The Practice Education team are here to support placement areas to offer high quality placement experiences and students to have excellent learning opportunities. The team provides educational and pastoral support to a wide range of students undertaking their clinical placements within the Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust.
Students supported by the Practice Education Team include:
- Courses leading to NMC registration;
- Courses leading to HCPC registration;
- Courses leading to GPhC registration.
The team work closely with Further and Higher Education Institutions to facilitate high quality learning in practice; ensuring students develop highly attuned skills and use the most up to date evidence base for the care they deliver.
All students have unique learning requirements dependant on individual learning needs, year, and programme of study. At BTHFT we ensure the placement we provide has been carefully matched to meet your learning requirements and competencies required. The Practice Education team are available to discuss your individual needs and support in identifying alternative learning opportunities.
Information Before You Start a Placement at BTHFT
It is essential that you check the placement website prior to attending your placement for the most detailed and up to date information for each placement area.
Within all placement settings, you will have access to IT facilities; however these must be prioritised for patient care. If the IT facilities are in use for patient care you may choose to access the facilities within the Field House Education Centre and Library.
Prior to your attendance on placement, you should contact the placement area by telephone or email to obtain your allocated shifts and make contact with the department.
Please note you may need to contact on more than one occasion as the phone lines may be busy or the shifts may not have been allocated.
Everyone working within Bradford Teaching Hospitals must have an ID badge. This will grant you access to clinical areas, inform patients and staff of who you are and is required for security purposes.
Returning Student – If you have been on placement with Bradford Teaching Hospitals previously you will already have an ID badge that you should continue to use. If you have lost your badge you will need to request a replacement and there will be a small charge for this.
New Student – If you are a new student to BTHFT you will require an ID badge. You must only request an ID badge when instructed via email from the Practice Educators.
To request an ID badge you to take a photograph on your mobile phone and send this (as attachment not a screenshot) to AdhocStudent.ID@bthft.nhs.uk along with your full name and that you are a student and your profession eg. nurse/midwife/pharmacist, which ward or department you will be working in and start date within the ‘Subject’ header.
If you do not include the above information your ID badge request will not be able to be processed. This must be received by AdhocStudent.ID as soon as possible to receive your ID badge in time for the beginning of your placement.
Please ensure that the photograph you submit is of ‘passport’ standard, i.e. representative of normal appearance and taken against a plain background.
You will be emailed once your ID badge is ready at Field House. Collection is available on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon between 13:00-15:30. Please do not attend until you have received an email stating it is ready.
In preparation for your placement, you need to complete EPR training. EPR training is for our Electronic Patient Records system. This will allow you to view or input into patient records in the area you are working. You will be emailed information on how to access the correct EPR training for your profession and requirements. Once you have completed the requested training you must email systems.training@bthft.nhs.uk and provide your student university number. You will not be able to access the system until you have completed EPR training and emailed the team to confirm completion.
There are staff carparks at both Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital sites (Zone 3 areas). Temporary parking permits are available for a cost from the Practice Education team.
Cost:
- 1 week £3.70
- 1 month: £16.00
- 3 months £48.00
To purchase the permit, you must complete the Parking Permit Application form and send this to practice.educators@bthft.nhs.uk and you will receive an email to inform you that the permit is ready to collect.
Free on-street parking around the hospital site is limited. Most parking bays directly outside the hospitals are short-stay only (limited to either 2 hours or permit-holders only).
Buses run from Bradford City Centre to both hospitals on a regular basis. For information about bus routes, times and to plan your journey, please see:
Expectations During Placement
We expect you to follow the Uniform policy at Bradford Teaching Hospitals whilst on placement. If you would like a copy of this prior to your placement, please email the Practice Education team who will be happy to provide this for you.
Your uniform should be clean, presentable and represent pride for your role. Long hair should be tied up and away from the collar. Nails should be clean and short (no nail varnish, shellac or acrylic). Comfortable flat shoes should be worn that protect you from spills & sharps. Wrist watches and jewellery are not permitted; the only exception is a plain wedding band and/or a pair of small stud earrings. Make up (if worn) should be minimal.
Travel to hospital-based placements wearing your uniform is not permitted – changing facilities are provided on-site ask in your ward/department where to find these. Travel to community-based placements wearing uniform is permitted if there are no changing facilities available. However, your ID badge must be covered.
If for any reason you are unexpectedly unable to attend an allocated shift, please contact the placement area by telephone to inform them of your absence prior to the shift start time. You will also need to inform your University by email. Any shifts missed will need to be rearranged with your education supervisor or department manager to ensure that you complete your allocated number of hours in full.
Off duty is usually available a minimum of 2 weeks prior to shifts being worked. It is difficult to accommodate specific requests if sufficient notice has not been given to ward areas. Shifts can only be changed in exceptional circumstances and any specific requests should be discussed with your education supervisor or department manager as soon as you are aware of a need to change your shift.
Changing a shift at very short notice may not be an option if there is not a suitable staff member to provide supervision on the alternative shift. Do not swap shifts with another student unless this has been agreed in advance by the ward manager or educational supervisor.
We have 15 AHP student laptops to loan out for your use on placement. They are high in demand therefore students are prioritised who are working agile and in clinical areas where there is limited IT facilities.
Please review the booking form and read the T&C’s that need completing and sending to practice.educators@bthft.nhs.uk to request a laptop.
Keep an eye on your emails during your placement as you may be invited to unique opportunities for placement drop-in sessions or training and teaching.
The library team can help with literature searches, critical appraisal of research, and general advice and support with essay writing.
The team can save you time by finding the specific information you need and provide up to date evidence to guide and support your learning and clinical practice.
You can access the Field House Library IT and study space 24/7 with your swipe-card/ID badge. The library service in Field House can provide you with journal articles, books and other information.
You can also access journals, databases, best practice evidence summaries and other key information online through the library website.
For more information or to request support contact:
Professional Behaviours
Be polite, courteous, and proactive. Introduce yourself to staff and patients so they know who you are. Arrive on time and ready to learn. Prepare yourself well for placement with background reading. Tell your supervisor/educator/assessor if you have a learning support agreement or any additional needs so they can support you appropriately. As a professional student it is your responsibility to monitor your placement hours to ensure you have completed the placement hours required. Your supervisor/educator/assessor will not track hours for you.
Professional Appearance
Wear your uniform with pride! For hygiene purposes, keep long hair tied up and away from your collar. Ensure nails are clean and short (no nail varnish, shellac or acrylic). Wear comfortable flat shoes (dark shoes that protect you from spills & sharps). Wrist watches and jewellery are not permitted; the only exception is a plain wedding band and/or a pair of small stud earrings. Make up (if worn) should be minimal.
Respect and protect our patients
Be kind and courteous to our patients and ensure you introduce yourself. Talk to them to find out about their care and their hopes and fears. If you witness anything that concerns, you about the care given to patients or concerning their safety please report this immediately to a senior member of staff.
Make notes
Take a small notebook and black pens to placement with you. You never know when you will hear a new term or discover something interesting that you will want to research later. Notes can be a great way of reminding yourself to look something up in the library to learn more about a condition or procedure you have not learnt about in University. Keep a diary to reflect on as you progress through your training.
Read… guidelines, books, journal articles
Once you have experienced clinical practice, you will probably have lots of questions. These may be answered by reading a variety of sources, but this could also lead you to more questions. Compare local and national guidelines, do they match? What are journal articles saying? Ask your supervisor/educator/assessor their opinions and record what you have been reading and how this has influenced your practice. You are able to access and use the facilities in Field House library while on placement.
Be proactive
Staff are usually very busy and patient care is often their highest priority. Be aware of your own learning needs and interests and ask to be involved if you spot any opportunities to enhance your knowledge or skills.
Get involved
If there are any interesting meetings or training sessions happening that you feel might be relevant to your learning needs, ask to be included. Take part in the Schwarz Rounds, MDT meetings and study days. These can be great ways to build your portfolio of evidence. Keep an eye on student notice boards and your emails as opportunities will be posted to both these areas.
Ask lots of questions
Educators, supervisors and assessors love curiosity! Feel free to ask questions if you want to understand more about something that you have seen or heard in practice. You are expected to want to learn more and asking questions is a good sign that you are.
Multidisciplinary working
Look for opportunities to shadow another health professional as part of your allocated placement time. This can help you to understand more about how different professionals work together and how their roles impact on the experience of a patients throughout their journey in BTHFT.
Patient journey
You can follow a patient through their journey at hospital. Observe how many different professionals a patient interacts with, note how long patients spend waiting or how patients are feeling as they visit different departments within the hospital. Reflect on these experiences, how will they make you a better practitioner?
We anticipate you will have a positive experience whilst on placement, however we know that issues can arise. The Practice Education team are on hand to help support resolve any issues related to your experience.
Issues/Incidents
If you are involved in an incident or have a concern, inform your placement of the incident/difficulty that may impact on your performance and progress in the clinical area. Staff can reflect on incidents with you and help you to move forward. If they feel additional support is needed, they may offer advice or contact the university or Practice Educators on your behalf. You can contact the Practice Educators if you would like additional support or would like help with placement action plans. The Practice Educators are based on site and are available Monday-Friday 08:00-16:00, a Practice Educator can attend the placement areas at short notice if required. The practice educator hub is open 13:00-16:00 Monday to Friday and there will be a practice educator available should you need any support. The hub is in Field House next to the Library.
Concerns
Speaking up about any concern you have on placement is really important. In fact, it’s vital because it will help us to keep improving our services for our patients and the working environment for our staff. You might feel worried about raising a concern, and we understand this, but please don’t be put off.
Concerns could include:
- unsafe patient care
- unsafe working conditions
- inadequate training for staff
- lack of or a poor response to a patient safety incident
- suspicions of fraud
- bullying
- data protection breach
If you see something happening that concerns you, you can speak to a senior member of staff, your university, and your practice educator. Alternatively, you can email the freedom to speak up guardians on speakup.guardian@bthft.nhs.uk. You can also report concerns anonymously by downloading the BTHFT FTSU app to your mobile phone.
Expectations After Placement
Feedback
Your feedback at the end of placement is vital for Bradford Teaching Hospitals to evaluate and develop placements for future students. Please ensure to leave feedback; we want to hear your positive placement experiences and any areas our placements have for development. The feedback mechanism we use is through https://onlinepare.net/
If you mention any department or staff that have been exceptional whilst you are on placement, we will ensure the feedback gets to the correct staff member.
Information for Supervisors/Assessors and Educators
As a team we offer training and updates to keep you informed of how to effectively supervise and assess students during their placements.
- HCPC statement on student supervision | (hcpc-uk.org)
- Standards for student supervision and assessment – The Nursing and Midwifery Council (nmc.org.uk)
We encourage all our staff to complete the Practice Educator Assessor Preparation Course (PEAP). This will help staff develop the skills and qualities needed to provide support and education to student health professionals.
The Practice Educator Assessor Preparation course has been created and developed by Health Education England (HEE). The course is made up of 8 modules and provides preparation to effectively support students in practice.
Once you have completed this course please contact practice.educators@bthft.nhs.uk to ensure you are recorded on our database of supervisors/assessors and educators.
Celebrating Success
We want to hear about amazing students, supervisors, assessors and educators. To celebrate their successes.
Do you have a student in your area? Have they impressed you? Are they caring, compassionate and kind? If so, we want to hear about them and celebrate their success!
Is your supervisor superb, assessor amazing, was their teaching terrific? Do you feel part of the team? Has a member of the MDT inspired you? If so, we want to hear about them and celebrate their success!
Frequently Asked Questions
Students will meet the Practice Educators at your Preparation for Practice (induction) session either virtually, face to face or at your University before you commence placement. The team will also come out and visit you whilst you are in your clinical areas to see the great work you are doing. Be sure to look out for the distinctive Education uniforms and make sure to say Hello!
You must ring Estates immediately and report the misplacement of the card. Estates will be able to deactivate the card to ensure it cannot be used to access patient areas. Please then email the Practice Educators and they will be able to arrange a replacement card for you, this will however cost a small charge.
Contact the IT department by phone, they will be able to check your access and find a resolution for you. If you have concerns regarding EPR you can email systems.training@bthft.nhs.uk for support.
Your ward/department will be able to advise you of a place you can get changed for your shift.
Your ward/department will be able to advise you of a place you can leave your belongings. We advise you not to bring valuables on placement. There are student lockers available in Field House; you can bring your own padlock to use these lockers.
There is a staff gym based at Bradford Royal Infirmary that offers gym services to all members of staff here at Bradford Teaching Hospitals including students and staff on placements with us. The gym is open 24/7 and accessible by your NHS ID badge upon joining.
Facilities include a main gymnasium equip with a range of CV and resistance machine alongside free weights. There is also a separate studio space equip with kettle bells, adjustable barbells and mats. There are shower and changing facilities too for use before or after your sessions.
The member fee is £13.50 per month. Membership payments are via cash or card for students. In order to organise a tour and joining please email: Staff.Gymnasium@bthft.nhs.uk
Accommodation is available at the Bradford Royal Infirmary:
- £350.00 Deposit refundable providing no damages.
- £393.00 rent per month.
- Consists of a single furnished bedroom,
- Shared Kitchen and bathroom
- Crockery, cutlery and bed linen provided.
- Adhoc single nights £25 per night (Deposit not required for single night).
Please contact Lynn Hadley Lynn.Hadley@bthft.nhs.uk with the dates that you would like to book to check availability and book.
Email – Practice.Educators@bthft.nhs.uk | Telephone – 01274 366035
Meet the Team
Please don’t hesitate to contact us regarding any queries or concerns – it’s what we are here for. If you see us out and about please make sure that you say hello! We hope you have a fantastic placement at Bradford Teaching Hospitals.