Are you supporting CRPs with their applications?
What do I need to do?
If you are a line manager, or statutory registered professional, and supporting CRPs with their applications this page contains links and resources you may find helpful.
Where the AHCS Accredited Register sits in the system
At the heart of the CRP accredited registration process is the applicant’s commitment to best practice and protecting the public. While joining the register is the personal choice of the individual, it is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, and operates to the same high standard as all statutory and accredited registers.
Accredited registers are an important part of the regulatory landscape in the UK. If an accredited register exists, there is an expectation that employers will encourage and support their employees to join because of the added level of assurance it provides.
This NHS employers guide covers professional registration and qualification checks.
Why Support the Register
The involvement of confirmers and statutory registered colleagues provides an opportunity to demonstrate support and show how the commitment of their CRP colleagues is valued. Indeed, the feedback we have received indicates that in the majority of cases the application process has provided valuable opportunities to demonstrate managerial support for CRPs and facilitate meaningful development for them.
Your support plays an integral part in the process and contributes to consistency and standardisation, and in building the confidence and trust necessary to enable the establishment of CRPs as a profession.
Confirming applicant evidence
In addition to identity checks, part of the application process requires applicants to provide information that confirms their English language proficiency, DBS clearance, mandatory training and professional competency. Managers/Confirmers are asked to verify that they have seen this information, that it is complete, correct and authentic.
The role of the confirmer's signature in the application process does not require assessment of fitness to practice, but is instead an assurance validating the sound nature of the evidence the applicant is providing to the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) as their professional regulator.
Applicants also need to demonstrate that they have involved a registered professional in their practice development conversation. In many cases this will be their line manager but may also involve a registered professional who is part of the team. The conversation is included to support the process of reflection. The registered professional is required to indicate by signature that this conversation has taken place.
Who Administers the Register?
The register is backed by the Academy for Healthcare Science and the Professional Standards Authority; these two organisations administer other healthcare registers such as those in the Life Science and Biomedical fields. This backing along with the available competency frameworks and the standards of proficiency enables those who are joining the register to have their skills and experience recognised and valued across different organisations.
"I am pleased to take on the role of the confirmer to support those who wish to join the CRP register. Initially I was concerned about the implications of taking on this responsibility. However, once I chatted to the team behind this and looked at the organisations administering the register I was happy to sign as the confirmer. The CRP role and supporting the register are crucial to providing long term workforce sustainability."
Jamie Calderwood, Workforce Development Lead, LCRN Yorkshire and Humber Core Team
Proficiency Standards for CRPs
Evidencing CRP practice through providing a portfolio of evidence to the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) requires confirmation. The process of confirming follows a similar approach to that carried out by a confirmer evaluating evidence that would be put forward to the NMC in the revalidation process for registered nurses, midwives and nursing associates.
There are 4 key areas to consider when supporting CRPs with their applications, these are Professional Responsibility, Working Across Boundaries, Communication and Leadership. You can find out more about each focus area and the evidence applicants must provide by clicking the links below.
Please note: Line managers are not being asked to make an assessment of the applicant’s fitness to practise, or assess the quality of the individual's work. They are instead asked to confirm that they have observed the evidence being put forward in reflective statements and agree that this evidence meets the requirements of the regulator.
Listening to your feedback
An important function of voluntary accredited registers is to provide a mechanism to address concerns about a registrant’s fitness to practice, both in terms of professional performance and acts that may have an effect on public protection. By supporting applicants, managers are demonstrating their own commitment to safety. In addition, the registration process requires CRPs to discuss their practice in relation to the Scope of Practice for CRPs and to highlight their development needs, thus enabling a shared understanding and a platform to address any concerns and agree development priorities.
The development of the CRP Accredited Register presents a significant change for those who manage and support CRPs. Change also presents challenges and it is recognised that not all will feel comfortable about their role in confirming applications or understand the purpose and value of accredited registers. The formality of registration and accountability for sign off may feel challenging for confirmers, partly because the mechanism is new and will be open to audit. Should adverse consequences arise for a registered CRP, there may be anxiety about what the impact will be. As with all assurances, those given by confirmers in relation to CRP registrants are trusted as offered in good faith at a particular point in time.
Standardisation of education and training for CRPs is currently in development as part of the NIHR CRN-led Programme for Growth and Development for CRPs UK-wide. At the present time CRPs seeking to register will come from a range of educational backgrounds and their practice development and training will have been gained through a range of approaches. This being captured within locally documented assurance serves as a central feature of the public assurance offered by the CRP accredited register and is the basis upon which standardised education and training for CRPs is already emerging.