Public Health
Educational and Clinical Supervisors
Longitudinal supervision is provided throughout five years of Public Health training by a named, accredited Educational Supervisor (ES).
- The ES is selected and appropriately trained to be responsible for the overall supervision and management of a trainee’s trajectory of learning and educational progress during a placement or series of placements.
- The ES role is completely separate from the Clinical Supervisor (CS), covering the whole training period and not linked to location.
- The ES oversees the educational progress of the trainee and helps the trainee to plan their training and achieve agreed learning outcomes. He or she is responsible for: the educational agreement; signing off all learning outcomes; and for drawing evidence from a range of sources including clinical, activity and academic supervisors to form a summative judgement in the Educational Supervisor’s report for the ARCP.
A named Clinical Supervisor (CS) is a trainer who is responsible for overseeing a specified trainee’s service work throughout a placement in a public health environment and is appropriately trained to do so.
- The CS oversees the service work of the trainee during one attachment and provides constructive feedback during that placement.
- They will provide information to the Educational Supervisor for their report to the ARCP panel, and usually sign off most activity summary sheets.
The programme also allocates each trainee an Academic Supervisor. These individuals are Clinical Supervisors with specific expertise in academic public health and provide specific supervision and support during the MPhil course in ST1.
Useful information for supervisors is detailed below. Any Public Health Consultants in the EoE who would like further information or support as a supervisor, or advice on becoming an accredited supervisor, should contact Dr Kirsteen Watson, Training Programme Director and Lead for Faculty Development.
The General Medical Council requires formal processes to approve Educational and Clinical Supervisors. NHS England (NHSE WTE) is responsible to the GMC for ensuring that all Clinical and Educational supervisors demonstrate competence in key areas for accreditation once every three years.
The EoE PH TP Supervisor accreditation and training pathway policy (Sept 2020) describes what is required for supervisors to become accredited, and outlines how these training materials address the HEE tiered accreditation and training requirements.
As described in the policy, Consultants in Public Health who are not yet accredited (or whose accreditation has lapsed) can be a named CS for a PH registrar and start to supervise once they have started the training pathway. HEE expects those who have started to supervise and commenced the training pathway to complete the required training and accreditation application within 12 months. (Educational Supervisors must be accredited and approved before becoming a named Educational Supervisor).
An online ‘Padlet’ website platform guides prospective supervisors through all the relevant training required and offers information and support for how to complete the accreditation application form. Consultants in Public Health in the East of England who wish to become accredited as Supervisors should contact the Programme Administrator for access to the Padlet materials: england.phschool.eoe@nhs.net.
The Training Programme usually hosts Professional Development Days for Public Health educators bi-annually. The last PDD was held in March 2024, focused on ensuring and prpmoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in training. The next PDD (online) will be on 28th March 2025 focussed on "constructive conversations"
The NHSE WTE EoE webpages for Faculty development also offer career guidance and information on career progression for educators: https://heeoe.hee.nhs.uk/faculty-educators/faculty-development. The regional Faculty Development strategy delineates ‘tiers’ for faculty development – Public Health Clinical Supervisors are ‘Tier 2’ and Educational Supervisors are ‘Tier 3’.
These webpages also have details about additional regional training opportunities e.g. ‘hub’ training – online videos and future teaching days; the annual Autumn seminars & Spring symposia; and Masterclasses.
Despite training being rewarding, it is widely understood that some medical and dental trainees may need some extra support to help them through a difficult situation. NHSE WTE EoE has a ‘Trainees in Difficulty (TiD) policy’ which clarifies the roles and responsibilities, provides suggestions on how to identify and support TIDs, and a formal management plan for TIDs and provide a systematic approach to dealing with these often complex issues.
If you are concerned that your trainee is in difficulty for any reason, you should liaise with their Educational Supervisor and TPD in the first instance.
NHSE WTE EoE also offers a Professional Support and Well-being Service for trainees. For various guidance documents which you may also find useful, please click here to go to the PSW home page.
