Competency Frameworks
Physical Health Competency Framework for Mental Health and Learning Disability Settings
This refreshed framework incorporates elements of the knowledge and skills needed for registered clinical staff working in mental healthcare and/or learning disability settings to be able to meet the physical health needs of service users with serious mental illness and/or service users with a learning disability.
This framework:
• Does not supersede previous policies or protocols; it enhances existing procedures and processes.
• It can be used to aid learning and development, or in a team discussion to improve awareness and training.
• It has been designed to be accessed and used by all in a MH and LD capacity to highlight the core skills and knowledge that should be shared across a multidisciplinary team in this type of setting.
Older People's Mental Health Competency Framework
This refreshed framework has been developed by HEE and guided by several experts connected with Older People’s health. The purpose of the framework is to support the delivery of excellent services across disciplines which are directly or indirectly involved in supporting and promoting older people’s mental health.
This framework:
• Does not supersede previous policies or protocols; it enhances existing procedures and processes.
• It can be used to aid learning and development, or in a team discussion to improve awareness and training.
• It has been designed to be accessed and used by all in a mental health capacity.
Prescribing Competency Implementation Guidance for Mental Health
By engaging experts in the field, including those with lived experience, Health Education England (HEE) have developed a practical, accessible guidance document that supports prescribers to follow the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS) Prescribing Competency Framework and apply this in a mental health context.
Mental Health Directories
To support the changing needs of the mental health workforce, Health Education England (HEE) has commissioned a scoping exercise of mental health training across England, to inform future training commissioning and to support those who train and work in mental health services, enabling awareness of and access to appropriate and relevant training and education. The resulting directories of training contain a variety of courses and resources provided by universities, colleges and other specialist organisations. These courses and resources vary in terms of duration, assessment and modality. For any queries on these resources, please contact the course provider or mental.health@hee.nhs.uk.
Perinatal Mental Health
Increasing access to perinatal mental health (PMH) services is an NHS priority, and the expansion of PMH services has led to a need to further develop and train the workforce. This includes continued growth and changing responsibilities for specialist community PMH teams, stronger focus on refreshing and extending skills of experienced practitioners, and a need to train more non-specialists across the perinatal pathway.
Health Education England (HEE) commissioned a scoping exercise of PMH training across England, to inform future training commissioning and to support those who train and work in PMH services, enabling awareness of and access to appropriate and relevant training and education. The scoping exercise included interviews with around 100 representatives of professional bodies, government agencies, PMH Clinical Networks, and PMH services; a survey of more than 450 practitioners; data collection from 60 training providers; and a reference group of six people with lived experience of PMH services.
The resulting directory of training can be downloaded here:
Good Practice in Developing New Workforce Roles
What is it?
Good Practice in Developing New Workforce Roles is a suite of resources that have been built on good working practice, to advise workforce designers when modelling supply and demand, whilst supporting NHS & Social Care employers to create sustainable new roles that are both worthwhile and offer good career opportunities for the staff filling them.
The interactive tool is accompanied by a print friendly PDF version, that can be used as a quick reference document, and a Powerpoint file.
Why do it?
In the current financial and political environment, it is important that sustainable new roles meet expectations quickly. This interactive tool brings together good practice in new role implementation in health and social care, aiming to improve the way we plan for and implement new roles.
It is designed to be used by anyone who may play a part in implementing a new role in the workforce.