Within regions, primary care Training Hubs (PCTH), in collaboration with the GP School, are accountable through the primary care school to the primary care dean for the quality control of clinical placements in primary care. They also monitor the quality of supervision of learners provided by trained supervisors.
NHS England primary care department
The team’s roles and responsibilities include:
- ensuring decision-making for placement provider recognition is consistent, fair and valid
- developing skills and competencies of approved learning environment, also known as a clinical learning environment, lead approvers
- reviewing recommendations of approval panels
Primary care quality team:
- coordinating education and training quality assurance processes
- managing version control of the clinical learning environment form
- communicating approval completion to applicant organisations
- notifying General Medical Council (GMC), GP programme team and GP faculties about approved learning environment approvals
Training Hubs:
- initiating all clinical learning environment requests
- sending invitations and website links to applicant organisations
- ensuring approval panels have appropriate knowledge and composition
- keeping clinical learning environments records up to date
- sharing completed approvals with relevant higher education institutions
- monitoring any mandatory requirements
Approval panel:
- deciding the range of learners or educating professions for which recognition is sought
- liaising with higher education institution partners as required
- making recommendations regarding recognition of environments
- ensuring the Training Hub clinical lead completes the approval section of the form
Applicant organisation:
- ensuring written confirmation of approval has been received before hosting learners
- ensuring all sites and relevant professions contribute to the application
- informing the primary care quality team and Training Hub of any major changes to the learning environment
Governance and quality assurance
Annual calibration
An annual calibration exercise ensures consistency of the approval process across Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. Representatives from each Training Hub approval panel meet with the NHS England primary care department to review standards and consider complex approvals.
Quality framework
The approval process aligns with NHS England’s education quality framework, taking a risk-based approach to ensure high-quality clinical learning experiences for all learners.