TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Registration Services
as some of you may recall – is sadly no longer with us.
The opportunities for progression within the health service as I was developing my career were far more numerous than today, which made it a little easier to progress; that said, however, the work came with the challenges of a number of reorganisations, which at the time were very nerve-racking. The qualification level to achieve Chartered Engineer status is now at Master’s level, and obviously far more difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, it is good to see that routes towards gaining approved qualifications while working are once again becoming available on a part-time basis at some universities. There are also non-standard routes to achieve registration, which IHEEM’s Head Office can advise on, with the help of members trained in the process of registration. I have been a member of IHEEM for some 50 years, and became an active Southern Branch member when I moved to Chichester in 1975, serving as Branch Secretary for a number of years, and Chairman on a couple of occasions. Having been fortunate to have had good career advice during the early part of my career, I was keen to get involved with IHEEM membership and registration. Each branch of IHEEM – as now – was asked by Head Office for volunteers, and via this process I was allocated to the Membership Committee, and after some time became its Chairman. Over time this also led to me being involved with most of the other Committees, including IHEEM Council.
Aiding my working career Being involved was beneficial to my working
career, as it developed me into a more rounded person able to understand how other members were dealing with day-to- day issues within their organisations. As
Guidance and resource documents available from IHEEM.
time progressed, I became a reviewer of applications for registration at EngTech, IEng, and CEng levels, which adds another dimension to the understanding of engineering in its many forms within the NHS and those providing a service to it. The Engineering Council (EC), the overarching organisation that licences Engineering Institutes to carry out the registration process on its behalf, also seeks nominations from Institutes to become Liaison Officers. These individuals then monitor Institutes, other than their own, to ensure that they work within the guidance set out by the EC. This is also very rewarding, as the experience dimension is once again expanded to include other organisations with different engineering specialities. This involved completing two six-year stints on the EC’s Quality Assurance Committee (QAC), where I became Chairman of Review Panels and lead audits of up to three licenced Institutes, feeding back to the QAC with recommendations.
It is a requirement of the Engineering
Council that licenced Institutes – of which IHEEM is one of 32 – must undertake refresher training for all existing registration reviewers. This activity has just been completed for this year, with the training being led by a former IHEEM President, Greg Markham, who took us through the
processes of registration from initial application, development of an engineering practice report, and the review thereof, to the professional review interview/ assessment, and, finally, the completion of the recommendation to register. It was an interactive process, and once again expands ideas by listening to other members’ points of view of on how to complete the registration process in line with EC guidance. I know the NHS is probably more demanding of its engineers today, but there were also challenges when I was employed. I still, however, managed to find the time to be actively involved with IHEEM activities, many of which took place outside normal office hours. I would encourage all IHEEM members
to become involved in Branch meetings/ activities, and would recommend young apprentice engineers or newcomers to the NHS to join IHEEM and offer themselves to become reviewers of candidates for membership and registration. I would say again, without reserve, that
being involved with IHEEM activities is very rewarding, and will benefit you in your career, as it allows you to meet engineers who have the ability to help you with career development. You, in turn, are then able to offer guidance, mentoring, and general support, to aspiring engineers.
Long-standing and newer membership and registration assessors detail their experiences of taking on additional responsibility on behalf of IHEEM, and how this training and development stands to benefit both the Institute and the individual
April 2024 Health Estate Journal 13
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