What can RCSLT do for you A student perspective

1. What can RCSLT do for you?A student perspective Moira Little Deputy Chair RCSLT Scotland Board With thanks to Rubana Hussein, Professional Development Standards Manager, RCSLT Rubana.Hussein@rcslt.org Hello and thank you for coming along this afternoon. My name is Rubana Hussein and I am the PDSM at the RCSLT. Over the next 30 minutes or so I’m going to give you a whistle stop tour of the RCSLT and what we do in order to continue to raise the profile of the fabulous work done by SLTs and the profession in general……. So what are we going to cover….. Hello and thank you for coming along this afternoon. My name is Rubana Hussein and I am the PDSM at the RCSLT. Over the next 30 minutes or so I’m going to give you a whistle stop tour of the RCSLT and what we do in order to continue to raise the profile of the fabulous work done by SLTs and the profession in general……. So what are we going to cover…..

2. What’s the role of your professional body? Why should you belong to RCSLT? How does RCSLT support you in your transition from student to practitioner? What’s the difference between RCSLT and Health Professions Council? RCSLT supporting your CPD What is RCSLT involved in at the moment? I’m going to try to give you an overview of what RCSLT is involved in and there will also why we’d really like you to join RCSLT when you graduate! I will also be talking about the difference between the HPC & RCSLT as well as CPD RCSLT involvement – I’ll give you some headlines about the type of political and policy work that RCSLT is involved in. To represent speech & language therapy and support workers, promote excellence in practice and influence health, education and social care policiesI’m going to try to give you an overview of what RCSLT is involved in and there will also why we’d really like you to join RCSLT when you graduate! I will also be talking about the difference between the HPC & RCSLT as well as CPD RCSLT involvement – I’ll give you some headlines about the type of political and policy work that RCSLT is involved in. To represent speech & language therapy and support workers, promote excellence in practice and influence health, education and social care policies

3. What does RCSLT do? A wide range of benefits and services for its members Represents the interests of the profession to the public, government, voluntary organisations and other professions Publishes position papers on topics affecting the profession (critical care position paper) So what does the RCSLT actually do… Well We are the PD of SLTs and we are the voice for over 10000 members working in all settings including the community, schools and hospital. We also commission position papers on hot topics currently effecting the profession, lobby parliament and engage with civil servants & MPs. And position paper on children with speech & language communication needsSo what does the RCSLT actually do… Well We are the PD of SLTs and we are the voice for over 10000 members working in all settings including the community, schools and hospital. We also commission position papers on hot topics currently effecting the profession, lobby parliament and engage with civil servants & MPs. And position paper on children with speech & language communication needs

4. What does RCSLT do? Represents the profession in each of the UK devolved governments Works with SLT professional associations overseas Provides support and advice to SLTs, members of the public and clients As if that wasn’t enough we also ..represent each of the UK devolved governments, overseas SLTs As if that wasn’t enough we also ..represent each of the UK devolved governments, overseas SLTs

5. What does RCSLT do? Certifies SLT qualifying courses so that graduates are eligible for RCSLT membership Plus we …work closely with our colleagues in Higher Education in order to certify UG and PG courses for RCSLT accreditation. Amicus comes to RCSLT for input and support if they are campaigning for better pay and terms of employment for SLTsPlus we …work closely with our colleagues in Higher Education in order to certify UG and PG courses for RCSLT accreditation. Amicus comes to RCSLT for input and support if they are campaigning for better pay and terms of employment for SLTs

6. How does RCSLT decide what to do?

7. How does RCSLT decide what to do? The work of RCSLT is overseen and governed by Council, a group of SLTs elected by the membership Members make important contributions to the work of RCSLT (on a voluntary basis) RCSLT is a member led organisation and so the council will set the strategy for the organisation and then the people who are employed by RCSLT will carry out the work. The work is overseen by different committees/boards to ensure it’s on track and to give professional guidance Strategic objectives are set by council and the work done by RCSLT staff is governed by council who are senior SLTs Eg Roberta on PDSBRCSLT is a member led organisation and so the council will set the strategy for the organisation and then the people who are employed by RCSLT will carry out the work. The work is overseen by different committees/boards to ensure it’s on track and to give professional guidance Strategic objectives are set by council and the work done by RCSLT staff is governed by council who are senior SLTs Eg Roberta on PDSB

8. Member Benefits

9. RCSLT member benefitsWhat’s in it for you……? Professional Indemnity Insurance Bulletin + supplement (SLT magazine) CQ3 – an essential guide to your professional standards Member website area As with all healthcare professionals, it is essential you have adequate insurance cover in case you find yourself facing legal action. The RCSLT provides an insurance policy that indemnifies all its practising members in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. This covers proven liability arising from alleged professional negligence, breach of professional conduct and damage to property. Cover applies to RCSLT members who have paid their subscriptions for the period covered by the policy. Newly-qualified members are covered as soon as their application for membership is approved. The policy covers the legal liability for injury to a client occurring during a domiciliary visit, eg to a school, hospital or clinic. It also covers members who see clients in their own homes. if you don’t have RCSLT membership and need to take out professional indemnity insurance it would cost you XXXXXX and you wouldn’t get any of the other member benefits from RCSLT which include Bulletin = monthly professional magazine for SLTs and a valuable resource to complement your studies Supplement – a twice monthly magazine with job adverts, courses and conferences Competencies frameworks, including a guide to the range of knowledge and skills required for working with particular client groups Clinical guidelines, a set of recommendations for clinical practice based on the available evidence – to support and guide decision-making As with all healthcare professionals, it is essential you have adequate insurance cover in case you find yourself facing legal action. The RCSLT provides an insurance policy that indemnifies all its practising members in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. This covers proven liability arising from alleged professional negligence, breach of professional conduct and damage to property. Cover applies to RCSLT members who have paid their subscriptions for the period covered by the policy. Newly-qualified members are covered as soon as their application for membership is approved. The policy covers the legal liability for injury to a client occurring during a domiciliary visit, eg to a school, hospital or clinic. It also covers members who see clients in their own homes. if you don’t have RCSLT membership and need to take out professional indemnity insurance it would cost you XXXXXX and you wouldn’t get any of the other member benefits from RCSLT which include Bulletin = monthly professional magazine for SLTs and a valuable resource to complement your studies Supplement – a twice monthly magazine with job adverts, courses and conferences Competencies frameworks, including a guide to the range of knowledge and skills required for working with particular client groups Clinical guidelines, a set of recommendations for clinical practice based on the available evidence – to support and guide decision-making

10. RCSLT member benefits Support for your CPD – RCSLT online diary, Toolkit Information about professional networks such as specific interest groups (SIGs) As with all healthcare professionals, it is essential you have adequate insurance cover in case you find yourself facing legal action. The RCSLT provides an insurance policy that indemnifies all its practising members in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. This covers proven liability arising from alleged professional negligence, breach of professional conduct and damage to property. Cover applies to RCSLT members who have paid their subscriptions for the period covered by the policy. Newly-qualified members are covered as soon as their application for membership is approved. The policy covers the legal liability for injury to a client occurring during a domiciliary visit, eg to a school, hospital or clinic. It also covers members who see clients in their own homes. if you don’t have RCSLT membership and need to take out professional indemnity insurance it would cost you XXXXXX and you wouldn’t get any of the other member benefits from RCSLT which include Bulletin = monthly professional magazine for SLTs and a valuable resource to complement your studies Supplement – a twice monthly magazine with job adverts, courses and conferences Competencies frameworks, including a guide to the range of knowledge and skills required for working with particular client groups Clinical guidelines, a set of recommendations for clinical practice based on the available evidence – to support and guide decision-making Minor grant £500 must be related to CPD – e.g courses/conferences, creating publication. How big an impact on their service/profession. Available every quarter Supplement = twice monthlyAs with all healthcare professionals, it is essential you have adequate insurance cover in case you find yourself facing legal action. The RCSLT provides an insurance policy that indemnifies all its practising members in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. This covers proven liability arising from alleged professional negligence, breach of professional conduct and damage to property. Cover applies to RCSLT members who have paid their subscriptions for the period covered by the policy. Newly-qualified members are covered as soon as their application for membership is approved. The policy covers the legal liability for injury to a client occurring during a domiciliary visit, eg to a school, hospital or clinic. It also covers members who see clients in their own homes. if you don’t have RCSLT membership and need to take out professional indemnity insurance it would cost you XXXXXX and you wouldn’t get any of the other member benefits from RCSLT which include Bulletin = monthly professional magazine for SLTs and a valuable resource to complement your studies Supplement – a twice monthly magazine with job adverts, courses and conferences Competencies frameworks, including a guide to the range of knowledge and skills required for working with particular client groups Clinical guidelines, a set of recommendations for clinical practice based on the available evidence – to support and guide decision-making Minor grant £500 must be related to CPD – e.g courses/conferences, creating publication. How big an impact on their service/profession. Available every quarter Supplement = twice monthly

11. Members’ Questions In addition to the formal support that we give members – we have members who call every day to ask a variety of questions eg These a just a few egs of the type of qus we are askedIn addition to the formal support that we give members – we have members who call every day to ask a variety of questions eg These a just a few egs of the type of qus we are asked

12. Student to Therapist

13. From Student to Therapist ‘Starting your career as a Speech and Language Therapist: an essential guide’ This RCSLT publication is sent to all SLT graduates and provides information about finding and applying for a job, and your continuing professional development as an SLT Practising membership forms can be downloaded from the RCSLT website We have produced this publication and will update this year so final year students will get the new version around May. Copies are sent to universities and we’ll put a copy on the RCSLT web pagesWe have produced this publication and will update this year so final year students will get the new version around May. Copies are sent to universities and we’ll put a copy on the RCSLT web pages

14. First year of practice Newly qualified therapists are entered into the NQP category of RCSLT membership when they graduate You then transfer to certified member after approx one year of satisfactory working practice, confirmed by your manager Could take between 9 – 18 months – that’s not a problemCould take between 9 – 18 months – that’s not a problem

15. RCSLT NQP Framework RCSLT has developed a competency-based framework for NQPs to support learning and development in the first year of practice it also provides evidence that you are ready to transfer to full membership The framework is used as part of the supervision and support systems you would expect from your employer in your first post : www.rcslt.org/resources/newlyqualifiedpractitioner Download competency framework Has to be signed off by your manager Think about transferable skills: communication with wide variety of people, record keeping, time management, adhering to legislation, interpreting information, health and safety Usually takes between 9 – 18 months to complete but it’s ok for it to take longer We know the first year in your 1st job is gruelling but we see this is as a supportive measure to help NQPs develop skills and gain confidence. When at Uni you have a safety net in placements. Working under supervision is another safety net – slightly smaller! Download competency framework Has to be signed off by your manager Think about transferable skills: communication with wide variety of people, record keeping, time management, adhering to legislation, interpreting information, health and safety Usually takes between 9 – 18 months to complete but it’s ok for it to take longer We know the first year in your 1st job is gruelling but we see this is as a supportive measure to help NQPs develop skills and gain confidence. When at Uni you have a safety net in placements. Working under supervision is another safety net – slightly smaller!

16. Examples of what you’ll need to be able to demonstrate you have achievedExamples of what you’ll need to be able to demonstrate you have achieved

18. RCSLT and HPC

19. RCSLT and HPC RCSLT Professional Body Supports patients and practitioners Member-led, Responds to government policy Holds the body of knowledge for the SLT profession HPC Regulatory Body Protects the public Operates in line with legislation – Health Professions Order Sets threshold standards of proficiency for 13 professions So what’s the connection between RCSLT and HPC? Before HPC was set up RCSLT used to undertake the regulation of the profession so it would deal with fitness to practice hearings and sole accreditation of HEI coursesSo what’s the connection between RCSLT and HPC? Before HPC was set up RCSLT used to undertake the regulation of the profession so it would deal with fitness to practice hearings and sole accreditation of HEI courses

20. RCSLT and HPC Responds to HPC consultations Produces Curriculum Guidance and Standards for Practice Based Learning to support universities in meeting HPC’s standards of education and training Inputs to HPC professional liaison groups Represents RCSLT members’ interests to HPC e.g. deregistration The way in which RCSLT works with HPC is to Eg the intro of CPD meant that HPC had to get input from all the AHP professional bodies before it could finalise its standardsThe way in which RCSLT works with HPC is to Eg the intro of CPD meant that HPC had to get input from all the AHP professional bodies before it could finalise its standards

21. CPD

22. What is CPD? The Health Professions Council (HPC) defines CPD as follows: “A range of learning activities through which health professionals maintain and develop throughout their career to ensure that they retain their capacity to practice safely, effectively and legally within their evolving scope of practice.” One area where RCSLT and HPC have worked together very closely is CPD SLTs will first have to report their CPD in 2009 For RCSLT you need to do 30 hours of CPD per year in order to maintain membership Toolkit is like a CPD handbook. Covers reflective practice, examples of how to record CPD, different types of CPD. What SLTs need to know about CPD and HPC and the KSF When you’re doing CPD you have to be able to provide evidence of: how your CPD enhances service delivery and how your CPD will benefit service users + have to do a range of CPD activities If you don’t do CPD for HPC you may not have your HPC registration renewed and then you wouldn’t be able to practice One area where RCSLT and HPC have worked together very closely is CPD SLTs will first have to report their CPD in 2009 For RCSLT you need to do 30 hours of CPD per year in order to maintain membership Toolkit is like a CPD handbook. Covers reflective practice, examples of how to record CPD, different types of CPD. What SLTs need to know about CPD and HPC and the KSF When you’re doing CPD you have to be able to provide evidence of: how your CPD enhances service delivery and how your CPD will benefit service users + have to do a range of CPD activities If you don’t do CPD for HPC you may not have your HPC registration renewed and then you wouldn’t be able to practice

23. Providing support…The RCSLT CPD toolkit Contains guidance on.. Personal Development Plans Reflective writing Significant event analysis CPD and audit CPD and peer review CPD and mentoring The toolkit has been designed to support all members with different aspects of CPD- Full version is over 100 pages but chapters have been designed as stand-alones, we don’t recommend that people read it all the way through. Many trusts will have forms and procedures in place but we know that there are employers who don’t and independent practitioners often need resources so the examples that have been included are based on examples of best practice that were submitted by SLTs across the UK Aim is to meet the needs of NHS employed SLTs, independent practitioners and support workers To access on the web pages you have to enter your membership number and password – we didn’t want to share this with the whole world. Knowledge and skills framework SEGUE > > Let’s move on to discuss the online CPD diary and how it has come about….The toolkit has been designed to support all members with different aspects of CPD- Full version is over 100 pages but chapters have been designed as stand-alones, we don’t recommend that people read it all the way through. Many trusts will have forms and procedures in place but we know that there are employers who don’t and independent practitioners often need resources so the examples that have been included are based on examples of best practice that were submitted by SLTs across the UK Aim is to meet the needs of NHS employed SLTs, independent practitioners and support workers To access on the web pages you have to enter your membership number and password – we didn’t want to share this with the whole world. Knowledge and skills framework SEGUE > > Let’s move on to discuss the online CPD diary and how it has come about….

24. RCSLT Policy and Partnerships

25. Policy and Partnerships Team What is policy? Why is it important? Policy is a set or principles or a plan which guides an organisation. Government policy in health, education and social care shapes the environments you will work in. Partnership – working with other organisations – is one way to help to influence policy. The Policy we are dealing with is Government policies. Policy might be the level of funding for the NHS to documents like Every Child Matters which describe the outcomes services should deliver to children. Policies might be something very broad like inclusion or something very specific with the rules which govern an individual’s practice. From a policy perspective, SLT is unusual because therapists work in a range of environments and are funded by different people. As you will know, SLTs can sometimes suffer from a bit of a back and forth between health and education if they work with children. We have to be proactive - trying to anticipate what might happen to ensure that members and patients’ interests are reflected as far as possible – and reactive – seeing how we might help to deliver an announced government priority like stroke. There are a whole spectrum of organisations which affect us and we affect them – not just Government but charities, regulators, and users themselves. We work to promote SLT and the needs of service users.The Policy we are dealing with is Government policies. Policy might be the level of funding for the NHS to documents like Every Child Matters which describe the outcomes services should deliver to children. Policies might be something very broad like inclusion or something very specific with the rules which govern an individual’s practice. From a policy perspective, SLT is unusual because therapists work in a range of environments and are funded by different people. As you will know, SLTs can sometimes suffer from a bit of a back and forth between health and education if they work with children. We have to be proactive - trying to anticipate what might happen to ensure that members and patients’ interests are reflected as far as possible – and reactive – seeing how we might help to deliver an announced government priority like stroke. There are a whole spectrum of organisations which affect us and we affect them – not just Government but charities, regulators, and users themselves. We work to promote SLT and the needs of service users.

26. Policy and Partnerships Team Who are the policy and partnerships team? CPOs – trained SLTs, based in every nation Policy Officers – non-SLTs, work to support CPOs, based around policy topics Governed by a board of members We are a team of seven people with four part time administrative staff. We have a Head of Function who oversees us all. Then we have Country Policy Officers, who are qualified speech therapists – two are non-practising and two are still managers. They are based in each country – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This is particularly important since devolution, as SLTs may be working in different political environments in the different places, although professional practice remains the same. Supporting the CPOs are the policy officers, Claire Moser and myself. We are not SLTs but have backgrounds in politics and health policy. We work to analyse policy more broadly, and we concentrate on topic areas – Claire looks at things like stroke, ALD and LTCs, whereas I am mostly looking at education and children’s policies. We both have to do boring things like commissioning and payment by results sadly! We are overseen and build a work programme with the PPT board. It is headed by Marie Gascoigne who wrote the Children’s Position Paper and used to manage services in Hackney. They make sure we are influencing the right people and making sure member’s views are filtering through. We are a team of seven people with four part time administrative staff. We have a Head of Function who oversees us all. Then we have Country Policy Officers, who are qualified speech therapists – two are non-practising and two are still managers. They are based in each country – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This is particularly important since devolution, as SLTs may be working in different political environments in the different places, although professional practice remains the same. Supporting the CPOs are the policy officers, Claire Moser and myself. We are not SLTs but have backgrounds in politics and health policy. We work to analyse policy more broadly, and we concentrate on topic areas – Claire looks at things like stroke, ALD and LTCs, whereas I am mostly looking at education and children’s policies. We both have to do boring things like commissioning and payment by results sadly! We are overseen and build a work programme with the PPT board. It is headed by Marie Gascoigne who wrote the Children’s Position Paper and used to manage services in Hackney. They make sure we are influencing the right people and making sure member’s views are filtering through.

27. Policy and Partnerships Team What kind of work do we do? Responding to consultations Lobbying and campaigning Providing expertise and advice Events and conferences CONSULTATIONS – We spend a lot of time responding to Government and parliamentary consultations to make sure your interests are represented. In order to gather the opinions of the database we might use specialist advisers, regional or national networks, SIGs or the boards within RCSLT like the management board. CAMPAIGNING – We also run campaigns based around topics like graduate unemployment (which I will come back to later) or improving services for children. Often this is with other organisations like I Can or the Stroke Association. Nb – one method we use to campaign is the All-Party Parliamentary Group which is a cross party group of MPs and Lords interested in SLCN. They can ask questions and hold debates on our issues, which does a great deal to raise the profile of SLCN and influence Government. EXPERTISE – Unlike the HPC which is the regulator, RCSLT is the holder of professional knowledge and promotes the highest standards in clinical practice and services. So we are very useful to Government when they want to produce materials such as the Early Support packs to parents Nb – Bercow Review – I should mention that we are currently working closely with a Government review into services for children with SLCN. This will be run by John Bercow, chair of our APPG! EVENTS Our work is both internal and external – we explain and promote SLT to Government, and we also explain government policy to SLTs themselves. To do so we run events and conferences, writing articles in Bulletin and so on. CONSULTATIONS – We spend a lot of time responding to Government and parliamentary consultations to make sure your interests are represented. In order to gather the opinions of the database we might use specialist advisers, regional or national networks, SIGs or the boards within RCSLT like the management board. CAMPAIGNING – We also run campaigns based around topics like graduate unemployment (which I will come back to later) or improving services for children. Often this is with other organisations like I Can or the Stroke Association. Nb – one method we use to campaign is the All-Party Parliamentary Group which is a cross party group of MPs and Lords interested in SLCN. They can ask questions and hold debates on our issues, which does a great deal to raise the profile of SLCN and influence Government. EXPERTISE – Unlike the HPC which is the regulator, RCSLT is the holder of professional knowledge and promotes the highest standards in clinical practice and services. So we are very useful to Government when they want to produce materials such as the Early Support packs to parents Nb – Bercow Review – I should mention that we are currently working closely with a Government review into services for children with SLCN. This will be run by John Bercow, chair of our APPG! EVENTS Our work is both internal and external – we explain and promote SLT to Government, and we also explain government policy to SLTs themselves. To do so we run events and conferences, writing articles in Bulletin and so on.

28. Policy and Partnerships Team Bercow Review Review of SLCN services for children in England, produced 40 recommendations in July 2008 Five themes - communication is crucial, early identification and intervention, services designed around the family, joint working is critical, postcode lottery Next steps What will be the impact on the profession and for you? Next steps – Comms council and champion. Impact - Likely to see a bigger emphasis in the early years. Skills for others will be a greater concern. Next steps – Comms council and champion. Impact - Likely to see a bigger emphasis in the early years. Skills for others will be a greater concern.

29. Policy and Partnerships Team Graduate Unemployment Why did this happen? What is the situation at the moment? What are RCSLT doing? How will this affect you? One specific issue you might be concerned about is graduate unemployment. As the financial situation in the NHS has tightened, some graduates have been unable to find jobs. In the summer of 2006 we conducted a survey of NHS speech and language therapy service managers to find out more about the effect of the current NHS financial difficulties on SLT services. We found that many SLT departments are not expecting to recruit to their team in the coming year and that, while there have been very few redundancies in SLT so far, quite a few vacant posts are "frozen" The situation was obviously much worse in the September as there were a large number of graduates applying for each post, and improved as the year went on. We are currently undertaking this year’s surveys RCSLT has been undertaking high-level lobbying, meeting with ministers, raising the issue in the media and producing advice for students (see the website). We cannot say how this might affect you in the future.One specific issue you might be concerned about is graduate unemployment. As the financial situation in the NHS has tightened, some graduates have been unable to find jobs. In the summer of 2006 we conducted a survey of NHS speech and language therapy service managers to find out more about the effect of the current NHS financial difficulties on SLT services. We found that many SLT departments are not expecting to recruit to their team in the coming year and that, while there have been very few redundancies in SLT so far, quite a few vacant posts are "frozen" The situation was obviously much worse in the September as there were a large number of graduates applying for each post, and improved as the year went on. We are currently undertaking this year’s surveys RCSLT has been undertaking high-level lobbying, meeting with ministers, raising the issue in the media and producing advice for students (see the website). We cannot say how this might affect you in the future.

30. Policy and Partnerships Team If you would like more information about the team or any of our work, please contact – Sarah Keegan, Policy Officer sarah.keegan@rcslt.org 0207 378 3003

31. Getting involved with RCSLT As a member you can contribute by: joining specific interest groups being involved in RCSLT boards, committees and working groups participating in consultations on RCSLT policy development becoming an advisor (a network of SLTs offering clinical/professional advice in their specialist areas) writing articles for Bulletin

32. RCSLT Contacts Membership Services Tel. 020 7378 3008/3009 Email: membership@rcslt.org Information Services Tel. 020 7378 3012 Email: information@rcslt.org We always welcome feedback from you www.rcslt.org If you would have particular queries please contact:If you would have particular queries please contact: