BLOG: Providing high-quality CPD, training and revalidation expertise for nurses and doctors

The patient and their safety is always at the forefront of everything we do. This is why we provide you with a training experience unlike any other agency. Patients need high quality healthcare professionals from us and we know that providing these has direct correlation to the highest quality patient care. We want to positively influence patient safety by having well-trained clinicians. Our Chief Operating Officer, and practicing clinician, Gezz Van Zwanenberg, explains further.

We offer more than what you need

We understand that the responsibility to complete the revalidation process lies with the clinician, not their employer. Often clinical staff working for a trust may not be offered CPD activities other than those that are mandatory; rather, the healthcare professional would be expected to organise that themselves. HCRG Staffing provides activities that support doctors’ and nurses’ CPD, to be completed outside of their usual working day. We provide participatory CPD courses, including face-to-face practical training, and support candidates with confirmations, appraisals, practice discussions and reflective activity. All of this is led and overseen by a consultant nurse and is clinically delivered. We have the capabilities to support both nurses and doctors through their revalidation journey and requirements.

We pay for your training earlier

To become compliant, you need to undertake all mandatory training both practical and online. We have an arrangement where once registered with us you can access all training for free. For  doctors, once you have completed a certain number of working hours with us you can access our free revalidation service. From day one you can be registered with our designated body and revalidation service, should you need it.

We offer a vast array of free training, which is highly unusual for an agency. While other agencies do offer training, often they charge for it. HCRG Staffing charges for some elements, but we offer salary sacrifice schemes so our candidates can pay for their training in instalments.

What is special about HCRG Staffing is that we tailor the training to our people and patients. We discuss any particular training needs with a clinician. We also work with clients to ensure that any feedback and local nuance or practice developments are incorporated into our training.

We provide a lot of bespoke training, which is unusual. We offer mental health training, and our physical training is accredited by the Registered Restraint Network (RRN). Courses dealing with aggression and violence regarding mental health are accredited by the regulated body Bild Association of Certified Training. Our basic life-support instructors are all Resuscitation Council UK accredited. As I am a consultant nurse and ALS instructor, I run some of our training sessions. It is unusual for a senior clinician to also be Chief Operating Officer. The benefit to patients, clients and clinicians of having senior clinical oversight of all training sets us apart from many. I am proud of the impact on patient safety that I know we are making.

Why we attract the best candidates

People want to work for us because of the quality of what we offer. What we do well is making sure client and patient requirements are matched by our candidates. The patient is always the most important person in this relationship.

Much of our training is shaped around who it is for. For instance, for moving and handling training we run specific courses based on what the client and the patient need. This could mean running the courses in the patient’s home to cater for their specific needs, rather than a blanket course that is less specific or more relevant to hospital stays.

Rapidly evolving online training

We use a learning management system platform which incorporates both formative and summative training. We use it to teach in an interactive way, check people’s learning through short quizzes, and keep it regularly updated with the latest advances. It is compatible with mobile phones and progress is autosaved, meaning our candidates can complete their training at a time which works best for them.

Why sign up to HCRG Staffing?

Quite simply, because we provide high-quality training that’s clinically-driven, it attracts CPD points, it is certificated, and it is accessible to all candidates.

In the agency world, it is rare to get clinically-led certificated training, CPD activity and support with revalidation. Clinicians are well-placed to pick up on advances and changes in techniques. As well as this, we are subject to all the same professional requirements.

For example, I have just had to revalidate and demonstrate my portfolio, clinical practice evidence my teaching, evidence my reflections and evidence my practice discussions. Everything our candidates have to do, I also have to do. I know exactly what it is like, and having a clinician who has that lived experience is what really sets us apart.