Allied Health Professions - education and workforce policy review: recommendations

4. Annex A - National Oversight Group Subgroup Recommendations

4.1 Timeframes

The review allocated timeframes to each recommendation to reflect time, financial and resource constraints. These are outlined below:

• Short – as soon as practicably possible - actions that do not require additional funding and perhaps are close to being implemented.
• Medium – 1 to 3 years – these are recommendations that require further consideration and will need to be considered within the wider financial landscape.
• Long – 3 years plus – these recommendations are likely to require additional funding in order to be implemented.

4.2 Workforce & Recruitment

Recommendation S/M/L Term

1. AHP data should be a central consideration of the ongoing national workforce projection modelling. This will serve to better align current and future population needs and individual AHP workforce, pre-registration education and Practice Based Learning requirements

Short/Medium

2. National job planning for individual AHP groups should be undertaken learning from work in other professional groups. Additional support should be available to AHP leaders to enable this work to be undertaken

Short/Medium

3. A collaborative and multi-dimensional analysis is undertaken which details specific challenges to AHP workforce in ensuring sustainable recruitment and retention by profession, area of work and geographical area and provides recommendations on what actions need to be taken

Short/Medium

4. Action should be taken to improve the availability and use of up to date comprehensive student data that allows course length and intake numbers, attrition and destination data to robustly inform subsequent workforce planning and supply including long term projections that allow education intakes to be calculated for each profession, learning from other areas where this previously has been delivered. This will facilitate sustainable collaborative planning of workforce requirements by education and service providers

Short/Medium

5. Workload measurement tools for AHPs should be developed alongside National job plans that allow workload and workforce (demand) calculations to be made. Workload tools must be inclusive of the Four Pillars and encompass the entirety of AHP workload including public health, universal, targeted and individualised approaches

Short/Medium

4.3 Education Solutions

Recommendation S/M/L Term

1. Collaboratively develop sustainable (step on/step off) "earn and learn" routes for the AHP professions in Scotland, aligned to the NHS Career Framework which increases the number of AHPs, improves access and increases diversity of the health and social care workforce in Scotland

Short

2. Urgently implement innovative, sustainable solutions to fund earn and learn routes to increase the numbers in the AHP workforce in health and social care whilst increasing diversity and ensuring improved accessibility to AHP careers

Short

3. Co-ordinate and align strategies to market a career as an allied health professional across governmental, professional, and educational organisations including the sharing of resources, data and audiences

Short/Medium

4.4 Practice Based Learning

Recommendation S/M/L Term

1. As a priority, develop a central digital data system, hosted by a neutral organisation, that captures, monitors and co-ordinates the supply and demand for AHP practice-based learning opportunities across Scotland. Initially this will ensure the proportionally equitable distribution of NHS-based practice-based learning opportunities between HEIs and NHS Boards and will be extended to other sectors in the future

Short/Medium

2. A central digital quality management system is developed to support the efficient and effective governance and quality management of practice-based learning, minimising the workload associated to all parties. To ensure this, any system should be conversant between HEIs and NHS board systems and plan to include other sectors in the future

Short/Medium

3. Build on current and previous work to embed, transform and further develop modern, inclusive and sustainable practice-based learning models into practice through a learning culture, process changes and collaboration between NHS Boards, other sectors and HEIs Short

4. Recognition of the value and importance by leaders and at all career levels to ensure Practice Based Learning is embedded as a core element of everyone's practice. This includes inclusion of Practice Based Learning in individual career conversations, career pathways/framework, national and local AHP job plans and service models and through enhancing AHP education structures within NHS Boards and other sectors

Short/Medium

5. Collaboration and co-ordination between HEIs, NHS Boards and NES to ensure all AHPs workforce are supported in developing and advancing knowledge and skills to implement practice based learning and wider practice learning objectives, including a formalised framework for all career levels

Short/Medium

6. To facilitate the use of a full practice-based learning system capacity throughout Scotland and ensure practice-based learning does not exclude those unable to pay, funding is available for students to attend and engage with required practice-based learning opportunities necessary for their qualification as registered practitioners.

Short/Medium

4.5 Advancing Practice

Recommendations S/M/L Term

1. Advancing Practice and skill maximisation for AHPs should be developed using a consistent national approach through a consistently named and applied career framework and educational pathway

Short/Medium

2. Service specifications and Service Needs Analyses should be undertaken within AHP services across Scotland to identify the workforce requirement across all levels of the career framework

Short/Medium

3. Consistent National Learning Needs Analysis is undertaken for AHPs linked to the career framework to create a collaborative AHP National Learning Framework/Plan and clear career pathways across all levels

Short/Medium

4. Using appropriate frameworks and building on The Scottish Radiology Transformation Programme (SRTP) learning, advancing practice (skills maximisation) across all levels of the career framework for each profession is defined through knowledge, skills and behaviours and linked with service and other professions as necessary

Short/Medium

5. Explore sustainable mechanisms for recognising and/or accrediting practice at level 7

Medium

6. Identify the required generic and profession specific knowledge skills and behaviours

Medium

7. Collaboratively develop a co-ordinated and equitable approach to create a sustainable Scotland-wide advancing practice education structure that delivers best utilisation of all educational partners and resources

Medium

8. Ensure a contemporary and relevant educational provision for staff that delivers for our community aligned to changing workforce requirements

Medium

9. To facilitate advancing practice, opportunity for trainee roles should be agreed and role descriptors/job plans developed ensuring succession planning and improve retention of staff through creation of a clear career pathway

Medium

10. Budgets should support advancing practice and the education required to achieve this, to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the overall Health and Social Care System through maximising roles and benefit services to the people of Scotland

Medium/Long

11. Advancing Practice for AHPs through the development of co-ordinated career pathways and sustainable service and education framework is evaluated to ensure it offers value for money to the country and improves service user and workforce experience

Medium

4.6 Research, Innovation and Relationships

Recommendations S/M/L Term

1. Create an active, collaborative, inclusive research strategy that addresses the capacity, capability, leadership and culture within all AHP services

Short

2. Extend, develop and co-ordinate collaborative relationships between HEIs, FEIs and all NHS Boards (and relevant social care and third sectors) to develop a culture that engages and facilitates AHPs in research and improvement activity

Short/Medium

3. Make this everyone's business: 'AHP leadership at all levels that will actively recognise, promote and implement research and improvement as a core part of service delivery'

Medium/Long

4. Embed structures that enable a culture that delivers value added impactful research and improvement as an essential part of practice. These structures will facilitate service benefits in terms of staff recruitment and retention; efficiency, effectiveness and quality of services and underpin patient safety

Short/Medium