Clinical Staff

Welcome to our Radiotherapy Clinical Placement Website, as the Clinical Lead I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the great work that you do in supporting our students on placement. The time that students spend on placement is invaluable in developing their capability, confidence and resilience. The way that you offer guidance and support makes a huge impact on their development and ultimately the patient experience. 

We hope the resources provided here enable you to continue to develop your own personal and professional skills, whilst also supporting student training. The main resource of interest is the Practice Placement Handbook, please ensure you read the updated copies each year.

Mentors

A Mentor is a clinical colleague from the Radiotherapy Department who supports an individual student in co-ordinating, advising, and assisting in the clinical learning for that placement. They also facilitate the completion of the students clinical report book and input into student appraisals.

The role is supported by Placement Learning Tutors (PLT) and Practice Educators (PE) who train new clinical staff who work with students and provide continuing  formal training and on-going support.  We would encourage you to update yourself with the Practice Placement Handbook on a yearly basis.

Please be aware that mentoring students is embedded within the Society of Radiographers Code of Conduct and should be part of all qualified Therapeutic Radiographers clinical practice. Mentoring can also be used to support the Knowledge and Skills Framework part of your role and your proficiency within the HCPC. The formal mentoring resources can be found here.

The first time completing training, please also contact your departments PLT (via email) to request an account. After this, training is to be completed annually without needing to notify of this as the form at the end of training will record this.

At times mentoring students can be challenging, on those occasions your PLT will support you through this process.  At times it maybe necessary to put more formal support in place. 

Assessors

Assessors are clinical colleagues that meet the criteria and have specifically applied for the role as a Student Assessor and facilitate the VIVA assessments alongside the PLT as a Academic Assessor which are undertaken within the clinical modules.

Initial training is delivered by the Placement Learning Tutor (PLT); and then they deliver a VIVA assessment alongside the Academic Assessor (the PLT). The Assessors will provide written and verbal feedback to students in a timely manner after completion of the VIVA assessment. 

Practice Educator

Should you have an interest in furthering your knowledge on Health Education, staff can also be supported in applying for access to the College of Radiographers Practice Educator register as part of their CPD activity by undertaking the MSc module Learning & Teaching in Practice. You may complete this module and APEL the credits across into your Radiotherapy specific MSc courses should you wish to not undertake a PgCERT or full MSc in Healthcare Education. 

STEMnet Resources

For further information on STEMnet and becoming an ambassador please click on the links below:

What is STEMnet?

How do I apply to become a STEMnet Ambassador?

There is also more information and resources provided under the STEMnet tab.

Emergency Contacts

If students have a genuine emergency outside normal university working hours, they can use the emergency central number on 0114 225 2000.

This emergency line may be used to contact the University out of hours if a student is involved in an  serious incident that affects their safety or they have taken action that threatens the safe working of the organisation. 

Please do not use this emergency contact if a student who has not arrived for placement. Under the university regulations we are not able to provide student contact details to third parties, contact them out of hours or contact next of kin which may raise anxieties un-necessarily. If you do have a student who is absent please contact the PLT for the area when the University re-opens.