TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Apprenticeships
ENGINEERING APPRENTICESHIP HEST
How a new level 3
Apprenticeship Standard for estates and medical devices engineering apprentices was established
Eileen Bayles Regional Training & Development manager for the Northern & Yorkshire NHS Assessment Centre (NYNHSAC)
H
EST stands for ‘Healthcare Engineering Specialist Technician’, a Level 3 Apprenticeship Standard for estates and medical devices engineering apprentices in the healthcare environment, designed for, and by, healthcare people. NYNHSAC – which began operations in 1974 as an NHS apprentice training scheme, and which has directly been training engineering apprentices since its inception – was keen to stop ‘making do’ with using some of the new Apprenticeship Standards, and interpreting them to make them fit for the healthcare environment. NYNHSAC thus set up a working group, eventually becoming a Trailblazer Group, to develop a Standard fit for the healthcare engineering environment, using the terminology, descriptions, and equipment / machines that the apprentices will see and maintain.
National and regional support
With support from NHS employer representatives both regionally and nationally, and IHEEM and Hefma members, we began developing and designing the Standard. To ensure that all essential criteria were met, that there was no duplication of other information contained in other Standards, and that relevance to employers was maintained, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical
10 Health Estate Journal March 2024
Education (IfATE) had a critical overview at all stages to ensure that the Standard achieved the necessary training level, and was then fit for final approval.
During the process, and after many discussions and meetings, it was eventually agreed that this would be a Core and Options Standard; options being:
> Option 1: Healthcare Medical Devices Technician.
> Option 2: Healthcare Estates Technician.
It would also need to be suitable for all healthcare environments, such as acute hospitals, mental health hospitals, dental hospitals/practices, clinics, prisons, ambulance Trusts, care centres, health centres, hospices, and GP practices. For option 1 the criteria were about ensuring that the medical devices/equipment used in a medical engineering department were listed, and included equipment such as ventilators, critical life and operating theatre equipment, and gas delivery systems etc. An understanding of human anatomy and physiology also ensures that the apprentice not only understands the maintenance or
repair of the equipment, and the impact on service quality and delivery, but also how it impacts and connects on/to the patient. Under option 2, a question regularly being asked was ‘Is multiskilling the right way to go?’ This was discussed in depth, and ultimately it was agreed that covering electrical and mechanical aspects in one option, and providing a fully rounded approach, was the correct way forward. At NYNHSAC, we have made a conscious decision to put all the apprentices on the Level 3 diploma with mechanical and electrical or electronic units, and with the employer paying for an HNC Level 4 diploma if that is what is required. The overriding rationale for this decision came down to the fact that progression and development are paramount, and to ‘future-proof’ an apprentice means giving them a cross-section of skills and knowledge which will then, in turn, prepare them for any relevant career opportunities, while simultaneously giving the employer a well-rounded employee to meet with changing service needs. The Trailblazer Group looked at all the tasks, jobs, and equipment that may need to
NYNHSAC matrix of evidence that apprentices use to collate evidence of learning.
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