Patient Pathway —
Training activity: 10

Details

Visit a range of clinical services where clinical engineers make a major contribution to patient care, identifying good and transferable practice

Present the findings to the local multidisciplinary team, reflecting on differing approaches and key learning

Type

Developmental training activity (DTA)

Evidence requirements

Evidence the activity has been undertaken by the trainee​.

Reflection on the activity at one or more time points after the event including learning from the activity and/or areas of the trainees practice for development.

An action plan to implement learning and/or to address skills or knowledge gaps identified.

Considerations

• Structured evaluation of different approaches
• Variants in landscape, demand and opportunity
• Contribution of Clinical Scientists to the multidisciplinary team and implications for workforce planning
• Service monitoring methods, e.g. key performance indicators and outcome measures
• Approaches to quality management

Reflective practice guidance

The guidance below is provided to support reflection at different time points, providing you with questions to aid you to reflect for this training activity. They are provided for guidance and should not be considered as a mandatory checklist. Trainees should not be expected to provide answers to each of the guidance questions listed.

Before action

• Which clinical services will you visit?
  • What aspects of clinical engineering practice will you focus on observing?
  • What constitutes ‘good and transferable practice’ in these settings?
  • What background knowledge about different clinical engineering services is beneficial?
• What do you hope to learn about the diverse roles and contributions of clinical engineers in different patient care settings?
  • What insights do you expect to gain about effective practices that could be implemented in your own service?
  • What prior understanding do you have of different clinical specialities?
• How will you plan your visits and identify key contacts within the services?
  • What questions will you prepare to ask?
  • What framework will you use to observe and identify good practice?
  • How will you document your observations?
  • What potential challenges might you encounter during the visits, and how will you prepare for them?
  • How do you feel about visiting and learning from other clinical services?

In action

• During your visits, what aspects of the clinical services are you actively observing and analysing in relation to the role of clinical engineers?
  • What are you specifically looking for?
• As you observe different practices, what decisions are you making about which elements appear to be effective and potentially transferable to other settings?
• Are you intuitively recognising certain practices as beneficial based on your understanding of clinical engineering principles?
  • What aspects resonate with you?

On action

• Summarise the clinical services you visited and the key practices you observed related to clinical engineering.
  • What examples of good or transferable practice did you identify?
• What did you learn about the diverse ways clinical engineers contribute to patient care in different settings?
  • Did you improve your ability to identify good and transferable practices?
  • Were there any contrasting approaches observed?
  • What did you learn from these differences?
  • How did you focus your observations to identify practices relevant to your own development and potential application?
  • How does understanding the contributions of clinical engineers in various settings broaden your perspective and inform your own practice?
• What specific practices or approaches did you find particularly insightful?
  • How might you adapt or apply these in your own work?
  • How will you continue to seek out opportunities to observe different clinical engineering services?
  • What actions will you take to integrate transferable practices into your own skillset?
  • What discussions with supervisors or colleagues could further enhance your understanding of these visits?

Beyond action

• Have you visited other clinical services or engaged with different multidisciplinary teams since this DTA?
  • How has your understanding of the diverse roles of clinical engineers in patient care expanded?
  • Have you compared the practices you observed with those in your own service?
• How has this experience influenced your awareness of different service delivery models and innovative practices?
  • Have you been able to apply any of the ‘good and transferable practices’ you identified in your own work?
  • Has your appreciation for the value of inter-service collaboration and learning from others grown?
• What skills in observation, analysis, and presentation of findings did you develop that will be valuable in future service improvement initiatives?
  • How has this experience shaped your professional network and understanding of the broader healthcare landscape?
  • What actions will you take to continue learning from other services and professionals?

Relevant learning outcomes

#	Outcome
# 1	Outcome Compare and contrast clinical engineering services delivering direct patient care.
# 5	Outcome Appraise patient experiences, requirements and goals across specialist service areas.
# 7	Outcome Critically appraise developments and map implementation in a clinical service, considering the financial and operational factors alongside clinical need.