News Items

November 2018 - Sonographer Workforce Developments

Ultrasound education is undergoing significant and innovative changes. There is a BSc (Hons) Medical Ultrasound programme running in its third year, with students due to quality in Summer 2019 and an apprenticeship standard has been developed for BSc (Hons) in Medical Ultrasound. These new courses are in addition to the many CASE accredited post graduate programmes and focussed courses currently available. To ensure the developments continue to provide high quality ultrasound services to the public there is a vast amount of strategic level work being undertaken by volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds. CASE member organisations are involved in the discussions and working groups, as any changes to education and practice will impact on the role of CASE in assuring the quality of new approaches. A summary of the work to date has been published by the Society and College of Radiographers1 and the British Medical Ultrasound Society (BMUS).2 This report provides a further update on the latest developments.

The ‘Integrated Imaging Workforce Group’, set up by Health Education England (HEE) are overseeing many projects linked to developing the imaging workforce. As part of the work there is a ‘Sonography Steering Group’ who are setting objectives for smaller ‘task and finish’ working groups. The three groups are responsible for pushing forward different aspects of sonographer education and a career framework:

Sonography Implementation Group are developing a career framework for ultrasound. To date they have approved the ‘Standards for Sonographic Education’ document.3 Current work is looking at defining a career for a four tier ‘profession’ for sonographers. This includes the scope of practice, reporting, accountability and career progression. Linked to this, other work is beginning looking at preceptorship and a capability framework, to support the transition between career levels.

Sonography Training Group are reviewing options to increase capacity for clinical education, to try and take some of the pressure off over-stretched clinical departments. Several different options are being considered and the plan is to suggest a menu of different possibilities to meet the differing regional requirements. Currently the group are having discussions with colleagues who have already set up ultrasound clinical academies, regional peripatetic education models and ultrasound clinics within universities. Discussions are also taking place with Radiology Academy colleagues, reporting radiographer academies and sonographers in other countries, to share innovative practice.

Sonography Regulation Group, led by HEE is currently putting together a case for regulation of sonographers. Evidence will be presented to the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), prior to submission to the Department of Health and Social Care for further consideration.

Further dissemination and discussion will take place at the BMUS conference in December 2018 in Manchester, where there are professional issues streams on both Tuesday and Thursday, looking at education, training and professional developments.

References:

Harrison, G. ‘Sonographer workforce developments.’ 2018. Synergy News, April, pp.12-13. Available: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/20221/
Parker, P. ‘Development Officer report.’ 2018. BMUS Summer Newsletter. [Online]. Available:https://www.bmus.org/media/resources/files/BMUS_FINAL_NEW_ADVERTwebpdf.pdf
CASE. ‘Standards for Sonographic Education.’ 2018. [Online]. Available:http://www.case-uk.org/information/document-store/

June 2018 - Standards for Sonographic Education

CASE has published a new guidance document entitled ‘CASE Standards for Sonographic Education’. This document, commissioned by Health Education England as an important step towards meeting the needs of the changing ultrasound education landscape, clearly identifies the standards that need to be met within/through sonographic education and training for non-medical practitioners known as ‘Sonographers’.

It is acknowledged that it is no longer appropriate to restrict ultrasound education and training to current healthcare practitioners such as radiographers and midwives. A long-term, sustainable source of future sonographers is therefore required through a process of direct entry to programmes such as:

Bachelor of Science e.g. BSc (Hons) Clinical Sonography or BSc (Hons) Medical Ultrasound;
Apprenticeship in Clinical Sonography or Medical Ultrasound;
Integrated Masters e.g. MSon (combines undergraduate and postgraduate study into a single four-year programme);
Master of Science e.g. MSc Clinical Sonography or MSc Medical Ultrasound.

This document was created to provide guidance on educating the future ultrasound workforce, along with learning outcomes for academic levels 6, 7 and 8, as a result of the increasing diversity of ultrasound programmes and courses. It is intended to be used as a resource by ultrasound educators and CASE accreditors; however, we hope it will be of interest to all those involved in the training and education of student sonographers.

1st October 2017 - New Member Organisation

CASE is pleased to announce that the College of Podiatry has joined the Consortium with effect from 1st October 2017.

The College of Podiatry (COP) was formed in 2012 to be the charitable subsidiary of The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, the Professional Body and a trade union for registered chiropodists and podiatrists in the United Kingdom.

The Ultrasound in Podiatry Specialist Advisory Group, Chaired by Dr Heidi Siddle, with the support of the Committee of the Directorate of Podiatric Medicine first approached CASE last year about joining the Consortium.

The Quality Assurance Committee of the College of Podiatry operates a scheme of accrediting higher education programmes. There are currently 13 BSc (Hons) Podiatry programmes in the UK and a further programme offered at National University of Ireland, Galway which the College of Podiatry accredits jointly with the Society of Chiropodists & Podiatrists of Ireland. The College of Podiatry also accredits MSc programmes in the Theory of Podiatric Surgery, Podiatry (Pre- and Post-registration) and Forensic Podiatry. Others programme are currently in the development stage.

Like the CASE member organisation IPEM, the College of Podiatry has been awarded Licensed Body Status by the Science Council allowing members of the College of Podiatry to apply to become a Chartered Scientist (CSci). Hence, the College of Podiatry are experienced in satisfying the CSci requirements to provide award status on behalf of the Science Council as well as ensuring all CSci members complete an annual CPD return.

The College of Podiatry has acknowledged the increase in prevalence of ultrasound imaging by their members and subsequently identified the need to support the education of podiatrists and ultimately provide assurance to patients. As a member organisation of CASE the College of Podiatry, through appropriately trained accreditors, will be able to support the accreditation of high quality training programmes and focused courses (including foot and ankle specific courses) that promote best ultrasound practice and ensure that ultrasound practitioners, including podiatrists are safe and competent to practise in order to maximize the benefits to patients.

CASE is very excited to be working with our second new member organisation in as many years and we look forward to benefiting from the expertise and knowledge that COP will bring to the table.

For more information on the the College of Podiatry, visit their website by clicking on the image to the right. Details of the CASE Committee Members who will represent COP can be found on the 'Who We Are' page.

22nd March 2017 - Farewell to Ros

At the Committee meeting on 22nd March, CASE waved goodbye to Committee member Ros Lea as she embarks on a new phase of life, aka retirement - although she will not be disappearing from the scene entirely! Ros first joined the Committee nearly 10 years ago in 2008 as a representative for The Society for Vascular Technology of Great Britain and Ireland (SVT) and trained as a CASE Accreditor soon afterwards. In that time Ros has seen a lot of changes both within CASE and within the field of sonographic education and has remained enthusiastic and supportive throughout.

We asked Ros what the highs and lows of her time with CASE have been;

Highlights:

Meeting up with old colleagues and meeting new, like-minded, committee members.
Going on accreditation days and seeing how other ultrasound departments work.
Learning something new in working on CASE Committee and attending accreditation days.
Feeling that I was contributing to help keep a high standard of ultrasound training across a variety of courses.
Eventually feeling like I actually knew what it was all about and then being able to contribute positively.

Ros (far-right) at the March Committee meeting

Challenges:

Learning about CASE and what all the abbreviations meant.
It was all very new at first, and took a while before I understood all of the abbreviations especially what APMR* was all about.

As with all volunteer Committee members, CASE is very appreciative to Ros for the time and commitment she has put in over the years and we wish her all the best for the future.

Ros’s departure leaves a vacancy on the Committee which SVT will be filling soon.

* APMR = Annual Performance Monitoring Review!

2oth October 2016 - New CASE Chair

Following a successful three-year stint as CASE Chair, Gill Dolbear has stepped down and existing Committee Member, Simon Richards has been appointed as our new Chair. Simon is the Programme Leader for Medical Ultrasound at Teesside University and has been a representative of BMUS on the Committee for over three years.

Gill will now move into the role of Vice-Chair to support Simon.

CASE wishes them both well in their new roles and our thanks go to Gill for all the hard work she has put in over the last three years.

19th October 2016 - New Member Organisation

CASE is pleased to announce that the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy has joined the Consortium with effect from 1st October 2016.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) is the professional, educational and trade union body for the UK's 54,000 chartered physiotherapists, physiotherapy students and support workers. Founded in 1894 and awarded Royal Charter in 1920, the CSP has grown to become the profession's largest membership organisation.

CASE is excited to be working with a new member organisation and we look forward to benefiting from the expertise and knowledge that CSP will bring to our world.

You can refer to the 'Who We Are' page to see which members of CSP will be joining the Committee and for more information on the organisation, its work and its history, visit their website here.

29th July 2016 - Revisions to the Handbook

Following some feedback on the new CASE handbook and some queries that have been raised by Course Leaders, Accreditors and Committee Members, we have made some minor revisions to clarify a few points.

The latest version is now available to download from this site. At the back you will find a 'Document Revisions and Amendments' table so you can see straight away what has changed. We will continue to act on feedback and suggestions to keep the handbook relevant and updates will be made periodically so please ensure you always refer to the latest edition which is published on the website if you need to check the handbook for anything.