Last Updated on 04/08/2022
The Placement Development and Implementation Group is established to plan and review the provision of practice placements for trainees on the Lancaster University DClinPsy programme. Each year, the trainees on the programme spend more than 50% of their time on practice placements, which are distributed across the North West of England. The Placement Development and Implementation Group is established to explore the broad national and regional policy and practice landscape of clinical psychology, especially where changes are occurring, and so plan how to respond to these changes in the context of the provision of practice placements. The group also aims to make sure that trainees on the Lancaster programme are getting the best possible practice placements to enable them to become competent, confident qualified clinical psychologists. The Placement Development and Implementation Group’s main aims are therefore:
- ensuring and improving the future availability of practice placements
- ensuring and improving the future quality of practice placements
- ensuring and improving the “fitness for purpose” of the practice placements over the medium to long term.
Members
Whilst the clinical tutor team leads the co-ordination, review of practice placements, as well as the support to them, the programme is committed to the meaningful involvement of key stakeholders in the oversight and strategic planning of these placements – which could not be provided without them. Therefore, alongside members of the clinical team who lead on different aspects of placement support and planning (and on implementing the decisions of the group), the following stakeholder groups are represented at the Placement Development and Implementation Group:
- Service Users (through LUPIN)
- The NW Placement Development Network (who review the provision of all practice placements across NHS professions on behalf of Health Education NW)
- NHS Trusts, in whose services trainees are placed (through Practice Education Facilitators)
- Supervisors
- Newly qualified clinical psychologists (to provide a trainee perspective – as this is one policy group where direct trainee representation is considered not appropriate)
The group meets four times a year, in March, June, September and November
Placement Development and Implementation Group Terms of Reference