Placement agreement

The practice education of Health and Social Care students is a partnership between students, university staff and placement areas. This agreement outlines the expectations and responsibilities of all those involved.

The underlying principles will be that all individuals will be treated with courtesy and respect and to be treated as valued members of the wider multi-disciplinary team. Any issues regarding an individual’s safety are raised and escalated as per policy.

Students have the right to expect

• A practice placement to be conducive to meeting learning needs commensurate with their level of competency and programme outcomes to achieve the NMC / HCPC / Social Work England learning outcomes for progression and registration
• To be assessed where appropriate for reasonable adjustments for professional practice
• For all placements to have a current audit to ensure a quality learning environment
• Where possible, to be notified of the details of their placement allocation with 4 weeks’ notice, but this cannot always be guaranteed
• Where possible, placements will be within one and a half hours travel time from the university, but this cannot always be guaranteed
• Access to a placement profile and a named contact person
• An approach to practice learning which is flexible, collaborative and responsive to students’ individual learning needs
• An induction and a welcome pack, which includes orientation to the department and/or organisation, plus access to relevant policies and procedures
• To have a named supervisor/assessor/educator at the start of the placement
• Practice Educators will have appropriate education and training to meet HCPC / Social Work England requirements
• Practice Assessors as recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will have appropriate preparation and training
• Practice Supervisors will be appropriately registered Health & Social Care Practitioners with appropriate preparation and training
• To have an initial interview within the first week of the placement focusing on their individual learning needs and on the opportunities available in the placement setting
• To have a mid-point and final interview scheduled at an appropriate time during their placement
• To receive constructive feedback on progress at the initial, midpoint and final meeting and as required
• The protection of their supernumerary status as per NMC / HCPC / Social Work England guidance
• Access to evidence-based resources.

Student Responsibilities

• To conduct themselves in a professional manner as defined by the NMC/HCPC/Social Work England and in keeping with practice placement policies.
• To be of good health and good character and to immediately report any change in either health or good character status to the placements team.
• To expect to be required to attend a breadth of placement experiences to ensure that  PSRB requirements are met or exceeded.
• To contact the placement provider to which they have been allocated at least 3 weeks prior to the start of the placement.
• To experience the 24-hour shift pattern and the continuum of care over a 7-day week, including bank holidays. With an expectation that each student will undertake 2 night duty shifts on each clinical placement as able and in keeping with the practice area’s normal working arrangements.
• To dress professionally according to the university practice dress code/placement provider policy and in a manner that promotes a professional image and meets health and safety and infection control requirements.
• To commit to learning and development and actively seek out learning opportunities in negotiation with their supervisor/assessor/practice educator.
• To ensure that their electronic timesheets are completed and submitted at the end of every week. Timesheets must include start and end times, breaks and all sickness or other absences.
• To ensure that their ePAD or paper PAD (Practice Assessment Document) is completed at agreed intervals throughout the placement.
• To disclose any specific access needs relevant to placement planning at the earliest opportunity and to participate in an access planning meeting that aims to meet particular needs. Helpzones & Student Services are available to offer help & support if needed.
• To contact the practice support email and notify their academic personal tutor/coach in practice if experiencing problems whilst on placement.
• To constructively evaluate their placement with appropriate and transparent action being taken in response to their feedback.
• To report sickness and absence in line with the absence policy and to ensure absence is reported to the practice absence email and placement area.
• To maintain confidentiality in line with practice placement, professional body, and university policies & procedures, both during practice placement and continuing after the placement has ended.

Criteria to apply for a change of placement allocation

Placements are complex to allocate, and the process is completed considering a range of factors including past experience, declared conflict of interest, student location as well as the availability of suitable placements. We do all we can to ensure that every student has an appropriate breadth of placement experiences, but we recognise that on occasion a placement may need to be changed if it is deemed inappropriate. If you feel that your placement allocation needs to be reviewed, you can email [email protected] for one of the team to look at the allocation.

For your placement to be reviewed it must meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Travel time greater than 90 minutes each way
• A duplication of placement area i.e. two placements in the same location. For example, placement 1 in Ward 5A and placement 3 in Ward 5A. This does not include similar areas e.g. a COTE ward is not the same area as a stroke ward.
• A previously disclosed conflict of interest with the placement area has not been taken into consideration.

Whilst we will look at moving students whose placements fall into one of the above categories, placement capacity is extremely limited, and we cannot make any promises or guarantees that placements will be able to be changed. Unfortunately, placements will not be swapped if they do not fall into one or more of the above categories.

Practice supervisors/assessors/educators have a right to expect

• Regular communication with the university to discuss programme structures, assessment procedures and evaluation of placements.
• A named university link for the student’s field of study.
• A minimum 6 weeks’ notification of student placement information.
• Students to conduct and present themselves in a professional manner as defined by the NMC / HCPC / Social Work England policies and in keeping with practice placement policies.
• Students to provide their assessment documentation (PAD) on request.
• Students to undertake their role as a learner in accordance with their level of competency level and in adherence to the relevant university and practice placement policies and procedures.
• Students to make an appropriate contribution to the care of service users in order to meet their negotiated learning needs and programme/module outcomes.
• Students to be flexible in using available learning opportunities to experience 24 hour care provision as appropriate to individual placements.

The University and academic staff have a right to expect

• Academic and clinical based colleagues to work in partnership to enhance the student and service user and carer experience.
• Assessors/supervisors/educators have been adequately prepared for the role.
• Students are to disclose any specific access needs relevant to placement planning at the earliest opportunity, and to participate in an access planning meeting well in advance of placement allocation (i.e. more than 6 weeks prior to the placement start date).
• Assessors/supervisors/educators to liaise with the named coach in practice regarding the progress of students on placement and to notify university staff regarding concerns about a student’s progress.