Post Graduate Certificate in Clinical Echocardiography (Echocardiography Training Programme administered by the NSHCS)

In line with the NHS People plan and Long term plan and the Richards report, the National School of Healthcare Science (NSHCS) have recognised the need to develop alternative routes to qualifying as a clinical scientist. The Echocardiography Training Programme (ETP) has been developed, as a pathway that will respond more rapidly to the urgent workforce needs for Cardiac Physiologists able to independently operate as echocardiographers. The Cardiac Physiology workforce has grown as result of the Scientific Training Programme (STP), however, the demand for Cardiac Physiologists remains high, with a current estimated shortfall of 663 WTE.

The workforce shortfall represents a major risk to delivery of the people plan, particularly for waiting time targets in diagnosis and follow up of cardiovascular disease and cancer pathways, and the further development of 7-day services and delivery of Echocardiography in primary care. Currently 86% of patients diagnosed with cardiomyopathy have their echocardiogram in hospital, while only 10% are diagnosed by Echocardiography in the community - a large increase in access and delivery could offer significant improvements in speed of diagnosis and cost savings.

The ETP was run as a small pilot in 2020 and all indications to date are that it is welcomed by the workforce and is working well.

The pilot represents an accelerated pathway for Cardiac Physiologists to gain BSE Accreditation to enable them to work autonomously to meet the current workforce needs. The need for this course is urgent as the ability of training places is already extremely limited due to shortage of staffing and competing demands (delivering service, training Medical Staff, commitments to other areas of Cardiac Diagnostic department).This course is unique in offering an integrated programme to deliver both the Academic content leading to a Post Graduate Certificate in Clinical Echocardiography and work place training, building on successful elements of the STP including Echocardiography modules, Accreditation of departments and support for trainees and training officers, kick-starting the hands-on skills by utilising a simulator - research has shown this can significantly increase skills in the early learning phase.

HEE and the NSHCS would like to develop and implement this programme to run alongside and be accredited and commissioned in the same way as the existing HCS programmes, and would like to invite Expressions of Interest/Tenders from Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) or equivalent who would like to deliver the Academic content.

Following the Richards Report and in response to the Long term plan, HEE intends to implement the Post Graduate certificate in Echocardiography as an 18 month salary supported programme of the NSHCS starting in October 2021.