You must ensure the HSST trainee has a balance between providing services and providing access to educational and training opportunities. Service work undertaken should support learning opportunities and should not be compromised by the demands of regularly carrying out routine tasks or out-of-hours cover that does not support learning and has little educational or training value.
HSST trainees must be allowed an allowance of 52 days each year protected time which they can use flexibly for academic studies, this excludes the time spent attending residential sessions at the HEI or other time attending conferences or on placement outside the host laboratory.
HSST trainees are mentored and supervised by those who are of consultant or equivalent standing within the employing department and with the support of others across the department and within the wider organisation.
Employer responsibilities
Departments seeking to host a clinical scientist at HSST level will have a previous track record of training in the specialty area and staff operating at a consultant level to support delivery and mentorship of the trainee. Support can also come from medical consultants in the relevant specialty.
Any department employing a HSST trainee should:
- Offer a commitment to excellence, innovation, and leadership in meeting the health care needs of the people served through the improvement of community health and by fostering the very best education and biomedical research.
- Strive to provide the most advanced and comprehensive education possible, preparing HSST trainees for a lifetime of learning and careers as leaders, clinicians, teachers, and researchers.
- Offer sufficient practical experience to achieve and maintain the clinical competences required by their curriculum.
- Offer an educational induction to make sure the trainee understands their curriculum and how their post fits within the training programme requirements.
- Provide opportunities and support for the trainee to develop their clinical and practical skills and generic professional capabilities.
- Offer opportunities to work and learn with other members of the team to support inter-professional multidisciplinary working.
- Conduct regular, useful meetings with their trainees and clinical and workplace supervisors.
- Offer placements that are long enough to allow the trainee to become members of a multidisciplinary team, and to allow team members to make reliable judgements about their abilities, performance, and progress.
- Offer a balance between the trainee providing services and accessing educational and training opportunities.
- Have adequate staffing so that a trainee is not routinely required to perform tasks that are the primary responsibility of other members of the health care team.
- Have a focus on patient needs, and that the work undertaken supports learning opportunities wherever possible.
- Have assessments mapped to the requirements of the curriculum and appropriately sequenced to match the trainee’s progression through the programme to meet the Academy’s standards of proficiency.
- Offer supervision and monitoring that supports the trainee’s educational experience through regular training planning reviews with the workplace supervisor.
- Offer support for the trainee’s mental health and well-being and understand the demands of the programme.
- Offer support for the trainee to participate in public and patient involvement and engagement opportunities.
Responsibilities of the HSST trainee
- Your job plan will need to meet the needs of the department in service provision, and you should expect to have assigned roles with routine clinical responsibilities.
- Your objectives will be set to facilitate your personal development and with time set aside for training.
- You will take responsibility for your training plan and work collaboratively with your workplace supervisor.
- You will participate in ethical, safe, high quality, competent, cost effective, and compassionate patient centred care under supervision.
- You will undertake to meet the educational goals of your training program.
- You will develop skills to be an effective life-long learner including developing a personal program of self-study and professional growth.
- You will demonstrate competency in patient focussed care, scientific knowledge, and practice-based learning and improvement.
- You will participate fully in the educational and scholarly activities of the HSST program.
- You will assume responsibility for teaching and supervising and mentoring other graduate trainees and students, as your skills and competencies progress.
- You will be diligent in your clinical practice ensuring that you follow local and national guidance and policies.
- You will comply with your Contract of Employment regarding the Educational Program, Departmental and Hospital policies.
- You will participate in institutional, departmental, and training program activities involving performance improvement and other appropriate aspects of development.
- You will maintain your registration with the HCPC.
- You will recognise the need for protection of human subjects when conducting research through compliance with all appropriate policies, procedures, and education.
- You will comply with the professional expectations of a HSST trainee
- You will participate in personal progress monitoring and evaluation as stipulated by the institution, department and HSST program requirements
- You will respect patient’s rights.
- You will participate in public and patient involvement and engagement opportunities.