However, those who had completed a SCPHN or SPQ said the course had been “transformational”. With the exception of the district nursing SPQ, the number of nurses and midwives gaining these specialist qualifications had declined over the past two to three years, the review found. Universities were making up for shortfalls by incorporating modern voluntary standards produced by other bodies such as the Queen’s Nursing Institute, and more than half were running additional post-registration courses that did not lead to recordable NMC qualifications, such as masters in public health nursing and advanced clinical practice. The independent review determined that the SCPHN and SPQ standards, which were last updated in 20 respectively, were “not fit for purpose” and were not widely understood. One of the questions that Blake Stevenson was asked to explore was: “If the standards for SCPHNs and SPQs were withdrawn what would be the consequences?” Through this review it was seeking to address “several long-standing issues” relating to SPQs annotations and SCPHN registration. “The real danger is you would lose the specialist practice skills, they would start to get diluted” In a report to accompany the review findings, the NMC admitted that the way the register was currently structured and annotated was “confusing and complex”.

Advanced systemcare pro review 2015