1 check-ins throughout the programme
- Masterclass opportunities
- Support from Alumni fellows
- Facilitated support to represent their work and the Fellowship at a variety of conferences and events
Click here to find out more about cohort 2 of the Topol Digital Fellowship programme
Training support drop-in sessions launched
We have recently instigated some regular drop-in support sessions for trainees and training officers. These sessions are designed to give further information on the services and activities of the School, to meet members of the team and to give trainees and training officers an opportunity to discuss any issues on a one-on-one basis. So far we have covered:
- Training and scientist support
- Accreditation
- Assessment including Independent Assessment of Clinical Competence (IACC) for STP, Independent Assessment of Professional Practice (IAPS) for HSST and Professional Discussions for ASP
Further sessions are planned to give regular access to School staff and advice. Training and Scientific support sessions are offered monthly and then themed sessions relating to specific activities throughout the year will also be available. The annual schedule is being developed and details for the next available sessions are on our website.
New support resources available on our website
We are continuing to research and identify additional resources which may be of benefit to trainees and trainers. There are new resources focusing on anxiety and mental health to help provide support in these challenging times. The support resources include:
- Supporting shielding trainees: a course for education supervisors who are supporting displaced or shielding trainees.
- Sources of support for trainees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic: the NHS nationally and locally has developed a range of wellbeing support to care for and protect all of our NHS colleagues.
- Wellbeing support for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic NHS staff: bespoke mental health and wellbeing services for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff working in the NHS.
- Anxiety and mental health issues resources: Online resources to help with anxiety and mental health issues.
Click here to find out more about the support resources available
STP trainees gain employment in the NHS
Many congratulations to a number of final year trainees that we have worked with after successfully gaining employment in scientific roles in the NHS.
Just a reminder to trainees that there is a transfer policy to support the move from host training provider to the new employer in order to complete the programme. Make sure you complete that and submit the application to the school as early as possible when you have an offer of employment if you wish to transfer your training.
Genomics conversation week
Monday saw the start of the fourth #GenomicsConversation, the Genomics Education Programme’s (GEP) annual week of action with a focus this year on the nursing, midwifery and health visiting communities.
Activities for 2021 included new podcast interviews, the first of three free RCNi introductory webinars, Q&A blogs and day in the life features, as well as the launch of new tailored resources and curated content.
British Academy of Audiology 17th Annual Conference
From 9am Thursday 18th – 3:30pm Friday 19th November the British Academy of Audiology will hold their 17th annual conference at Manchester Central Convention Complex.
The conference this year will contain updates from experts in research, overviews of policy updates, service innovations and examples of clinical progress which have taken huge technological leaps in the last 12 months.
Click here to view further information or to register for the conference