Launch of the NHS Wales Healthcare Science Framework
Last week saw the launch of the NHS Wales Healthcare Science Framework, created as a helpful guide that explains the various roles, opportunities and career pathways in healthcare science. It brings together key information on education, training and career progression within the healthcare science profession. The framework provides clear understanding of the vital role that healthcare science professionals play in delivering high-quality patient care and supporting the NHS. Additionally, it highlights how these professionals collaborate across disciplines and lead teams to provide expert care throughout NHS Wales.
This framework serves as a comprehensive, one-stop resource, compiling all relevant information for the intended audiences that it has been designed for, such as:
- Healthcare science professionals: Answers questions about education, funding, and career pathways in NHS Wales.
- Understanding the profession: Offers role descriptions and career progression routes across 30+ professions and 50+ service areas, from assistant to consultant level.
- Supporting workforce transformation: Helps managers and planners develop the healthcare science workforce based on NHS Wales service needs.
The visual pathways provide a clear overview of the career routes within healthcare science. They were collaboratively developed with professionals across Wales through the national Healthcare Science Network. These pathways draw on professional body frameworks (where available), national profession-specific strategies, NHS Employers profiles, and service models and are aligned to multiprofessional guidance and best practice approaches.
The career pathways and accompanying service narratives have been created for the different specialisms within the 6 families in healthcare science:
- Physiologies: Audiology and Clinical Physiology
- Pathology and Genomics
- Physical Sciences: Clinical Engineering,
Medical Physics, Clinical Photography, Reconstructive Science and NHS Pharmaceutical Science
- Clinical Computational Sciences
- Diagnostic Radiography and Therapeutic Radiography
- Operating Department Practitioner
Further detailed pathways will be available on the HEIW Healthcare Science Cymru website at a later date.
Read the NHS Wales Healthcare Science Framework and take a look at the career pathways by clicking through the list above.
Read the full news article here.
Have a question about the framework? Want to explore opportunities to collaborate?
HEIW welcome your thoughts and feedback about the framework via their survey, please fill it in today.
