Meet the UKCC - 17.2.99

Holiday Inn, Sheffield


A personal review by Rod Ward

This day was an opportunity for all registered nurses, midwives and health visitors to meet the UKCC, and find out about current developments and ask questions of our regulatory body.

This was a well attended event (extra chairs needing to be provided) with nurses, midwives and health visitors from a wide range of backgrounds. Attendees were divided into separate groups and stayed in the same meeting room with the speakers rotating around the groups. Both Nursing Times and Nursing Standard were also represented and seemed interested in the views of everyone in attendance.

The group I was allocated to started with a welcome and  introduction from Allison Norman (Chair of Council), who briefly described the role and functions of the UKCC. This was supported by Maureen Williams (Professional Officer, Community Nursing/Health Visiting) who used a powerpoint presentation (? showing the technical innovation) to set out the principal functions of the council in a little more detail. References to how nurses look & harking back to nurses shiny buckles (although in a joking manner) did not inspire my confidence in the dynamic, forward looking UKCC that was being described.

Frequent reference was made to the J.M.Consulting report on the future of the UKCC and the National Boards - however the panel was unable/unwilling to comment in detail about the implications, as it had not yet been discussed by the council or national boards (however a handout was available later in the day briefly setting out some of the recommendations of the report. Questions and comments were invited from the audience.

The next presentation was by Pam Walter (Professional Officer - Education) about the Education Commission which has been set up by the UKCC and has been conducting a wide ranging consultation exercise about the current and future issues surrounding initial nurse education. This includes a "Futures Document" trying to predict what care will be like in 2010. Relevant issues which are likely to change nursing practice were identified including ; genetics, an increasingly elderly population, technology, managing information and multiprofessional education. There was also frequent reference to the entry gates into nurse education and  the balance between competency / work based education and the principles of higher Education, which I raised again in the questions session. I also raised issues around the validation/accreditation of course when seen in the light of H.E. QAA & changes to the boards & UKCC. One issue which was side-stepped was moves to nationally prescribed learning outcomes for multiprofessional health care education. Other questions and comments focused on the potential registration of Health Care Assistants / NVQ prepared, the "image" of the nurse, nurses roles and clinical grading.
 

The next presentation by Maureen Williams discussed developments in PREP & the requirements to complete a personal profile in the completion of registration procedures.

Due to other commitments I was not able to stay for lunch or the afternoon sessions, which for our group included;

Generally this was an interesting experience. I am glad the Council & it's officers are getting out into the provinces to meet the professionals they regulate.

I was hopeful that they would be more willing/able to discuss the implications of the J.M. Consulting report, but did find it a useful overview of some of the issues.

It was a good opportunity to network with nurses from the region working in a wide variety of settings. I was also able to meet my supervisor from my MA at the Southbank who I hadn't seen for a few years.



If you have any comments or questions about this page please contact; Rod@RodSpace.co.uk
Page Created: 18.2.99
Last Updated: 3.9.03