Unit Three

Competence management approach

Unit key benefits

Reading this unit will:

  • provide you with an understanding of the benefits to general practice of taking a competence management approach
  • provide you with tools and resources to develop a competence management approach. 

Organisations are under increasing pressure to improve performance and work more effectively using the resources currently available. One way this can be achieved is through a competence management approach.

What are competences?

Skills for Health is the Sector Skills Council for the healthcare sector (http://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk). One of their roles is to write the competences for the healthcare workforce.

Skills for Health describe competences as: The descriptors of the performance criteria, knowledge and understanding that are required to undertake work activities. They describe what individuals need to do and to know to carry out the activity – regardless of who performs it.

Why use competences?

The benefits of using a competence management approach and, in particular, the benefits of using the national competences within this approach are that it:

  • creates a common language for describing workforce skills
  • ensures a common standard for the delivery of safe patient care
  • provides a basis for role profiles and job descriptions so that recruitment can be improved
  • provides a basis for education and training
  • supports clinical governance
  • grows your own skills base to meet your practice needs
  • develops a clear career framework
  • gives the health care assistant (HCA) confidence to carry out specific tasks without direct supervision.

The competence management approach helps general practices to become more effective in achieving their goals within today’s healthcare environment, as well as to meet the challenges of knowing what skills they require in their current and future workforce.

How to use competences?

Competences can be used in a number of ways. They can be clustered together to create team profiles or individual role profiles that can be used to underpin job descriptions. They can also be used as an objective measure to assess performance.

This unit provides a simple, but comprehensive, step-by-step guide to help general practice to implement a competence management approach. It includes tools and examples of procedures, together with signposting to websites for further information.

It is important that general practice employers ensure that their HCA’s competence to carry out a task has been assessed and documented within a framework which states when the skills and knowledge required to undertake the task have been achieved. This helps to:

  • demonstrate HCA competence to patients and staff
  • reduce the risk of inappropriate delegation of work
  • support the practice to demonstrate that it meets the clinical governance agenda
  • support a risk management strategy
  • support the personal and professional development of HCAs.

HCAs must not be allowed to work beyond their level of competence, which is why assessment and documentation of competence achievement is important. All members of the practice team need to have an understanding of the principles regarding accountability and delegation of work in order to maintain patient safety (see Unit 7: Integration of HCAs into the general practice workforce).

Summary

  • The competence management approach ensures individual members of the practice team are equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to undertake their role.
  • This unit guides you to a database of competences that are available for you to draw upon and provides a framework for setting up a competence management approach in your practice.