Last Updated on 26/08/2020

The Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills – Placement Portfolio (DACS- PP) is a summative assessment to be undertaken by the 2015 and future cohorts. It has been developed in response to the most recent British Psychological Society (BPS) Accreditation Criteria which was published in May 2014.

The model proposed by Miller has been widely adopted in the literature as a framework to guide consideration of how to assess the complexities of competence in professional practitioners (Muse and McManus, 2013). It has been adopted here to inform the development and structure of the Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills.

The Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills – Placement Portfolio has several elements which are allied to placements 1 & 2 and placements 3 & 4 which address all four levels suggested by Miller (1990). The elements of the assessment are outlined in the table below.

Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills – Placement Portfolio 1 Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills – Placement Portfolio 2
1x Assessment and Action Plan 1 – Core placement 1 1x Assessment and Action Plan 3 – Core placement 3
1x Assessment and Action Plan 2 – Core placement 2 1x Assessment and Action Plan 4 – Core placement 4
1x Clinical Recording (from placement 1 or 2) 1x Clinical Recording (from placement 3 or 4)
1x Clinical Recording Report (based on the submitted recording) 1x Clinical Recording Report (based on the submitted recording)

1. Assessment and Action Plan

For each core (or relevant) placement, trainees will be required to submit an Assessment and Action Plan (AAP). This will be a short report (AAP 1 & AAP 2 are up to 2000 words, AAP 3 & 4 are 2750 words with an additional allowance of 300 words for a context paragraph which means the total word count cannot exceed 3050 words) relating to a specific piece of clinical work that will provide details of an assessment strategy based on presenting/referral information, and, drawing on live client information provide a provisional psychological formulation/synthesis of understanding and, based on this, provide an evidence-based action plan. This could relate to an individual client, a group of clients, or a piece of indirect clinical work with staff.

The purpose of the report will be to demonstrate that the trainee has the ability to competently assess the need for psychological intervention, can synthesise this information into a meaningful understanding of the information (psychological formulation/synthesis of understanding) drawing on appropriate psychological models/approaches, and generate a robust, evidence-based action plan based on that understanding. The report will detail what the trainee plans to do, and how these fit within the current evidence-base, psychological theory, and specific therapeutic models/approaches. The implementation of the clinical intervention itself does not need to be reported.

The reports will be submitted prior to the end of placement in accordance with the fixed deadline schedule.

Competencies assessed by the Assessment and Action Plan Report will be: Written Communication Skills, Knowledge and Skills, Analysis and Critical Thinking, Professional Behaviour and Contextual Awareness.

Level assessed in relation to Miller’s (1990) Model: Levels 1 & 2 – Knows and Knows How.

2. Clinical Recording

After core placements 1 & 2 and again after core placements 3 & 4, (or relevant placements) trainees will be required to submit a video or an audio recording (of at least 30 minutes) of a piece of direct or indirect clinical work to the programme in order for clinical skills to be assessed in a real-life setting. Video recordings are preferred for submission, but one audio recording can be submitted for either CR 1 or CR 2 if video recording is not an option, but not both (unless there are circumstances considered to be exceptional). Thirty minutes of recording will be assessed with the trainee being asked to nominate at the point of submission which section of 30 minutes (of continuous recording) they would like to be assessed from within the recording. This can be from either of the core placements undertaken in that time period (e.g. either Child or Adult, and either Older Adult/Health/Neuro or Learning Disabilities) or any other relevant placement(s).

The recording will be submitted as a password-protected encrypted digital video/audio file, and will be stored and transported securely, in accordance with guidance regarding information governance requirements from the NHS Trust in which the clinical work takes place (e.g. Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust – Procedure and Guidance for Health Professionals Video or Audio Recording Clinical Sessions, 2013). It is the responsibility of each trainee to seek out local policy guidance once on placement and to inform the assignment coordinators if there are any issues. Trainees will be required to seek informed consent for the recording from the client/professionals and record this within the appropriate record (e.g. clinical record). The trainee’s placement supervisor will be required to submit a declaration to the programme that appropriately informed consent was sought and given, and that the work submitted, to the best of their knowledge, is an account of the work undertaken on placement. The process of the supervisor declaration is in line with current practice on the D.Clin.Psy in relation to ensuring appropriate consent has been gained to use confidential material.

The recording could be of work with an individual client, a group of clients or could be a piece of indirect clinical work with staff. The purpose of the recording is for the trainee to clearly demonstrate their skill in conducting evidence-based therapeutic or psychologically informed work on placement. The specific content of the recorded work can vary, but the recording must demonstrate the application of therapeutic techniques/principles/concepts, and must allow for the observation and rating of the specific competencies being assessed. Example content could include carrying out an assessment, sharing a formulation with a client or staff group, summarising an intervention action plan, or applying an intervention with an individual client.

Some placement settings may be less easy for trainees to record sessions or secure informed consent to do so (e.g. secure in-patient settings or clients’ homes). After discussion with both placement supervisors and their clinical tutor, trainees may be encouraged to consider all possible settings for clinical recordings if recording of direct clinical sessions is not possible, e.g. consultations or discussions with staff team members, or appropriate discussions during clinical supervision (e.g. describing a complex formulation to a supervisor). Clinical tutors will be in regular contact with trainees to discuss potential clinical recording opportunities and will liaise with supervisors when necessary to ensure that sufficient opportunities for recordings are provided on each placement.

The Clinical Recording and Report will typically be submitted in the month following the completion of placements 2 and 4 in accordance with the fixed submission deadline.

Competencies assessed by the recording will be: Communication Skills, Engagement and Rapport, Professional Behaviour, Respectful Acknowledgement of Difference and Session Management (these are the same competencies considered in the D.Clin.Psy Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills – Standardised Role Play Simulation)

Level assessed in relation to Miller’s (1990) Model: Levels 3 and 4 – Shows How and Does

3. Clinical Recording Report

Trainees will also submit a report based on the recording submitted for assessment. The report will begin with an introductory section (up to 500 words) outlining relevant contextual background information to accompany the work within the recording, i.e. to provide examiners with information about why the work took place, the setting in which it is being conducted and the stage of the work from which the recording is taken.

Trainees will be asked to pick two five minute sections from the recording (which can be concurrent) which demonstrate their competence in applying a particular therapeutic technique/ principle/ concept and produce a written transcript of each five minute section selected. The transcript is not included in the final word count.

This is to be accompanied by a ‘line-by-line’ commentary (of up to 2000 words) during which the trainee highlights areas such as the application of specific therapeutic techniques, decision making points in terms of why they used a particular technique over another, comments on responses of the other person(s) in the session and how they responded.

The report will end with a reflection on and critique of the session (up to 1500 words), highlighting the evidence base for the work and possible ways in which the work could have been improved or carried out differently and what the trainee has learnt from the session.

The Clinical Recording and Report will typically be submitted in the month following the completion of placements 2 and 4 in accordance with the fixed submission deadline.

Competencies assessed by the Clinical Recording Report will be: Written Communication Skills, Knowledge and Skills, Analysis and Critical Thinking, Reflection and Integration, Professional Behaviour.

Level assessed in relation to Miller’s (1990) Model: Levels 2 and 3 – Knows How and Shows How

Marking and Trainee Feedback

Each element of the DACS-PP will be single or double marked by clinical tutors or other markers (local clinicians) all of whom will have undergone the necessary assessment-specific training. Markers will independently view written material / listen to recordings, collect evidence and rate each competency. If there are two markers each marker with do this separatelybefore sharing their ratings with their co-marker and jointly agreeing a final mark. The Clinical Recording and associated Clinical Recording Report elements will both be marked by the same marker or marker pair for each trainee unless there is a reason why an original marker is not available in which case another marker will be nominated.

The marks for all elements will be provisionally released to trainees once they have been returned to the programme and checked. External Examiner moderation will take place following this.. The marks will then be formally ratified at the relevant Exam Board. Occasionally there may be a circumstance in which provisional marks cannot be released prior to the Exam Board. Trainees affected by this will be informed.

Submission of the Placement Portfolio

Each element of the DACS-PP has formative and summative submission points. Work submitted at the formative point by the agreed deadline is marked in exactly the same way as at the summative point, and feedback and a mark is then provided to the trainee. If a mark of 50 or above is achieved for the formative submission, then this is automatically carried forward to become the summative mark and no further submission of that element is required by the trainee. If the formative mark is 49 or below, then the trainee will be asked to make a summative submission.

If all elements achieve a passing mark (of 50 or above) by the summative stage, the final overall mark for the assignment will be the average of all summative marks. If a trainee fails one or more of the elements at the summative stage then the final overall mark for the assignment (i.e. the DACS PP- 1 or 2) will be the average of the summative marks given for the failed elements only. This means that failing any single element of the placement portfolio at the summative stage will always result in the failure of the assignment as a whole.

Resubmission

When the assignment as a whole is failed, trainees are only required to revise and resubmit the failed elements for re-marking. There is no formative submission stage in the resubmission process. If the elements resubmitted receive a passing mark (i.e. of 50 or above), then the final overall mark for the Placement Portfolio resubmission will be calculated as above (i.e. an average of all the marks for the individual elements). If however any element fails at resubmission, then the Placement Portfolio resubmission as a whole will be failed for the second time. This will be recorded as two fails (i.e. at first attempt and the resubmitted attempt). As with other assignments on the programme, there is no third attempt required following a second fail of the whole assignment.

DACS Information for Trainees
DACS Consent Form
DACS-PP supervisor declaration form (to be used from Oct 2017)

CR supervisor declaration form (for use until Sept 2017 only)
CR Submission Form
CR instructions to markers
CR marker booklet
CR trainee feedback form

AAP supervisor declaration form (for use until Sept 2017 only)
AAP Structure and Style Guide
AAP information for clients
AAP instructions to markers
AAP marker booklet
AAP trainee feedback form

CRR Transcription Style and Structure Guide
CRR instructions to markers
CRR marker booklet
CRR trainee feedback form