EBME Forums Forums Management Professional Issues VRCT renewal

It's all well and good saying that everyone requires continuing professional development, but is that just a sop for management to prove that the system is in place but in reality nothing happens.
Having worked in a department where you didn't even get an annual review, let alone a CPD profile based on the job description, then how are you expected to progress or meet any registration requirements? The excuse from management was that they hadn't had their review!!!

I last had an annual review in 2004, for the same reasons (excuses.

Lee

Thanks for that link, Robert. Now we can see where all this is heading! Some of those previous hearings make sobering reading, but surely in the case of engineering technicians (ie, the likes of us), straight forward disciplinary action would be the way of dealing with such issues.

But have you ever heard of a biomed stealing from a patient (for example)? I can't really see where being on a voluntary register helps at all. Being "struck off" ... big deal! Theft is theft, plain and simple (that is, a criminal offence)! In fact, most of the offences which resulted in people being "struck off" where criminal offences (just take a look). Jail might have been a more appropriate reaction, I would have thought.

By the way, what sort of shortcomings would you have us brought before the Council of Elders for, I wonder? What would require anyone to be "struck off" the register? Falsifying PM records? Care to make a forecast on the range of misdemeanors that are likely to catch us all out? And, the corresponding list of available "punishments", of course.



I like that one, though. Put the monkey on management's back (where it truly belongs).



Well, we are (aware) now, aren't we?

Geoff & Robert
As you rightly sat Geoff, disciplinary action is the way to go. Until Engineering (and other groups) have a recognised registration that is dependant on qualifications and experience, but also is responsible for standards of work, then the VRCT has no teeth in this respect.
it is interesting to note that the majority of hearings listed under the link that Robert posted are straight disciplinary actions that an employer should (and possibly did) deal with straight away. However, I do believe that certain areas of management within the NHS are so weak when compared to other areas of industry in regard to discipline and managing. Let's face it, how many times have you heard of someone being sacked for being incompetent within the NHS?? and there are quite a number of incompetents out there who just keep their head down and disappear into the system!!!!

Picking up on the disciplinary thread. If a(n) HPC member commits a sackable offence then the trust will deal with that. What registration does is that it stops that person getting a job somewhere else by striking them off the register. The HPC is not the only body that could strike a person off. If for example the descision is made that we can only do our job if we are registered Engineers/ Technicians then we would have to comply with the rules of the Engineering Council UK. This would give us the Protected Title of Enineering Technologist, Incorporated Engineer or Chartered Engineer and we would have to comply with their code of conduct. The easiest way to register with the EC-UK would be to become a member of an institution which has been granted the Royal Charter such as the IET. Their code of conduct mirrors the CE-UK and can be found at IET code of conduct . Points 2 and 5 are particularly relevant. There are many reasons why the VRCT is not suitable for what most of us do but if we get our act together there is no reason why we cannot become registered professional Engineers/ Technicians. As an engineering professional we can take that with us wherever we go as long as we are working in an engineering environment. Having universally recognised letters after your name such as Eng Tech, I Eng or C Eng will give you much more status than Clinical Technologist. It will stop people coming up to you and asking "what does one of them do?"

The subject of being "clinical" is a contencious one. There are a range of biomed job descriptions out there. Critical Care Technicians and some Medcial Physics Technicians actually have "hands-on" patient contact(CCT's are part ODP and part biomed, some MPT's carry out nerve conduction studies). If you have direct patient contact as part of your job then the VRCT may be the best way to go. If however you do not have have patient contact then you could describe your job as being non-clinical and the VRCT is not for you. The reports calling for better regulation of healthcare professionals are aimed at staff who have direct patient contact. If you don't have patient contact then you cannot cause direct harm a pateint. If you do not repair a piece of kit properly it will only harm a patient if it is used on the patient by a registered healthcare professional. It is a similar argument to that of a cleaner not cleaning the patient environment properly. the patient may get MRSA or C.Diff. but the cleaner did not "give" the virus to the patient. That is why there is no Voluntary Register of Hospital Cleaners.

I'm sorry to go on but another area where the VRCT fails us is the entry requirements for our job. Under the VRCT the ONLY way to get registered is to complete a Clinical Technology degree of which there are only a handful throughout the UK. Where are the future biomeds going to come from? The content of some of the CT courses are not directly relevant to our jobs, Bradford for example focusses on Clinical Engineering with a large portion of mechanical engineering and very little electronics. As most of you are aware every biomed department is different, we all look after different equipment so our training needs will be different. What is wrong with taking people on with engineering qualifications and trainig them on-the-job? After all it has worked for us for decades! The only thing that should be looked into is how we recognise on-the-job training. Many biomeds have come into the job with C&G, ONC or NVQ qualifications but over the years have amassed a huge amount of knowledge, they do not get any recognition for this. Many experienced biomeds will be experts in their field but without a piece of paper from University, they are just another tech.

In conlusion:- "There is Another Way". The VRCT is not the only game in town!

'If you do not repair a piece of kit properly it will only harm a patient if it is used on the patient by a registered healthcare professional'.

Now there’s an interesting comment. Just how are the users supposed to know that you have failed in your duty? Surely they rely on us doing our jobs properly and not releasing faulty equipment for use.

I am just illustrating the point that some of us have a degree of separation from the patient. The fact that a faulty piece of kit is put back into service is an issue that will be sorted out within the EBME department, i.e. does that technician require further training or was there a malicious act. Registration/ regulation does not prevent such an act taking place but gives guidance on what to do to prevent that particular individual doing the same thing again.

Bang on Bill! Like any other job, registration will not stop people making mistakes/causing harm.

It just allows them to be identified further down the line.

Yes, just as we rely on "them" doing their jobs properly, too (that is by using the kit correctly, or seeking assistance if they don't know what they're doing ... and reporting faults, rather than hiding the kit in the cupboards)!

Agreed. I think people wouldn't be so negative/reticent (apologies to all those who think it is a great idea already) about the whole process if you thought you were somehow going to benefit at the end of the day and get something for your annual +£££ registration fee.
The only 'benefits' I hear bandied about are about structured training programs and cpd - I've been on courses with other technicians where they've literally had to fight to get sent on a particular course, and yes, I can see where registration might improve their outlook and I suppose I'm lucky and our department has never knocked back a legitimate request to go on a particular course if the managers think it would benefit the department. But is going on a course supposed to be a perk, or of benefit to me personally? Do managers take the view that 1/2/3 nights or a week away from work/home is some kind of holiday which should be viewed as a reward and should therefore be restricted?

Surely structured training programs and to a lesser extent cpd of staff are management issues?

Will being a 'registered professional' entitle us to any more pay? I don't think so.

I can't see it making any tangible difference or being of any great benefit to those of us out there doing the best we can each day regardless.