Follow Up – AHCS & ACS Joint Assessor Event

The Academy for Healthcare Science and the Association of Clinical Scientists recently held a Joint Assessor Update event in Central London.

This event was an excellent opportunity for professional and lay chair assessors that work with both organisations to engage with a variety of topics across a full day of presentations and discussion sessions. Subjects included the reviewing of applications and portfolios and general good assessment practise.

The event also provided a great opportunity for networking as well as panel discussions and question & answer sessions. Andrew Usher felt that ‘it was a very useful day and it was good to be able to be reassured by the similarities in the processes of the two organisations’.

Two Lay Assessors from the AHCS were pleased with the event. Valerie Hale said that “this was an excellent event for the Assessors from many varied disciplines and the Lay Chairs to meet for  informative talks followed by  the open forum for discussions with exchange of views and experiences”. David Eames, one of the current team of lay participants in the work of the Academy whose own background is in university administration, stressed the importance of the external and independent perspective.

Not only was lay involvement crucial in representing the patient and the public interest, but it also introduced a range of additional skills from the broader business and professional communities. These contributions helped promote wider  knowledge and understanding of the Healthcare Sciences and their critical role in the delivery and advancement of clinical medicine, and also helped ensure transparency and accountability across all the Academy’s activities.