Key healthcare figures speak at Professional Education Conference
Posted on 3 June 2015
Lord Willis of Knaresborough, Chairperson of the Shape of Caring Review, and Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), spoke to nursing and midwifery practitioners, managers and mentors from the NHS, representatives from independent and voluntary sectors, users and carers, undergraduate nursing and midwifery students and academics from higher and further education across the region, at the conference "Shaping up to care: reforming healthcare education."
Recent reports such as Willis, Francis, Cavendish and Berwick have recommended changes to the education of nurses and healthcare support workers. The most recent is the Shape of Caring review, commissioned by Health Education England (HEE) with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a strategic partner, and published in March 2015.
The conference looked at the political impact of this review on the education of the profession, the student experience and service user care.
Lord Willis opened the conference and spoke about the review, asking: "How do we ensure education and training is fit for purpose to support nurses and care assistants in delivering high quality care over the next 10-15 years?"
He highlighted the demographic, structural and human challenges faced by all who work in the healthcare sector in the years ahead, including the rising older population, the increase in obesity and concomitant long term conditions and the structural changes to healthcare delivery.
He then concentrated on themes arising from the 73 recommendations from the Shape of Caring Review. These included:
- Enhancing the voice of patients and the public in care and avoiding the missed opportunity to utilise patients as a valuable learning resource for students.
- The role of the care assistant and the need to develop a strong competency-based and mandatory training for all those supporting patients.
- Assuring flexibility in nurse education through increasing the generic aspects of pre-registration education and parity of esteem between mental and physical health. He introduced the proposed model commonly known as 2+1+1 - 2 years ‘whole person care’ +1 year chosen specialism + 1 year enhanced preceptorship.
- Assuring quality learning environments through the development of the mentorship role as part of a defined career pathway.
- Assuring ongoing learning through sustainable investment in nurse career pathways.
- Research and Innovation and the development of post-doctoral research centres to improve evidenced-based practice.
- Commissioning and Funding bodies charged to investigate attrition and promote an equitable funding model across professions.
During questioning Lord Willis was open about the likelihood of full implementation as many of the recommendations were dependent on resources. However, he hoped the partnership between the regulatory body, the NMC, and the commissioning body, Health Education England (HEE), would ensure implementation was taken forward at the highest level.
The next speaker, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the RCN, then spoke about the challenges that faced the RCN and outlined the changes that have occurred in professional education since the 1940s. He reiterated Lord Willis’ point that the population was living longer but reminded the audience that this was, in part, due to the success of healthcare provision and those who work in the healthcare profession.
Dr Carter went on to decry the lack of education and training for those delivering care and to strongly refute the notion that the ability to care for the most vulnerable in society can simply be 'picked up as you go along'.
He then completed his session, urging health professionals to support each other in difficult times. He used the analogy of the ‘V’ formation in a skein of flying geese to demonstrate the advantages of communication, coordination and support in groups.
The afternoon saw delegates participating in a number of workshops relating to some of the themes introduced by Lord Willis such as service user involvement, the role of the healthcare assistant, the role of the mentor and the development of the professions. These were facilitated by colleagues Trudi Neenan, Paul Evans, Celia Grant and Jayne Taghzouit.
The final speaker, Helen Roberts, lecturer in the Department, spoke about the representation of nursing in the media and the effect of this on both public views of nursing and the profession’s own identity. In an enthusiastic session, Helen outlined her early career and development as a passionate champion of nursing. Using historical references, children’s drawings, student comment and academic sources, she challenged the participants to develop their ‘voice’ to speak out forcefully about their skills and value, inspiring a new generation of professionals to contest damaging perceptions of nurses and construct new and more accurate narratives.
To finish the day, Dr Fiona McInnes, Director of Practice Education, presented the nursing and midwifery mentor awards for 2015. The awards offered the conference participants the opportunity to celebrate and reward those individuals who embody the value of collegiate support and mentorship in the development of the professions.
- The Nurse Mentor award was given to Staff Nurse Ria Dean.
- The Midwifery Mentor award was given to Staff Midwife Diane Green.
Both mentors are employed by York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
For further information, including the speaker presentations, please follow this link: www.york.ac.uk/healthsciences/practice-ed-support/profedconf-2015/.
Picture shows left to right, Helen Roberts, Dr Peter Carter, Professor Karl Atkin, Lord Willis of Knaresborough and Dr Fiona McInnes.