Ensuring an Essential Supply of Allied Health Professions (AHP) Placements: Using Crowdsourcing to Develop a National Call to Action

Abstract

Sustainable growth in the Allied Health Professions (AHP) workforce is an ambition of the United Kingdom’s NHS Long Term Plan. However historically, access to good quality placements has been a barrier to increasing pre-registration training numbers. This article focuses on work carried out by Health Education England (HEE) to gain insights on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on capacity. Using a pragmatic, embedded mixed-methods approach, insights were gathered using an online workshop, crowdsourcing, open for two weeks in the summer of 2020. AHP placement stakeholders could vote, share ideas or comment. Descriptive data were extracted, and comments made were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Participants (N = 1,800) made over 8,500 comments. The themes identified included: diversity of placement opportunity, improved placement coordination, a more joined-up system, supervision models and educator capacity. Alongside considering the challenges to placement capacity, several areas of innovative practice owing to the pandemic were highlighted. Generated insights have shaped the aims and objectives of the Health Education (HEE) pre-registration AHP student practice learning programme for 2020/2021 and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the delivery of AHP placements. In the absence of face-to-face activities, crowdsourcing provided an online data collection tool offering stakeholders an opportunity to engage with the placement capacity agenda and share learning. Findings have shaped the HEE approach to short-term placement recovery and long-term growth.

Virtual Simulated Placements in Healthcare Education: A scoping review

“…Technology innovation accelerated during the pandemic, and healthcare training must keep pace with continued advances [8–9]. The increasing complexity of healthcare, with developments in science and technology, will require the future workforce to be agile, lifelong learners, with the ability to substitute skills across professions [10–12]. Using virtual simulated environments could provide students with the opportunity to support these aims.…”

‘Being and becoming a practice educator’: An AHP online programme

“…Sustainable growth of the allied health professions (AHPs) has been identified as vital for achieving the longer‐term ambitions of the National Health Service (NHS) across the United Kingdom 1 . Growth, however, is dependent on the availability of adequate numbers of practice placements, and existing placement capacity has been shown to be insufficient to meet demand.…”

“…Sustainable growth of the allied health professions (AHPs) has been identified as vital for achieving the longer-term ambitions of the National Health Service (NHS) across the United Kingdom. 1 Growth, however, is dependent on the availability of adequate numbers of practice placements, and existing placement capacity has been shown to be insufficient to meet demand. One barrier to building placement capacity is the recruitment and retention of suitably qualified practice placement educators, 1 which is dependent on providing appropriate preparation and training.…”

“…1 Growth, however, is dependent on the availability of adequate numbers of practice placements, and existing placement capacity has been shown to be insufficient to meet demand. One barrier to building placement capacity is the recruitment and retention of suitably qualified practice placement educators, 1 which is dependent on providing appropriate preparation and training. Prior to March 2020, most of the practice educator training for AHPs was conducted as face-to-face courses delivered by higher education institutes (HEIs).…”

“I loved it, absolutely loved it” a qualitative study exploring what student podiatrists learn volunteering as part of an interprofessional medical team at a marathon

“…Podiatrists focus on the foot and lower limb seeking to enhance mobility and independence and to improve quality of life for their patients [1]. In the UK, professional registration can be granted following a degree programme offered by a recognised provider [2].…”