Arrangements to embed patient and public involvement in the training
Details of patient and public involvement in the training can be provided as a stand-alone document. You must provide us with an engagement plan detailing the sort of contact trainees could have with patients and the public outside the day-to-day clinical setting. The aim would be for the trainee to understand the whole patient experience and to be able to explain to patients how clinical science contributes to their treatment.
The sort of activities we would expect to see are:
- talks to disease-specific patient and carer groups
- STEM ambassador activities
- participation in ward rounds
- clinics
- visits to primary care
- open days and science fairs
You should also show when and how these opportunities will be available to the trainee.
This is an area which we most frequently ask the department for further development. Elements of public and patient involvement are set by the curriculum and should be included in the training. Each module has a number of defined clinical experiences that training centres should be providing for trainees.
Details about your trust or organisation
New departments must send us their trust policy documents as detailed below. If a trust has already received accreditation status by the school in another scientific speciality, then the policy documents do not need to be provided. If this is the case, please provide details on your application form. However, if any policy has been updated since the last accreditation date, you will need to send us the updated version.
You will need to provide policy documents for:
- Training
- Health and safety
- Trust induction
- Conduct and capability policy or raising concerns policy
- Local induction
- Mandatory training
- Bullying and harassment
- Whistleblowing
- Recruitment and selection process which covers the Policy DN584 (Disclosure and Barring Services Checks)
- Patient and public involvement
- Safeguarding/protection of vulnerable patients
If you do not know whether other departments in your organisation have been accredited, check the relevant list of accredited training departments.
pagesConsortium arrangements
A consortium allows you to work with departments in other trusts or organisations to help deliver parts of a curriculum that you are unable to deliver yourself. A group of departments from different trusts but within the same scientific discipline can apply to be accredited as a consortium.
Each consortium must have a training coordinator who works as the main point of contact for the group. Governance arrangements must show clear roles and responsibilities, and how the training is quality assured. All participating departments must maintain the required standards and aim to be accredited or endorsed by the school. There must be transparency so all parties involved, including the school, are clear about what everyone’s roles will be.
It should be clear to each trainee where their base is, as this might not be in their employed department. A clearly defined training plan must be provided so the trainee knows what they are doing, where they are going and when they will be doing it.
Why be in a trainee consortium?
Here are some examples of what you can benefit from as part of a consortium.
- Sharing the delivery of rotations or specialist training.
- Providing training for niche areas of the curriculum that can only be covered by departments with expertise and specialist equipment.
- Broadens the trainees experience as it is useful for trainees to see how different departments can work.
- Create support networks for trainees and Training Officers who can share good practice and gain advice and support.
- Share resources between colleagues and help each other organise training days.
- Provides the opportunity for more collaboration and increased training capacity.
UKAS Service accreditation
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) provides accreditation for diagnostic scientific services in a number of disciplines. The school recognises UKAS accreditation as a rigorous quality assurance scheme, therefore if you already have UKAS accreditation there are some exemptions from providing items of evidence; these items are clearly marked on the application form.