April 2014 edition of Vox now available.
The April 2014 edition of Vox – The newsletter of the Academy for Healthcare Science is now available
Vox: April 14
Welcome to Vox – The newsletter bringing the latest information and updates from the Academy for Healthcare Science, together with news from across the Healthcare Science profession.
AHCS fights for the role of scientists in Medical Innovation Bill response.
The AHCS has submitted a response on behalf of the 50,000 Healthcare Scientists working in the NHS to the consultation on the proposed Medical Innovation Bill to cover England and Wales.
Our primary concern was that the Bill as drafted, excluded any mention of Healthcare Scientists at all, focussing on doctors alone. It also failed to recognise the importance of scientific practise and scientists on the delivery of innovation and adoption across health and care.
We will continue to keep up the pressure in this area and will be pushing this matter further with the Department of Health and Parliamentarians as part of the Academy’s key role to speak for the profession with One Clear Voice.
Update on Medical Engineering and Physical Sciences Accreditation project
There has been good progress on the joint project between the Academy and IPEM to develop Accreditation standards and systems for Medical Engineering and Physical Sciences services, with key decisions made on the link with ISO standards, the domains and core standards. Work is continuing on assessment guidance & criteria and the aim will be to hold a consultation on the standards later in the summer.
Read the full update on the project progress.
Ipswich team wins AHCS ‘Professionalism into Practice’ trophy at 2014 Advancing Healthcare Awards
Congratulations to trainee Radiotherapy Physicist Louisa Adler and her radiography colleagues Alex Knights and Dean Garham who picked up the Academy for Healthcare Science Professionalism into Practice trophy in the 2014 Advancing Healthcare Awards. Louisa and the team picked up the award for their use of a Virtual Environment Radiotherapy Training (VERT) simulation of the radiotherapy treatment environment to improve information and understanding for patients. They picked up their award from AHCS Chief Executive Janet Monkman and Awards host Roy Lilley (pictured above).
Congratulations also go to the many other Healthcare Scientists who picked up awards at the event, including Keith Pearce and Martin Stout from University Hospitals South Manchester, who were named overall winners for the event.
Read more about the event and the winners of all the categories in the AHA Awards Brochure
HCPC launches consultations on Standards of Proficiency in Healthcare Science
The Health and Care Professions Council has launched two separate consultations on Standards of Proficiency for Clinical Scientists and Biomedical Scientists – proposing revisions and restructuring to the current Standards. The consultation runs until 20 June 2014 and the HCPC is asking for responses via separate online surveys for each consultation. More details can be found on the Consultations section of the HCPC website.
Three issues survey – #LTO14 prize winner
Congratulations to Berne Ferry, of Oxford Hospitals, whose entry winning the prize draw at the #LTO14 conference. Every scientist completing a response to the AHCS 3 issues survey was entered into a draw for a donated bottle of champagne.
We’re still looking to capture as wide a range of views from the profession – covering all scientific specialisms and all career levels. If you’ve not already had your say then please give us your views at www.ahcs.ac.uk/3issues14. Please share this link with your colleagues and encourage them to give us their views too.
New look for AHCS website
We’ve refreshed the design and appearance of the AHCS website as part of our work to deliver a new online system to support the AHCS Register and equivalence processes. We hope you find this helpful – and please bear with us if you encounter the occasional teething problems. Please send any feedback to
From around Healthcare Science
HCPC issues revised guidance on Health and Character
The HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) has issued revised guidance on Health and Character for those individuals subject to Statutory Regulation (including Clinical Scientists and Biomedical Scientists) following recent changes to legislation. This guidance is used when assessing suitability for Registration and Fitness to Practice.
The HCPC has also issued an update around requirements for professional indemnity insurance, following delays in expected changes to legislation and details of theirregistration fee increase to £80 from 1 April.
Full set of HSST curricula now available
The full set of Higher Specialist Scientist Training curricula for a 2014-15 start have now been published by the Modernising Scientific Careers team.
The 19 curricula cover areas across Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering, Physiological Sciences and Life Sciences (Life Sciences curricula are produced in conjunction with the Royal College of Pathologists as part of FRCPath training).
All the curricula can be downloaded from the HSST pages of the Modernising Scientific Careers Curricula NHS Network.
Healthcare Science ‘Share and Learn’ network meets this month
The next meeting of the NHS Employers ‘Share and Learn’ network for Healthcare Science will be held in Leeds on 7 May 2014. These meetings bring together lead scientists and employer representatives with a quaterly forum to share local issues, discuss challenges and solutions in an open, informal environment.
For more information about the network, how to join and presentations from previous meetings go to the NHS Employers website.
Connect with Informatics colleagues via the ISD Network
The Informatics Skills Development Network brings together those working in Informatics to provide a variety of learning and development opportunities, including courses, Network events and Focus groups. It also aims to develop a professional framework for all those working in Informatics.
More information can be found at www.isdnetwork.co.uk
Career opportunities within HEE and NSCHS
There are a number of career opporunities available within the MSC team at Health Education England and the National School of Healthcare Science. Further details can be found on the Academy website at www.ahcs.ac.uk/category/careers/
2014 Healthcare Science Awards – full list of winners and photographs
The full list of winners of the 2014 Healthcare Science awards, including pictures of the recipients and their citations are available from the Healthcare Science NHS Network. Congratulations to everyone who took part.
