(M1)
a good experience for service users. There are standards and regulations set for
healthcare workers in the UK like the National Occupational Standards, The
Careers Framework, The Skills Passport and Agenda for Change as well as other
competencies.
The National Occupational Standards are a set of requirements that all career
professionals in the UK have to meet. There are many reasons for the NOS and
these include the minimal standards that are needed for an individual to work as
well as skills and knowledge that will help them complete the task or job they
need to complete. Not meeting these set requirements means that you cannot
partake in the job or service required. There are many benefits of the National
Occupational Standards and they include helping organisations provide training
which helps to improve the service and performance of organisations. It also
helps organisation owners and managers have more control and management
over the organisation.
The Career Framework is introduced to help healthcare professionals improve
and develop new skills to help them to further improve their current job role.
This could either help them retrain and move on to a higher position or could
make them take on extra responsibilities to further improve their area of work.
The Skills Passports is a record which holds all the information about an
individual’s past careers, skills and training. This can be updated and written by
the individual themselves and it shows all the information needed by the
employer such as previous education, qualifications, training, career history and
what skills they possess. This information can be accessed through the internet
and is secured and can only be accessed by the individual and whoever it is
shared with.
The Agenda for Change is the NHS’s pay grading system for the staff members.
This excludes doctors, dentists, apprentices and senior managers. The Agenda
for Change was made to help set up an equal pay system for medical and non-
medical members of staff. This was based on the amount of experience and
duration of time a member of staff has worked, for example a paediatrician with
2 years of experience will get the same pay as a paediatrician that has been
working for 2 years. There are 9 bands which determine your pay rate, and this
is mainly based on your career choice and the amount of experience you have.
This also helps eliminate inequalities in the health care sectors as it shows equal
pay since it’s a set amount, which can change throughout time, based on the job
role and amount of experience you have. The longer you work and the more
experience and skills you acquire, the higher your pay becomes.