My current employer is providing me with training identified in my Personal Development Plan (PDP). Will my new employer continue that training? Will it use the KSF and provide annual appraisal?
There is an expectation, under the terms of the NHS Constitution, embodied in the commercial contract that these or similar arrangements will continue to apply to you following transfer.
Will I still get access to training in a non-NHS organisation?
There is a requirement that those staff should receive adequate CPPD to ensure they are updated and safe to carry out their day-to-day practice. This is a contractual requirement, which is likely to be reinforced by the introduction of mandatory “terms of business” for the NHS to ensure delivery of the staff pledges in the NHS Constitution.
Additional training to ensure succession planning of their workforce would be for individual employers to develop in line with their organisational strategy.
Will we get free access to NHS courses?
You will identify and training development needs locally, usually through the appraisal process or on-going reviews with your line manager. Where training needs are identified and agreed as part of your ability to carry out your day-to-day practice, usually they are provided free of charge to the individual, be they provided by the NHS or another education provider.
Where the development needs are not specifically related to the current post you will need to clarify the access with your line manager.
My current employer is providing me with training identified in my PDP. Will my new employer continue that training?
All providers of NHS-funded clinical services are expected to provide adequate training for their staff to ensure they are properly updated and safe to carry out their day-to-day practice – and where training has been identified in your PDP and already commenced this may well continue when you transfer to a new employer. However, this should be checked individually with your line manager at the point of transfer.
Will my new employer use the KSF and provide annual appraisal?
It is good employment practice to carry out annual appraisal for all staff to establish current and future training needs. Within the NHS, staff covered by Agenda for Change should be using the Knowledge and Skills Framework to deliver the annual appraisal process. Other types of employers will wish to carry out annual appraisal – but may not necessarily use the Knowledge and Skills Framework.
Do non-NHS organisations get access to MPET funding?
Yes, MPET is for training the healthcare workforce and SHAs should make their decisions on investing MPET resources based on local workforce priorities and achieving value for money in providing high quality training for the delivery of that workforce. Funding received by organisations should be based on the training provided by those organisations.
Do non-NHS providers provide student training?
Yes, Non- NHS providers will be required to offer student placement opportunities where they are properly accredited and where they can provide the necessary supervisory support – as required by the HEIs. This is a specific requirement for non-NHS community services providers under Enabling New Patterns of Provision
What responsibility do non-NHS organisations have to contribute to national workforce planning?
A. Local Health and Social Care organisations are best placed to assess what is required to deliver the healthcare services that their local population need and have the formal responsibility for doing this.
Providers of services delivering to NHS service contracts will be responsible for planning their own workforce. PCT commissioners are responsible for assuring these plans, emphasising the importance of service commissioners and providers working together to produce the best possible workforce planning.
This will of course mean working with all organisations delivering NHS services if the picture is to be complete. SHAs have a key oversight and aggregation role, and are responsible for commissioning education and training requirements.
Arrangements should be made by PCTs to ensure the integration of workforce planning with all new providers, including the provision of student placements and posts for newly qualifying health professionals.
How should staff be involved in workforce planning issues?
Staff have a genuine interest in the quality of the service they deliver, and this depends on getting the skill mix and workforce planning right. It is therefore important that staff can be assured that their organisation will be actively involved in local workforce planning processes.
New providers must play their part in sharing these responsibilities along with existing NHS providers. Work will continue to establish the exact roles and responsibilities in light of the development of the Centre for Workforce Intelligence, but it is essential that all commissioners and providers of healthcare services are fully signed up to the principle that all of the providers in their health economy will be actively involved in workforce planning.
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If you have a question that is not answered here then we suggest that you contact your line manager, HR advisor or trade union representative.
If there are any general subjects that you think are missing from these FAQs then please contact us using the email contact in the top right of this screen. Please note that we cannot answer individual questions about your transfer.