Allied Health Professions Education and Workforce Policy Review: Workforce and Recruitment Subgroup minutes: September 2022

Attendees and apologies

• Alistair Reid, Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS)
• Jessica McPherson, Scottish Government
• Anne Wallace, Scottish Government
• Alison Moore, Scottish Government
• Kim Lynch, Scottish Government
• Abby Campbell, Scottish Government
• Sean Torrens, Scottish Government 
• Kenryck Lloyd Jones, Allied Health Professions Federation Scotland (AHFS)
• David Wylie, NHS Education for Scotland (NES)
• Anita Simmers, Council of Deans of Health
• Helen McFarlane NHS Education for Scotland (NES)

• Maggs Thomson, Health And Social Care Partnership Representative

Apologies 

• Kay Sandilands, NHS Lanarkshire

• Lyndsay Turner, Scottish Government
• Fiona Smith, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
• Paul Williams, NHS Borders
• Glenn Carter, Allied Health Professions Federation Scotland (AHPFS)

Items and actions

Welcome and action points from previous meeting

It was noted that the minutes of the previous Workforce and Recruitment meeting held on 17 August 2022 were agreed and will be published.

Update on previously agreed action points:

• arrange a presentation on the data futures pilot work ongoing around what is likely to be happening in terms of data in the future – closed, the Higher Education Statistics Agency are looking to produce data at more frequent intervals
• Sottish Government (SG) colleagues to discuss with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) whether there has been any discussions with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) about being able to track students following graduation – closed, NES is actively exploring a data sharing agreement with HCPC
• members to reflect on the meeting and consider any gaps that have not already been covered – on agenda for this meeting
• Lyndsay to look at how general Allied Health Professions (AHP) data can be broken down further, taking into consideration profession specific issues – ongoing, it was noted that NES are doing work on this and that there may be some overlap. Action point for a further meeting offline to take place between NES and SG workforce to consider this
• linking the discussions on workforce planning back to the driver diagram to be clear what workforce planning is and what the realistic level to start working at is by – on agenda for this meeting 
• issue email to group on how to update email settings in the workspace – complete 
• link in with the Education Solutions subgroup about looking at entry requirements for AHP students and how to create more diversity – complete 
• SG to link thoughts from jamboard back to the group’s aims and drivers and to the Education Solutions subgroup – complete 

It was noted that the highlight report of the previous Workforce and Recruitment meeting held on 17 August 2022 was agreed and that there will be crossover between the work of all subgroups. 

Real time staffing tool update 

Alistair Reid, Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), presented an update on the real time staffing tool. Discussion around whether this should be linked with education was had and the following points were noted:

• when looking at risk, this is not necessarily about risk as we understand it but more about potential for rehabilitation and missed opportunities in improving someone’s standard of living
• there are links with the care inspectorate so that social care is included 
• there shouldn’t be multiple versions of this and, rather, a tool that is generic enough for everyone to use but still has essential specifics 
• work has already been done on this and there is experience from community AHPs that can be drawn on 

Action point:

• presentation slides to be added to the workspace by 25 October 2022

Data diagram 

Scottish Government officials presented on sources of data and gave an update on workforce projections, highlighting what we currently have, who provides it and the gaps. The following points were noted during discussion:

• there may be connection to the advancing practice subgroup as they consider how to support post graduate education and collecting data
• NES noted that they designate nursing graduates their Nursing & Midwifery Council numbers and link this to their HCPC numbers. They also get details about paramedic students from Higher Education Institutions and this allows first job destinations to be tracked. There is value in NES getting details from all AHPs and this could also be used to track placements
• funding was discussed and it was noted that due to tight financial constraints we may look at how other organisations can refocus priorities onto the things that make the biggest impact

Action points:

• further offline conversation to be had with NES and SG officials around funding 
• within workforce projections, the fourteen AHP professions will be outlined, rather than grouping them as ‘AHPs’

E-rostering job planning

Job planning has been discussed often and the group were asked whether this is something they still want to consider further. The consensus was that job planning should be kept on the radar and there may be the opportunity to lift recommendations on this that are within a report by NES.

Driver diagram and jamboard workshop

The group used a jamboard to consider the key issues and recommendations before discussing them further.

Action point:

• jamboard to be shared with those who could not attend the meeting and kept open for further thoughts. The big issues will be linked back to the group’s aims and drivers to frame the recommendations at the next meeting on 25 October 2022 

Any other business

The next meeting has been scheduled for 25 October 2022 from 10am to 11am.