I suspect this is the first of a couple of updates from me today (apologies!)
As many PACS Managers will now be aware, NHS England (and its successors) are moving towards expected professional registration for Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) staff, which includes all relevant members of the PACS Teams, I.T., Clinical Engineering and Radiologists (etc.) who are involved with the management of informatics systems like PACS, RIS, AI or ancillaries in the NHS or Private Healthcare. These teams will be required to maintain registration with the nominated body, the Federation of Informatics Professions (FEDIP), from March 2028 (or the year after for more junior bands) to ensure continued competence in these crucial roles.
A prerequisite for registration (and level of recognition) is sufficient training and qualification.
Looking at the latest workforce data, a good portion of PACS Team members across the UK will probably need to undertake sufficient approved training well before their registrations will be processed, with those on Band 8c or Band 8b requiring to start basically ‘soon’ if they don’t have anything under their belts formally already.
As a result of this, we have had a push in interest for the non-profit training organised by us, with the largest capacity date offered (Liverpool around UKIO) being almost fully subscribed across multiple venues. For those considering requesting training we would greatly appreciate it if it were possible to look at combining as a group with neighbouring Trusts (saves us considerably on administration / travel etc.) We will do our best to include everyone requesting but as always our team of trainers work voluntarily, and of course there’s never any time for clinical staff to take leave during the weekdays unless its a group event too!
For those unaware of this new requirement for professional registration for PACS team members, information is set out by the Institute of Health Records and Information Management’s press release: NHS England & FEDIP partnership establishes DDaT professional recognition - IHRIM with the deadlines for profession registration by band set out on the Health Education England information page here: Professional Membership for the NHS Digital, Data and Technology Workforce | Digital Transformation
From the professional bodies and academics, the BIR is looking at developing suitable sessions, the RCR has a number of existing suitable conferences and the SCoR IM+T Advisory group (RIAG) will be making plans soon too.
Two universities are also offering specific qualifying professional courses to meet the required standards, information on these I will collate and post as a follow-up once their official ‘landing’ pages for their offerings are available. Unfortunately the excellent courses at the University of Sheffield’s Information School have now ceased being offered due to a reorganisation of that department.
From a personal point of view (speaking outside of any of the professional groups I sit on) I suspect professional registration for clinical informatics professionals is a good thing to maintain the quality of the vital services we provide. Although I have not been involved in this push (and the announcement was a ‘surprise’ to me too!), as a Fellow of the BCS I will be exploring implementation of this with their teams and whether there is any streamlining accession to FEDIP for those with legacy qualifications or experience on our teams.
Hope this is useful, sorry again for the length of this post!
Al.