No Kevin, I disagree generally with your statements, I think it's about time the NHS sorted its own staff out before trying to solve the worlds problems. The NHS and HPC is not, and will probably never be, in a position to regulate the Manufacturers and 3rd party service agents in the same way that regulation of a profession can be applied to NHS employees. At the moment the NHS is leaving junior and middle managers in EBME and Medical Physics to essentially dictate the level of service, staff qualifications, skills, experience, training, CPD, etc, etc, at the local level and I think this is not good enough.
This carries across to discrepancies in gradings and the work carried out by individuals as well. It's a job-role, qualification, experience, skills lottery for individuals working on similar grades at the moment - a free for all, dog eat dog, dead mens shoes setup - what's needed is a modicum of order and some uniformity in the provision of basic services provided so that customers in any NHS hospital, whether its a large teaching trust or a cottage hospital, have an idea what EBME and Medical Physics Technologists do and what they are capable of at a certain grade or level. Of course regulation should not be intended to interfere with the requirements of local organisations or with local management decisions but it might go some way to ensuring that most of the technicians have a core background of knowledge, level of skills that's been assesssed and the same chance of progressing based on ability into appropriate grades by performance based on assesment hence attainment rather than patronage.
Manufacturers standards, European Directives and Quality Systems are mandatory and already in place for Medical Device manufacturers to comply with I believe. This includes equipment servicing, QA, etc, etc. This is an attempt to ensure that the devices are designed, manufactured and even serviced to the appropriate standards. Thats the idea of MDD, ISO and all of these other organisations that we all should be aware of.
I don't believe anthing like this currently exists for Medical Physics or EBME, currently relying on staff attempting to follow sketchy guidelines, etc, etc, without adequate guidance and support via professional networks, etc, etc, and if it does (in larger Medical Physics Departments) then it's not being applied across the workforce (what about EBME?). Hopefully a uniform curriculum for student technologists would provide the knowledge based aspects of the job, including legislative, device regulatory, management, etc, etc. I see professional regulation and the baggage that comes along with it as the only means of working towards achieving that aim, applied across the workforce.
Having said this I do think the 3rd party organisations need to be regulated in soe way to match the levels proposed in the NHS rather than hiding behind Quality Systems that are, in my experience, generally tailored to pass the external audits and little else in practice - otherwise the system of regulation in the NHS, setup to protect patients when all's said and done, is circumvented as I've said before. It's about time managers in EBME/Medical Physics departments were forced to sit down and think harder about what qualifications, experience, skills and whatever training is required, what the job is all about and what services they could and should be providing; rather than just consider qualfications, training and CPD a personal issue for individuals to beg for or weigh it up against the demand for "bodies" justifying a "bums on seat" attitude irrespective of candidates suitability.
Yes we need the support of Manufacturers training but that is CPD and support materiels, just like tools required to do the job and not required to become fully qualified as a professional - it is not the be-all and end-all. The core competencies and hands-on skills are with technologists forever - the manufacturers courses are only useful for the life of the equipement. Sometimes I think we all place disproportionate value on manufacturers courses; some departments even make the quantity of manufacturers courses attended by individuals the key issue when considering grading - shameful. Recognised vocational training is what we need with a level of qualification and skills that allows us to contribute at the same level as other staff in healthcare. Otherwise the skills are not going to be recognised.
The provision of core skills and ongoing CPD should not be a lottery based on the whims of an EBME manager at the local level. If there were mandatory basic requirements then every technician would be starting from the same point and continuing to develop into whatever role they're working in. It's alright for those having been in a position to develop their careers and lever meaningful, recognised, qualifications and training and status primarily because they manage to attain a grade that ensures they can manipulate the system and get what they want - what about the career prospects of the majority who don't wish to rely on a lottery but want a system setup that ensures everybody a decent career?
