Newsletter

Issue 17 | January 2019

IN THIS ISSUE:

NEW QA FRAMEWORK | KEY WORDS | HINTS AND TIPS |
FAQs for the QA HUB | REMINDERS | APPRENTICESHIP STANDARDS | TRAINING OF VISITORS | SUPPORTING MATERIALS | FAQS | NEW STAFF | NMC CORRESPONDENCE | ON CALL AND IT SUPPORT |

To ensure our email updates are delivered to your inbox, please add nmc@mottmac.com to your email address book.

Welcome to the January 2019 Newsletter of the NMC quality assurance framework


Since our last newsletter the roll out of the NMC new quality assurance (QA) framework has progressed at a rapid pace. In this issue we provide you with an update on progress, reminders of key deadlines, and signposts to information and advice we hope you will find helpful.

Implementation of new QA framework – update on progress

Progressing through the four gateways


The deadline of 31 December 2018 for AEIs following the fast track process to submit their gateway 1 mapping and documentary evidence has now passed, with AEIs successfully negotiating their way through using the QA hub. AEIs are now working to their allocated individual deadlines to submit evidence for gateways 2 and 3. We completed a small number gateway 4 visits in January.

During the process of providing advice and support to AEIs and visitors in this early phase of implementing the new QA process and using the QA hub, we noted your feedback and actioned any immediate problems or difficulties. We will be undertaking a formal review of the new QA process that will incorporate your views and experiences.

Key words: You said – we did

The NMC heard the feedback we captured from AEIs about selecting and uploading key words as part of submitting the documentary evidence in the QA hub. The NMC have acted on this feedback and AEIs are no longer required to complete the key words sections of the gateway mapping tools.

NEW: NMC Enhanced scrutiny

The NMC has introduced a new aspect of the QA framework called enhanced scrutiny. Details of the new process and what is means for AEIs can be found by following this link to the updated QA Handbook (see 9.3 in the QA Handbook).

Hints and tips

Advice from several AEIs who have already completed gateway 1 is as follows;

  • Ensure you put aside plenty of time to complete the mapping templates and uploading of the documentary evidence.

  • Do a pilot run of using the QA hub to check for any technical difficulties well in advance of your submission deadline date; for example, complete one small section including uploading documentary evidence to test the system

  • If you are encountering technical difficulties with the QA hub use Google chrome

We have uploaded FAQs for the QA hub on our website

Gateway 1 deadline – reminder to AEIs

AEIs proposing to run programmes against the new standards in 2020 must submit the necessary evidence to Gateway 1 via QA hub before the 30 April 2019

Scheduling of Gateway 4 visits

Gateway 4 approval visits scheduled between January and the end of April 2019 have now been confirmed and QA visitors allocated. Arrangements for Gateway 4 visits proposed from May 2019 onwards are now in the process of being scheduled.

Event request – reminder to AEIs

Don’t forget to complete your event request if you have not already done so. The event request form is now live on the QA hub to complete.

Annual self-assessment report 2018-19 – reminder to AEIs: The deadline for completion of the annual self -assessment report is 16 February 2019

Update on apprenticeship standards

Publication of the new standards for nurse degree apprenticeships (NDA) and nursing associate apprenticeships (NA) is expected to be released by the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) at the end of April 2019. Watch out for this information on the IfA website The delay in the publication of these new standards has led to some AEIs having to defer approval of the apprenticeship route of their NA programme or the NDA route in the pre-registration nursing programme. We are working with the NMC to facilitate all reasonable requests for a rapid turnaround of rescheduled dates.

Students will no longer be able to enter non-NMC approved NA programmes from 26 July 2019

Training of visitors A joint workshop between the NMC and MM was held for lay visitors at the NMC in London on 17 December. The importance of the public’s perspective in supporting the work of the NMC and implementation of the NMC QA Framework was highlighted in a session by Anne Trotter. Lay visitors also had chance to hear from Jessie Cunnett, Head of public support at the NMC. Using the QA hub and report writing were addressed by the Mott MacDonald team. Presentations from this event can be found here. This interactive session enabled discussion around a number of questions posed by the lay visitors. This latter session was repeated as a webinar on 29 January for any lay visitors unable to attend the London event.

A series of separate on-line training sessions for registrant visitors on the use of the QA hub and reporting writing was provided from November 2018 and concluded in January 2019.

A series of webinars was provided throughout November for approved education institutions (AEIs) on how to use the QA hub, complete the gateway mapping documents and upload evidence.

Supporting materials on NMC.mottmac website

Since our last newsletter a number of new resources for AEIs and visitors that have been added to our website

More detailed guidance for visitors on writing evaluative reports will be available on our website at the beginning of February.

An exemplar of a gateway 3 initial draft programme approval report will also be on the website in February.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Has anything changed about IELTS?

A. We highlighted in the August 2018 edition of our newsletter that there is no change to IELTS for overseas applicants to pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes. There has however been a change to the IELTS requirements for nurses and midwives who qualified overseas and wish to apply for entry to the NMC register. This latter change is linked with employers seeking to recruit overseas nurses and midwives to address workforce issues. The information can be found on the NMC website

Hello to new staff

New Deputy Directors of Reviews

Pam PageMonica Murphy

Pam Page (left) and Monica Murphy (right)

We welcome Pam Page and Monica Murphy who joined the QA team in November 2018 as Deputy Directors of Reviews. Pam and Monica have extensive experience, expertise and diverse skills in the quality assurance of nursing and midwifery education. The additional skills and new perspectives they bring to the team will enhance our delivery of the new QA framework.

Stephen Curtis

Stephen Curtis joined us in December as Project Officer. Stephen provides administrative support to ensure the approval process and QA Hub usability for both AEIs and visitors is understood and completed as smoothly as possible.

NMC correspondence, news and events

The NMC is launching a 12-week consultation on the draft Future Midwife standards
https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/midwifery/education/

3 January 2019 NMC letter to official correspondents (OCs) and lead midwives for education (LMEs) regarding extensions to mentor/practice teacher/teacher programmes Standards for learning and assessing in practice NMC, 2008.

New information on the NMC website:


NMC ongoing webinar series

Thursday 7 February 2019 from 12 noon – 1.00pm;

‘The role of the practice and academic assessors’

‘How we quality assure’ is available on NMC website


On call, IT support and new helpline number

QA visitors and the staff in AEIs can contact us if they have any queries.

For administrative or IT support contact the operations team at Mott MacDonald via email nmc@mottmac.com or via our new dedicated helpline number, which will connect you to the first available operations team member: 01223 463441.

For professional issues, please telephone or email whoever is on call. The on-call rota and contact details are available here: http://www.nmc.mottmac.com/

If you have any comments or suggestions related to this latest edition of the newsletter please send them to me at bernie.wallis@mottmac.com

Bernie Wallis | Deputy Director of Reviews

The Mott MacDonald Group is an independent management, engineering and development consultancy with over 12,000 staff working in over 140 countries.

www.nmc-uk.org
www.mottmac.com