Ready to return to practice?

Natasha Pisarski and Natalie Matchett of Health Education England (HEE) take us through the process and support available through the Return to practice (RTP)  programme in England. While Natasha and Natalie represent Return to practice in England, there is much here that will be of interest across the UK.

Perhaps you or someone you know is interested in getting back to the profession they love? If so, this article explains how. If you’re an employer then read on to learn of the many benefits of supporting someone to return to practice.

Returnees do not need to take exams or retrain – they are qualified in their profession, is often about regaining confidence and not competence - RTP is about gaining re-registration to use their protected title.

The HEE return to practice programme

The RTP programme from HEE supports former HCPC registrants that have left their professions to re-enter and gain their HCPC registration. Since the programme began in 2017, over 600 AHPs have been supported and returned to the HCPC register; 22 of these being podiatrists. This is great news: we need to welcome them back and value their contribution to see more podiatrists return to practice.

Returners have told us they want support in finding supervised practice; they want more flexible working; and they want a centralised point of contact within organisations who had the knowledge of the RTP HCPC requirements and HEE RTP Programme (HEE, 2021 Supervised Practice Survey). They note a lack of clarity in how to return to practice and difficulties associated with attaining placements. The National HEE RTP programme, together with collaboration between HEE and Royal College of Podiatry aims to assist these issues and improve the RTP experience for Podiatrists.

What’s involved?

If you’re registered with the HCPC and have been out of the profession for 0-2 years, then there is no need to do any additional study or work experience. You can apply for relevant jobs straight away. Podiatrists that have been off the register for more than two years will need to complete the return to practice process to update their knowledge and skills.

The HEE RTP programme offers many benefits to returnees including: support to find a supervised practice placement, financial support and peer support through a closed Facebook group. To support returners HEE is now offering a non-clinical leadership placement where the returners can gain experience and evidence in leadership and support future employment.

Return to practice requirements are flexible and allow professionals to update their knowledge and skills through a self-directed process. It means a returner is able to decide themselves how to complete their period of updating in a way that best suits their personal circumstances, be that through supervised practice, private studies or formal ones. The timescale to complete the return to practice process stands at 24 months (increased from 12 because of the pandemic).

Flexible approach

Organisations need to take a flexible approach to help returners to practice. Some ways to do this include:

• Consider what you can do virtually (eg online supervision sessions, training, videos)
• Look at what your team can offer (not what it can’t); what are the learning opportunities and what can returnees add to services?
• Encourage all team members to contribute to the returners’ support
• Think outside the box: supervised practice can take place in any area or specialism such as research or leadership placements and posts
• Team up with local supervisors who also have returnees and together build a community of practice
• Consider alternative placement models, such as sharing between teams or local organisations, as well as inter-professional, group mentoring or peer learning if you have more than one returner
• Use online and simulated approaches for multi-professional learning to expand placements for returners
• Secure partnership working between higher education and practice to support mentorship for returners
• Use different routes to enable a return to practice, ie any paid employment or volunteering roles, including support worker posts. Offer the placement route only via the use of an honorary contract or employment route using fixed term contracts until re-registered. Offer a substantive post if one is available.

What are the benefits for organisations of supporting return to practice?

• It addresses workforce gaps, including hard to fill positions. Try offering band 2/3/4 positions while supporting people to RTP, and then moving them into band 5/6/7 positions on obtaining HCPC registration
• It taps into a skilled workforce. People leave the HCPC register age 44 with nine years’ experience, on average; 60% leave when they are band 7 or above (HEE/GEO survey, 2001)
• If returners are well supported, evidence suggests that they’re highly likely to seek employment with that organisation, thus reducing recruitment and agency costs, and increasing bank capacity.