Trust's Practice Development Team achieves top marks for training | News

Royal Surrey’s Practice Development Team has been awarded the Skills for Health Quality Mark in recognition of the ‘gold standard’ of training it provides for staff across the Trust.

The accreditation benchmarks the Trust’s training provision against national criteria and ensures a high-quality of education is available for staff.

Despite the difficulties of delivering training during a pandemic, the 11-strong Practice Development Team were praised by the external assessors for increasing the level of patient care and building confidence and job satisfaction among staff.

Nick Dawson, Head of Nursing for Education and Practice Development, said: “It’s a huge amount of work completing the rigorous application process for a Quality Mark. We were tackling this process during the first and second wave of the Covid pandemic, so it was an exceptionally challenging time.

“Our teaching has been severely impacted because of Covid. Staff were redeployed on to wards, training has had to be delivered online and there has been a lot of extra pressure, so we’re particularly proud of what we’ve achieved. We met all four of the ‘domains’ required for the Quality Mark, which included ethics, values and behaviours; health sector engagement; learning excellence; and effectiveness of quality assurance arrangements. We also have very few recommendations for changes we need to make, which is a fantastic achievement.”

As well as submitting portfolios of evidence for the Quality Mark judging process, the Trust’s trainers were also observed in action. Victoria Wilding, Clinical Placement Expansion Lead, who was watched by the Quality Mark assessor while delivering her training, said: “There were quite a few nerves on the day, but to receive the endorsement of our excellent standard of work makes it all worthwhile.

“I feel really honoured to be a nurse and a teacher and I hope my passion and enthusiasm inspires staff to make a difference for our patients.”  

Congratulating the members of the Practice Development Team on their achievement, Tamsin Enticknap-Green, Deputy Director of Nursing and Multidisciplinary Education, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that the team has, for the fourth year running, achieved the Skills for Health Quality Mark. This is a fantastic recognition and reward for a dynamic, flexible team who work incredibly hard to deliver education to learners of all levels.

“The Quality Mark is a national benchmark of excellence in training provision. This raises the profile of the Trust, provides valuable reassurance for patients, encourages staff members’ personal development ambitions and helps us build a highly-skilled and motivated workforce. A huge well done to all those involved.”