The Health Research Authority (HRA) and INVOLVE have published two new resources on public involvement. The first resource provides evidence of how public involvement helps to make research more ethical and produce better outcomes. The second resource considers what aspects of patient and public involvement in a research project are addressed by Research Ethics Committees when researchers apply for ethical review.
To find out more visit the Health Research Authority website.
Lowri Hughes a Life Sciences HSST student recently blogged for NHS employers about HSST. In her post Lowri talks about her experience of the HSST training programme, including some of the challenges involved and why she would recommend the training to others. You can read Lowri’s blog post on the NHS employers website.
The International Festival of Public Health will be held on 1st July 2016. The Festival, organised by Manchester Urban Collaboration on Health, in association with the Manchester Medical Society Public Health Forum was formerly called the Festival of Public Health UK, Now in its fifth year, it has been renamed to reflect the growing international audience.
Registration and abstract submission are now open, for further information visit www.festivalofpublichealth.co.uk
Manchester Academy for Healthcare Scientist Education (MAHSE) are pleased to announce that the University of Manchester have successfully been awarded the MSc Clinical Science (Genomic Sciences) programme. The course currently has two pathways, Genomics and Genomic Counselling, and will be taught from September 2016. Trainees on the course will graduate from The University of Manchester, but there are a number of partners involved in the programme including Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Liverpool, Liverpool Health Partners, Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine and the North West Coast NHS Genomic Medicine Centre. This course is only open to trainees on the Scientist Training Programme (STP), who are recruited through the National School of Healthcare Science (NSHCS).
Genomic Sciences is the eighth discipline within the Scientist Training Programme that sits within the MAHSE partnership, and trainees will be able to benefit from the wealth of experience that the MAHSE partner Universities have in delivering educational programmes to healthcare scientist trainees.
Trainees who have recently received offers from the NSHCS for the Genomic Sciences programme will be contacted by the MAHSE admin team at the beginning of July with further information about their course, including how to register. We are in the process of updating our website with further information for supervisors of new trainees. If you have any questions, please contact admin@mahse.co.uk.
Applications are now open for The Health Foundation Innovating for Improvement programme. £1.5million is available for up to 20 teams to test and develop innovative ideas to improve health care delivery and/or the way people manage their own health care in the UK.
Applications can come from any health or health and social care provider organisation in the UK where health care services are free at the point of delivery. The funding is to support clinical teams to develop their innovative ideas and approaches, put them into practice and gather evidence about how their innovation improves quality.
For further information, please visit the Innovating for Improvement page on The Health Foundation website.
Explore the world of a Clinical Bioinformatician and their important role in a patient’s journey
The University of Manchester have partnered with FutureLearn to create a five week, free, online course covering the role of Clinical Bioinformatics and Genomics in healthcare today.
The course will illustrate how the discipline of clinical bioinformatics provides an important bridge between the cutting edge science and the delivery of genomic medicine in clinical practice. Through a range of case studies and interviews, the course allows learners to experience the world of a clinical bioinformatician and brings sequencing techniques and data analysis processes to life.
Led by Dr Angela Davies and Professor Andy Brass, the course has been developed in conjunction with colleagues from the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences and the Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine. Week 1 of the course will explore what is meant by clinical genomics and how genomic sequencing technologies are transforming patient care particularly for patients with rare diseases. It will delve into the world of a clinical bioinformatician, to understand their role in the patient’s journey, what is challenging, why they enjoy it and how they feel they are making a difference in healthcare.
Enrolment is free and the course is open to all current practising healthcare professionals who are interested in learning more about the role of clinical bioinformatics and will also be applicable to people with an interest in the application of genomics in healthcare. It is not essential to have previous experience or knowledge of bioinformatics or genomics, although medical terminology is used.
The course starts on Monday 6th June 2016 and will run for five weeks, with a new set of learning resources made available each week.
For more information or to join please click: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/bioinformatics/1
A fellowship programme for women in science, technology and engineering has been set up for female healthcare scientists interested in gaining invaluable leadership experience.
Applicants must be a practicing healthcare scientist in the NHS in England and have a minimum of five years experience. The closing date for applications is Friday April 15th 2016. For further information and to apply, please visit the WISE website.
In 2014, Health Education England (HEE) commissioned Newcastle University and MAHSE to undertake a project to aid in the implementation of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in the Scientist Training Programme (STP).
The project focussed on the provision of PPI for the STP in higher education institutions. The results of the project have been shared with other universities who deliver the STP in order to improve PPI provision.
We are please to announce the report has been published, and is available here.
The Society of Critical Care Technologists (SCCT) are holding their Spring Study Day on Tuesday 10th May 2016. The event will be held at the Central Manchester Foundation Trust main site. SCCT are excited to announce Dr Brendan Cooper (President of the Academy for Healthcare Science) as the key note speaker.
The event is free and all professions are welcome to attend, either for the full day or just for the presentations they are interested in. Lunch and resfreshments will be provided and 5CPD points are awarded for attendees. There will also be a trade exhibition.
Please download a copy of the agenda for the day. If you are interested in attending, or have any questions, please contact Samantha Shannon; Samantha.Shannon@cmft.nhs.uk.
Higher Specialist Scientific Training in the Life Sciences Joint statement
The Royal College of Pathologists, National School of Healthcare Sciences (NSHCS) and the Manchester Academy for Healthcare Scientist Education (MAHSE) held a meeting on Tuesday 19 January 2016 regarding the Life Sciences HSST programme. Given the complexity of this programme and the different stakeholders involved we wanted to update all Life Sciences HSST trainees on what was discussed and when formal agreement is expected.
Informal Agreements:
ICS Project:
