Circular letter CL 11/04

Number	CL11/04
Subject	Health and Social Care Education and Training Programmes in Higher Education Institutions in the UK: consultation on a Statement of common purpose for subject benchmarks.
Publication date	25 August 2004
Recipients	Health care related regulatory bodies; Health care related professional bodies; Workforce Development Confederations (WDFs) (England); Departments of Health (UK); Higher education institutions (UK); Higher education funding councils (UK); Universities UK (UUK); Standing Conference of Principals (SCOP)
Of interest to	Education officers of the professional and statutory regulatory bodies; Commissioners of education and training in WDFs / NHS Trusts; Academic staff in the relevant subject/professions; Staff with responsibilities for standards of academic awards in HE institutions
Further information	Mike Laugharne m.laugharne@qaa.ac.uk
Response date	30 November 2004
Respond to	Mike Laugharne
Attachments	Draft consultation document Annex 1 Annex 2 Pro-forma for responses

Dear Colleague

I am pleased to enclose a draft Statement of common purpose for use in association with subject benchmarks for health and social care and invite comments on it.

You may recall that in 2001 the Agency published a number of benchmark statements in health and social care (these are listed in Annex 1 to this circular). More recently, we have issued an additional five statements (also listed in Annex 1). All these statements can be accessed on the Agency’s website (www.qaa.ac.uk). The purposes and use made of these statements are described in the introduction to the attached consultation document.

During the process of formulating the earlier statements, it became apparent that there were a number of common features in the descriptions of the attributes and capabilities expected of health and social care professionals. In the light of this it was agreed to explore the possibility of developing a generic framework that could encompass the full range of professions in this area. The Department of Health (England) commissioned the Agency to work with relevant bodies to develop further the framework as part of its project on benchmarking the five professional areas referred to above. This development was overseen by a Steering Group; the membership is attached at Annex 2. The Steering Group came to the view that although the ‘emerging framework’ had a number of attractive features, it was not the most productive basis for enlarging the work on benchmarking for health and social care professions. The Group has now concluded that it would be more useful at present to emphasise the shared values and principles that underpin the wide spectrum of health and social care practice. Accordingly, a ‘statement of common purpose’ has been drafted and the Agency, in its facilitating role in the project, invites comments on the attached draft.

You may wish to note that although the work has been commissioned by the Department of Health (England), the Agency believes that the statement might have UK-wide applicability, which explains the distribution list for consultation.

Attached to this letter is a pro-forma on which responses can be made. I should be grateful if responses were addressed to Mike Laugharne, QAA, Southgate House, Southgate Street, Gloucester, GL1 1UB or m.laugharne@qaa.ac.uk by 30 November 2004.

Yours sincerely

Peter Williams
Chief Executive