64677 Ambulance Trust ReportV3:63630 AnnualMon 27/1/11 16:34 Page A Review of approval and monitoring 2007–10 UK ambulance service pre-registration programmes 64677 Ambulance Trust ReportV3:63630 AnnualMon 27/1/11 16:34 Page B Contents Introduction 2 About us (the Health Professions Council) 2 Our main functions 2 Brief overview of the approval and monitoring processes 2 About this document 3 Review of approval activities 5 Background to the programme of visits 5 Preparation for the programme of visits 6 Outcomes of visits 6 The evidence base 6 The impact on resources and timeframes for the approval process 7 Feedback from ambulance services 10 Time taken to complete approval process 11 Communication and information 11 Pre-visit stage 12 The visit 14 The post-visit stage 14 Education provider feedback conclusions 15 Standards of education and training 15 Standards of proficiency 19 Standards of proficiency: further analysis 21 Conclusions on SOPs data 24 Conclusions from the review of visits 24 IHCD as a curriculum-setting body 25 64677 Ambulance Trust ReportV3:63630 AnnualMon 27/1/11 16:34 Page 1 Review of annual monitoring activities 26 The history leading to the annual monitoring of pre-registration education and training delivered by UK ambulance services 26 Brief overview of the annual monitoring process 26 Outcomes from the UK ambulance service annual monitoring process 27 Evidence base 27 The impact on resources and timeframes for the annual monitoring process 27 Standards of education and training 29 Analysis of Visitor comments 30 Summation of trends 30 Conclusions from annual monitoring activities 31 Conclusions from review of the approval and monitoring activities 31 Distinctiveness of each programme 32 Application of standards and approval and monitoring processes 32 Appendix A – Final outcomes from approval process 33 Appendix B – Ambulance Service Feedback Form 34 Appendix C – SOPs numbering 37 Appendix D – Final outcomes from annual monitoring 49 List of graphs 50 64677 Ambulance Trust ReportV3:63630 AnnualMon 27/1/11 16:34 Page 2 Introduction About us (the Health Our main functions Professions Council) To protect the public, we: We are the Health Professions Council (HPC) – set standards for registrants’ education and we were set up to protect the public. To and training, professional skills, conduct, do this, we keep a register of professionals performance, ethics and health; who meet our standards for their training, professional skills, behaviour and health. – keep a register of professionals who meet those standards; Professionals on our Register are called ‘registrants’. We currently regulate members of – approve programmes which 15 professions. professionals must complete to register with us; and – Arts therapists – take action when professionals on our – Biomedical scientists Register do not meet our standards. – Chiropodists / podiatrists The Health Professions Order 2001 says that – Clinical scientists we must set standards which are necessary for safe and effective practice. This is why our – Dietitians standards are set at a ‘threshold’ level (the – Hearing aid dispensers minimum level of safe and effective practice to protect the public). – Occupational therapists Brief overview of the approval – Operating department practitioners and monitoring processes – Orthoptists We visit all the programmes we approve to – Paramedics make sure that: – Physiotherapists – the education programme meets or continues to meet our standards of – Practitioner psychologists education and training (SETs); – Prosthetists / orthotists – those who complete the programme are – Radiographers able to meet or continue to meet our standards of proficiency (SOPs) for their – Speech and language therapists part of the Register; and We may regulate other professions in the – all programmes and education providers future. For an up-to-date list of the professions are assessed fairly and consistently. we regulate, please visit our website at www.hpc-uk.org 2 UK ambulance service pre-registration programmes 64677 Ambulance Trust ReportV3:63630 AnnualMon 27/1/11 16:34 Page 3 Introduction When we carry out an approval visit, we are About this document represented by what we refer to as the HPC Panel. The HPC Panel is normally made up of This report details the work conducted to two Visitors, at least one of whom is from the review the programme of visits and annual same part of the Register as the profession to monitoring activities for pre-registration which the programme relates, and an HPC education and training delivered by UK public representative from the Education Department. ambulance services. It is the role of the Education Department The review focused on the series of approval representative to support both the Visitors and visits undertaken by the Education Department the education provider. Throughout the visit, to UK public ambulance services. The review we will ask questions of the staff, students, also focused on the outcomes of the annual senior managers and practice-placement monitoring activities and the implications for providers. We relate all our discussions back to the future approval and monitoring of pre- our standards. At the end of the approval visit, registration education and training delivered by the Visitors will make a recommendation as to UK ambulance services. whether, or to what extent, the programme meets or continues to meet our standards. In particular the review focused on: Their recommendation is sent to our Education – the methodolgy the HPC applied in and Training Committee (ETC) which makes deciding to undertake a programme of the final decision. visits to UK public ambulance services; If we approve an education programme, it is – how the HPC plan for the visit normally given ‘open-ended approval’ and is programme was formulated; then subject to monitoring. Annual monitoring is a retrospective, documentary, process. We – the impact of the implementation of the consider whether a programme continues to approval visit on the ambulance services meet our standards of education and training and the HPC; (SETs) and deliver the standards of proficiency – (SOPs). We try to build on the education the outcomes of the approval visits and provider’s own documents and processes for any trends identified from this; monitoring to remove the need for regular – how the HPC plan for the amended visits. The annual monitoring process operates annual monitoring process was in conjunction with the major change and formulated; and approval processes. Information on these processes can be found in the supplementary – the outcomes of the annual monitoring information documents available on our activities, any identifiable trends and the website. implications for the future approval and monitoring of pre-registration education and training delivered by UK ambulance services. UK ambulance service pre-registration programmes 3 64677 Ambulance Trust ReportV3:63630 AnnualMon 27/1/11 16:34 Page 4 Introduction The paper draws on: – a qualitative review of Education Department records of the amended approval process used for the programme of visits and a structured interview with the lead Education Officer for the project; – quantitative data, drawn from Education Department records, describing some of the key features of the implementation of the approval process; – a quantitative and, to a limited extent, qualitative review of the reports produced after each visit; – a qualitative review of Education Department records of the amended annual monitoring process used for pre- registration education and training delivered by UK ambulance services; – structured interviews with members of the Education Department who have been leading operationally on the annual monitoring of those education and training services; and – a quantitative and, to a limited extent, qualitative review of the reports produced after the amended annual monitoring assessment. 4 UK ambulance service pre-registration programmes 64677 Ambulance Trust ReportV3:63630 AnnualMon 27/1/11 16:34 Page 5 Review of approval activities Background to the programme In the 2005–06 academic year all UK public of visits ambulance services submitted an audit which was assessed by Visitors. Of the 34 audits At the meeting held in February 2004, the submitted, only three resulted in a Education and Training Committee decided to recommendation that an approval visit was conduct approval visits to all approved required. A paper to the Education and programmes which had not been subject to a Training Committee on 5 September 2006 visit since the publication of the Quality reported the outcomes of annual monitoring Assurance Agency’s Subject Benchmark for the UK public ambulance services. This Statement for each profession. This led to a paper stated that the distinctiveness of the period of activity for the Education Department arrangements for delivery and assessment of in which programmes that had not received a the IHCD programmes at each ambulance visit were contacted and visits arranged. service warranted site-specific visits. The Benchmark Statement for paramedic programmes was published in 2004. Owing to the continuing uncertainty about the future of the IHCD programmes and the recent In the paramedic profession, many of the merger of English ambulance services, the HPC-approved programmes are delivered by Committee directed the Education Department UK public ambulance services and follow the to contact all UK public ambulance services to Institute of Health and Care