The Support Workforce Professional Development Framework is designed for individual members of the Support Workforce, to use in conjunction with their dietetic managers and/or service lead to develop their career and continual professional development. It complements the existing Post-Registration Professional Development Framework for dietitians.
The framework is not exclusive and should be used alongside any other competency-based document and requirements for the individual’s specific role.
There are two levels to the framework; Support and Advanced Support.
Support
Individuals within the Support level will have a basic, factual knowledge and understanding about factors that influence diet and nutrition.
They will work under the supervision of registered staff and may also work alone, within agreed policies and protocols.
They undertake clinical and technical activities that are relatively straightforward and routine.
At this stage of the Framework, they will typically be
working at NHS pay scale band 3 or equivalent.
Advanced Support
Individuals at this level work at a level above that of Support and have more in-depth education, factual and theoretical knowledge and understanding about factors that influence diet and nutrition.
At this level they will possess enhanced skills in their area of work, which may be a specialist clinical area. They will undertake clinical and technical activities within agreed policies and protocols for service users with non-complex conditions, within broadly predictable environments, working autonomously recognising the need for, and accessing, more experienced assistance when required.
At this level of the Framework, they are typically working at NHS pay scale band 4 or equivalent.
The four pillars of practice (adapted from the Advanced Clinical Practice Frameworks of our four home countries) are embedded within each level. These four pillars are:
The levels are progressive, each building on the previous one, helping to develop a greater degree of knowledge and skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the Support Workforce Professional Development Framework related to job evaluation?
Job evaluation and competency frameworks are different. They have different purposes and objectives and measure different things.
The Support Workforce Professional Development Framework is designed to set out the professional competences that staff require at each level of practice to perform their roles safely and effectively; as well as assisting them to develop their careers.
Job evaluation, in contrast, is a process that seeks to objectively compare, for the purpose of pay, how demanding jobs are compared to each other. It does this by breaking jobs down into common components based on tasks, responsibilities, physical effort and working conditions, plus, the education required to work in a role. These components are called factors.
The NHS job evaluation scheme, which was introduced in 2004, has thirteen factors including ‘Planning and Organisation’, 'Responsibility for Human Resources’ and ‘Physical Effort’. Each of these is assigned points, with some factors given more weight than others (because they are deemed to be more significant in determining how demanding a job is). The total points a job scores across all factors determines (compared to another role) how it is graded in the NHS.
The Support Workforce Professional Development Framework has four Pillars and does not include all the elements the NHS job evaluation scheme has. For example, ‘Physical Effort’ is not covered because that is not a competency. The Support Workforce Professional Development Framework also does not weight competences – as all are equally important to acquire in order to be proficient in performing a role. If a competence is relevant to a job, it requires achieving. The Framework also focuses on the individual, identifying areas where they may need to develop. Job evaluation focuses on the post and assumes that the post holder is fully competent.
The Support Workforce Professional Development Framework and NHS job evaluation, then, should be seen as separate. It is quite possible for a member of the dietetic support workforce to be working at the highest level of practice but not be graded at Agenda for Change pay band 4, due to, for example, the physical skills they require or because they do not have responsibility for Human or Information Resources.
It is important to note that the NHS job evaluation scheme only applies to roles within the NHS, or roles contracted via the NHS. It does not apply to the independent sector, where there will be a different set of factors to evaluate roles.