Continuing professional development
Continuing professional development
Feature
T he development of a clinical practice facilitation role across our acute occupational therapy services was first proposed in 2017 . The concept of was not new in the hospital and had been embedded in the nursing teams for some time .
Over recent years , it had become clear that there was a need to balance the constantly competing priorities that come from the management of patient assessment , discharge planning and maintenance of patient flow and how this impacted training needs .
Not only the needs of newly qualified occupational therapists , but also those of students and colleagues moving from Band 5 to Band 6 roles in their development of team leadership skills .
In its infancy , the discussion was about modelling the tried and tested approach nursing teams had taken and from that an occupational therapy dedicated clinical practice facilitator post materialised .
The concept was a clinician who would help meet the educational needs of team members , with a strong focus on the transition from student to newly qualified and autonomous practitioner for the Band 5 rotational occupational therapists . At the same time , day-to-day clinical supervision would come from the team in which they were based . Effectively this meant that learning could be provided to this workforce through the clinical practice facilitator role and jointly to this group of staff .
This role was supported by the therapy service manager and embraced by all clinical leads ( Band 7s ) across the acute specialities , as it quickly became clear it was invaluable in the development of staff and was also an initiative that helped staff recruitment and retention .
Naturally the role has developed over time . We have embraced the learning needs of the newly qualified occupational therapists emerging from university after the pandemic , where their exposure to acute hospital settings has not occurred , and aligned their training needs with the clinical practice facilitator ’ s support .
Following the clinical practice facilitator ’ s primary focus on the educational needs of the Band 5 rotational cohort of occupational therapists in the acute setting , we began to explore ways the clinical practice facilitator role could also assume ownership of training programmes historically run by Band 6 and Band 7 occupational therapists , thus releasing their clinical time .
The Health and Care Professions Council ( HCPC ) assesses a practitioner ’ s fitness to practise based on their knowledge , experience and ability to maintain competency within their scope of practice .
Additionally , section six of RCOT ’ s professional standards for occupational therapy practice , conduct and ethics focuses on principles , standards and capability to practise . To provide insight for other acute hospital organisations , we wanted to share initiatives implemented at the Royal Devon University Hospital ( Eastern Services ).
In 2020 , a new training concept arose for newly qualified occupational therapists , which involved a dedicated week of training . This concept had already been in place for some time in the acute physiotherapy service for all newly registered physiotherapists , to assist with their on-call respiratory learning needs .
With an integrated occupational therapy and physiotherapy service , it felt only right to learn from our colleagues and implement a structured week of training for newly registered occupational therapists to the acute hospital site .
During this week , occupational therapists step away from their clinical area and focus on a programme of interactive learning across a wide range of topics . The goal is to provide them with the tools they need in their daily clinical work .
Some of the subjects covered by this training that have received excellent feedback are as follows :
Above : Hannah Jacks ( right ) and Flora Smith ( left )
Above : Solei Naisbett Jones ( right ) and Isabelle Konnaris ( left )
December 2023 OTnews 53