Following the relaunch of the Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF), NHS Employers director Alistair Henderson admitted they were a long way off the KSF being ready to be used for revalidation.
However, Bill Macmillan, manager of the KSF for NHS Employers, told Independent Nurse he felt the framework would be ready by the time the government was able to produce its template for revalidation.
‘The work on regulation is not racing along at breakneck speed, but it is an enormous task and my understanding is that the project on non-medical regulation is not due to be finished until the end of 2008.
‘We’re reasonably optimistic that the KSF will be more usable for the needs of revalidation by that time. Although, we don’t know what will emerge from that regulation process either and it’s by no means assured that the KSF will be used for revalidation,’ he added.
RCN policy officer responsible for regulation Jane Naish said she was not aware of the 2008 date but agreed progress on working out how revalidation would work for nurses had been very slow so far.
Following the government’s White Paper on regulation, eight working groups of stakeholders were set up to decide how proposals would be implemented. Only one meeting of the stakeholders involved in non-medical revalidation has been held to date.
Ms Naish also agreed the KSF might not end up being used as the basis for revalidation. ‘The problem the RCN has always had with the KSF is that it is supposed to be a developmental tool and not just a competency check. It cannot be used for both.’
Independentnurse@haymarket.com
Comment below and tell us what you think
