HCPC have advised they have some new process and help in place for those returning to practice, taking into considerations the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, The updates are as follows:

Timescales

Our returning to practice processes will take account of the impact COVID-19 may have had on the timescales within which returnees have been able to complete their period of updating.

We would usually require that all of an applicant’s updating is completed, from start to finish, within the 12 months before they apply for registration or readmission. 

We are temporarily extending this period to 24 months.

Evidence of Supervised Practice

We will support returnees in using evidence of practice as a temporary registrant as proof of ‘supervised practice’, where appropriate.

Our requirements around supervised practice are already permissive and we do not set detailed guidance for supervisors because we believe that the level of supervision needed and the tasks carried out will depend on the returner’s specific learning needs. 

We appreciate the challenges COVID-19 will have presented in this regard and will allow supervisors to make their own judgements on what level of supervision is/has been possible during the pandemic.

Alternative Forms of Study

We will consider alternative forms of ‘formal study’ gained during the COVID-19 pandemic, where these are reasonable and give rise to similar levels of learning.

It will be for applicants to justify this in their returning to practice form; and we will be as flexible as possible in considering alternatives.

Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) – how my eyes were opened to these wonderful careers

Physiotherapist and former Health Education England Leadership Fellow Marie-Clare Wadley began filming some of her colleagues – and discovered incredibly rewarding ‘secret’ careers that provide essential support to patients. Here she describes her experience.

For those receiving A-level results and still wondering about their next steps, or looking for inspiration on the Health Education England Health Careers website, the NHS offers a quite amazing range of careers. Ask anyone in the street and some of the most obvious will spring to mind – doctor, nurse, paramedic – but some of the most critical and really rewarding jobs are unlikely to trip off the tongue quite so readily.

How many people even know what an allied health professional is? Well, the term actually refers to 14 different occupations, namely art therapists, dietitians, dramatherapists, music therapists, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, osteopaths, paramedics, physiotherapists, podiatrists, prosthetists and orthotists, diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers and speech and language therapists.

I’m a physiotherapist, and when I started out I believed it was the best job ever in health care. I’m a physiotherapist through and through – I get to work with other great professions, both registered and non-registered people who all have the same common goal, and that’s patient-centred care. As my career progressed I started to open my eye and look beyond my own immediate world of work.

I’m a gadget girl – l love looking at life and learning in a different way. I guess being dyslexic made me use other parts of my brain to learn rather than just relying on words –  images, imagination or a Marvel film any day. I used to sit and dream of the time I could just point at the air and create a sequence of exercises in three dimensions.  The idea of a holographic Allied Health Professional came to mind.

I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity of an AHP Leadership Fellowship with Health Education England.  This led me on a journey which opened my eyes to just how diverse and special these AHP roles are. Take podiatry, for example. Think about the horrific complications of a diabetic foot ulcer which, if not treated properly and early enough, can lead to drastic outcomes such as amputation. Which leads us on to prosthetists and orthotists – the ones who, if you’ve had an amputation, can guide your recovery by making bespoke equipment to help you walk.

We are all interconnected.  My knowledge really grew when I came up with the idea of making a series of immersive, virtual reality films about the day in the life of an AHP, and it dawned on me that I didn’t really have a clue what these amazing professions did. The first film was Prosthetics and Orthotics in Oxford, where I had worked for years but had never taken the time to discover how important these professions are, even though I have treated many people with amputations over the years. I experienced watching a child be able to kick a ball in the playground with his new orthotics, and seeing a young man who had lost his leg in a road accident perform his traditional street dance Capoeira with his artificial limb brought tears to my eyes.

Watching a combination of technicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and prosthetists assess, support and adjust his limb to reduce the pressure on what was left of his lower leg was captivating – a combination of technology, teamwork, skill and professionalism all wrapped up in a humanistic and caring approach which made me very proud to be an AHP working in the NHS.

Yes, these careers aren’t always at the forefront of people’s minds but they are definitely vital.  Think about therapeutic radiographers, whose precise technique and highly-specialised training helps cure our loved ones of cancer.  And I didn’t even really know what an orthoptist was until I filmed them helping children with visual difficulties and adults with increasing sight loss. I watched their incredible expertise, injecting eyes and pushing to the limit to ensure people with failing sight get the right treatment with the right expert at the right time.

When I started my filming, it was a project. Now it’s a passion, and I want everyone to understand these amazing, rewarding and vital roles. I want people to understand there is far more to the NHS than just doctors and nurses.

AHPs focus on prevention as well as treatment, and if we can stop someone from needing intense medical intervention before it is needed, surely that is where the future of our healthcare lies?

But to do that we need great people.  If you’ve completed your A-levels and are looking for a profession that offers real purpose, wonderful teamwork and the genuine opportunity to change thousands of lives for the better, look no further.  There’s an AHP role for you.

To find out more, take a look at my ground-breaking films and judge for yourself:-

https://hee-vr360.azurewebsites.net/

Marie-Clare is now a leader within the world of virtual reality in health care experiences. She worked alongside virtual reality expert Nick Peres, who is Head of Digital Technologies at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.

Invitation to join the English Diabetes Footcare Network

 

BAPO strongly recommend that Orthotists working in diabetes in England join this new MDT network.

To register for the network, visit edfn.org/register.

The English Diabetes Footcare Network (EDFN) is an online community dedicated to the improvement of diabetes footcare in England. It is supported by both the British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists and the College of Podiatry.

The network will encourage the dissemination of best practice, provide a professional forum & support education, offering both webinars and podcasts. The latest news will be shared, alongside monthly newsletters and stage for an annual conference with awards.

It was formed by a group of interested diabetes foot champions, including Christian Pankhurst (Orthotist), Dr Paul Chadwick, Professor Mike Edmonds, Alistair McInnes and Richard Leigh. Together this group has developed a steering group to establish a network across England.

Christian Pankhurst, who is a Clinical Specialist Orthotist within Guy’s & St. Thomas’, said: “This is a long-awaited opportunity to link the clinical networks across the country to provide a multi-disciplinary focus for strategic developments, share best practice and advise relevant stakeholders on matters relating to service delivery and improvements in England for diabetes-related foot and lower limb disease.”

Chair Richard Leigh, who is a Consultant Podiatrist from Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, said: “If you are involved in diabetes footcare, join our network and become part of a new community dedicated to improving care and reducing amputations.

We are passionate about raising the standards of diabetes footcare and believe this network will provide a much-needed platform to share the best ways of working across the country, pick up examples of best practice and provide a single voice for our community.”

 

In England, the development of sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) and the bids for NHS England Diabetes Fund for multidisciplinary diabetes footcare team (MDFT) transformation, with its focus on foot disease, has led to development of innovations in practice and new ways of working.

However, there was no robust mechanism for sharing these new ways of working across England and the wider UK, with developments and duplication of work occurring at regional levels among the 12 NHS England clinical networks, without their benefit being felt more widely.

In response, a scoping exercise was carried out and the need for a national network was identified.

The network is now launching an ambitious national improvement programme to drive up standards of diabetes footcare in England.

The first meeting of the English Diabetes Footcare Network was held in London at the College of Podiatry in March 2019.