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Preceptorship
Preceptorship is a period of structured support provided to health and care workers at key moments of career transition, such as entering the workforce for the first time, returning to work after a long period away, working in the UK for the first time, taking up a new role, or moving to a new organisation, to give them confidence to act as an autonomous practitioner.
Our work
Preceptorship Implementation Framework
The AHP Preceptorship Principles Implementation Framework will support the publication of HCPC Preceptorship Principles, which are currently out for public consultation.
The framework will aim to provide best practice guidance on the application of the principles for AHPs across different operating levels including individual, provider, system and regional level, whilst also identifying areas of multi-profession and profession specific best practice. This project should be co-produced with key stakeholders including but not limited to students, recently registered professionals, Return to Practice, internationally educated applicants, HEIs, AHP Faculties/Councils, the AHP professional bodies and include representation across different health and care settings.
National preceptorship data collection
A survey to collect baseline data of AHP Preceptorship was released in May 2023 for a 4 week period. These series of documents provide a national overview and breakdown of regional specific data for AHP Preceptorship across 172 organisations including NHS, social care, private, independent and voluntary settings. The headline is that 64% of organisations who responded are offering an inclusive preceptorship support offer for all their AHPs with 57% offering a muti-professional preceptorship programme.
This data enables the mapping of the current landscape of AHP Preceptorship at a national and regional level prior to the publication of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Principles of Preceptorship and the NHSE AHP Preceptorship Standards and Framework being published in the Autumn of 2023. You can view the documents here on the NHS Learning Hub website, or below:
East of England survey results
North East and Yorkshire survey results
Watch our animation
Further information
Alongside the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) we have co-produced Preceptorship Principles as part of the National Allied Health Professions (AHP) Preceptorship and Foundation Support Programme. These principles have been developed for AHPs as well as wider HCPC registrant, designed to support individuals at key transition moments in their careers, and to help them in providing safe, compassionate and high quality care.
Together, we co-hosted three workshops in August 2022 for interested stakeholders as part of our pre-consultation engagement. You can view the recording from the 26 August workshop here and the links to view the PowerPoint presentation slides and workshop summary can be found below:
- Virtual Interactive Workshop for HCPC Preceptorship Principles PowerPoint slides
- Virtual Interactive Workshop for HCPC Preceptorship Principles webinar recording
View accessible versions of these documents.
Following the pre-consultation period with a wide range of stakeholders, including registrants from across the UK, the HCPC carried out an eight week public consultation to hear a wide range so that this was taken into account when finalising the work. Please click here to view the results of the consultation.
The HCPC are now in the process of finalising the principles document and an accompanying guidance document with a plan for publication in September 2023.
These documents should then be used in conjunction with our implementation framework. Combined, our work is fundamental in standardising the quality of preceptorship programmes and foundation support available to AHPs across the country and will play a key role in ensuring we retain, upskill, and maximise the potential of AHPs, especially in the early years of their career.
As part of the preceptorship work underway, the HCPC has published analysis of the retention data for the 15 professions it regulates across the United Kingdom and carried out a year in registration survey which included preceptorship questions here
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust are currently leading a 24-month project, in partnership with The Society and College of Radiographers and the NHS England National Allied Health Professionals Preceptorship and Foundation Support Programme. The project team are collaborating to design, implement, and evaluate a National Digital Preceptorship Programme for Therapeutic Radiographers in England.
Fifty-two departments delivering radiotherapy services in England have been invited to participate. The project responds to the Workforce Radiographer Reform Programme (March 2023), with an aim to deliver high quality and effective preceptorship accessible to all.
The first phase of the project, completed in December 2023, surveyed preceptorship activity in England, benchmarking the national position prior to the programme launch. Radiotherapy managers have identified preceptorship champions in their departments, tasked to develop and support local and regional commitments. From February 2024, three cohorts of preceptor national training will be delivered to preceptor champions, utilising policy recommendations and evidence-based practise established by wider national projects.
The second phase of the project focusses on the preceptee national preceptorship programme, planned to launch late Autumn 2024.
For further information on the national programme, please contact Alison.Sanneh@nhs.net
Here you can find information on the scoping exercise conducted by the Lincolnshire Training Hub (LTH) looking at the transition of Allied Health Professionals into the general practice workforce across the Midlands.
You can find more information here: Preceptorship in Primary Care - Midlands AHP Survey
We spoke to different professionals involved in the allied health professional specific preceptorship programmes around the country. You can access the written case studies and watch the vlogs.
Supporting preceptorship and early career frameworks for new to role diagnostic radiographers (DRAD) was identified as priority by the South West DRAD Workforce Action Group in 2021.
Engagement with AHPs and clinical imaging leads indicated variation in preceptorship offers for diagnostic radiographers across the region. The purpose of the project was to scope the current and future preceptorship provision for diagnostic radiographers and to co-design and coproduce a set of principles and practices that will provide transitional support. The task and finish group members have created a short animation based on the concept of a ‘preceptorship tree’ to explain the period of preceptorship and the roles of the preceptor and mentor to support the outputs of the project.
Preceptor eCompendium
Multi-professional preceptor training
The first sessions of a pioneering e-Compendium are now available to support preceptors across nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions (AHP).
The much-anticipated Multi-Professional Preceptor e-Compendium aims to recognise the needs of preceptors, and provides them with the guidance, support and practical tools needed to carry out their vital role. It marks the launch of a modern and cohesive set of resources that are aligned to the Preceptorship Principles and Frameworks across each of the professional groups.
The sessions, which are now available, provide an overview of the preceptor role across eachof the professional groups, along with dedicated training on leading and coaching preceptees. These sessions are currently free to access for health and care employees using their work email address to register. People without NHS or GOV email addresses will be able to access the e-Compendium in the future as the training develops, and we will share more information about this when available.
Moving into the role of a registered health and care professional is recognised to be a challenging time for staff. The e-Compendium forms part of the wider strategy to welcome and integrate newly registered professionals into the workplace, allowing them to successfully navigate the transitional period, and supporting their growth and confidence.
The training aims to help preceptors to reflect on their own experiences of this transitional period, and to optimise their knowledge and skills to best position themselves to support others. It also supports the preceptor to develop valuable skills that will help them in other supporting roles they may find themselves taking on during their current or future roles.
Developing the training has been a fantastic team effort across the nursing, midwifery and AHP workforce, and it is aligned and complementary to the Preceptorship Principles and Frameworks across these professional groups. Teams involved in creating the training include: NHS England Workforce Training and Educations (WT&E) National Nursing and Midwifery Team, National AHP Preceptorship and Foundation Support Programme, and National RePAIR Team, in partnership with the University of Huddersfield.
To find out more and access the training, please visit the Multi-professional Preceptor e-Compendium programme page.