Read Standard 3: Staff education and training

Congenital heart disease (CHD) standards
Healthcare Improvement Scotland

Standard statement

Staff have the training and skills to deliver the right care and support for people with CHD.

Rationale

The delivery of care for people with CHD requires specialist knowledge.27 CHD is a complex condition and people often experience additional health and wellbeing challenges associated with it.28, 29 Sensitive and compassionate staff understand and respond appropriately to people who may have experienced psychological trauma related to their health experiences. 32, 33

Any staff across the health and social care system may provide care to people with CHD. As people with CHD are a growing population group, specific future workforce planning is required.34 Services need to raise awareness of CHD in all areas likely to care for this population. This includes providing opportunities for training or placements where possible.

Criteria

3.1

NHS boards collaborate with stakeholders to ensure that there are adequate training opportunities for people involved in the care of people with CHD, including undergraduates and postgraduates in medicine, nursing, midwifery, healthcare science and allied health professionals.

NHS boards ensure that access is facilitated and staff are encouraged to take part.

3.2

Staff involved in CHD care across the NHS board:

  • undertake training, reflective practice or clinical supervision as appropriate to develop and maintain skills, knowledge and competence
  • have their education and training needs aligned to professional development frameworks
  • implement a multi-professional approach to improve knowledge, communication and partnership working.
3.3

NHS boards support staff to increase their awareness and knowledge of CHD by providing access to tailored local training for staff working in:

  • cardiology
  • obstetric cardiology
  • neonatal and paediatric services
  • allied cardiac services
  • anaesthetics
  • emergency departments
  • primary care.
3.4

Staff have access to information and training to enable them to support the holistic needs and rights of people living with CHD.

3.5

Staff involved in the delivery of paediatric and adult CHD care have adequate training on aspects specific to the CHD population including:

  • equalities and rights including communication needs
  • psychological, emotional and cognitive impact of cardiac conditions
  • associated conditions and comorbidities.
3.6

NHS boards have processes and protocols in place to share learning from complaints and adverse events with staff, locally and nationally.

3.7

Each NHS board ensures that people with CHD are supported:
by:

  • informed staff who have an understanding of the person’s condition
  • compassionate staff who take time to understand and respect their wishes and personal outcomes.
3.8

Staff have access to peer support and supervision to:

  • prevent or respond to and understand challenging situations
  • continue to provide high quality person-centred care.

What does this standard mean for...

What does the standard mean for people with CHD?

  • You are treated with dignity and compassion.
  • The team who look after you are be trained, skilled, knowledgeable and competent.

What does the standard mean for staff?

Staff:

  • can demonstrate knowledge, skills and competence relevant to their role and responsibilities
  • attend and participate in relevant training
  • receive support for their own mental health and emotional wellbeing
  • receive accurate and current information to enable them to support people
  • share knowledge and expertise about CHD with health professionals in training.

What does the standard mean for the NHS board?

The NHS board:

  • plans for the needs of the future CHD population
  • provides staff with the necessary knowledge and skills, appropriate to their roles and responsibilities, to provide high quality care and support
  • provides ongoing support for continued staff development
  • invests in and develops its future CHD workforce.

Examples of what meeting this standard might look like

  • Provision and uptake of multidisciplinary and multi-agency training.
  • Partnerships between NHS boards, hospitals or services and higher education institutions.
  • Provision of study leave, training placements or specialist training modules.
  • Provision and uptake of staff education and training in quality improvement methodology relevant to their role and responsibilities.
  • Competency and professional development frameworks.
  • Implementation and maintenance of safe staffing levels.
  • Use of incident reports or significant event analysis for learning, reflecting and supporting training action plans.
  • Training and skills needs and gap analyses.