About the project
Health services are currently facing staff shortages resulting in the need for more experienced staff to return to practice, continuing to help services meet the requirements of the community. As part of a Health Education England (HEE) funded programme to support allied health professions (AHP) workforce reform priorities, the RCSLT established a project to support return to practice across the profession.
Therefore, RCSLT aimed to provide examples of those who have returned to practice or employed an SLT that has returned to practice to add to the resources already available on our website.
Purpose
The purpose of this project was to further understand how SLTs returning to practice found the process and their experience since returning. In turn, we hope to be able to better support SLTs returning to practice, helping to inform future plans and managers employing those returning to practice.
Read more about the overall workforce reform programme.
To support a change in attitude to returning staff whilst promoting flexible working, we developed three case study videos including a manager who has supported two returnees and two other SLTs that returned to practice.
The manager discussed the routes their returnees took which included joining the bank as a support worker.
Of the two members that returned to practice, one had not been practising for over 20 years. This member completed the return to practice course at Birmingham City and promoted the attitude of being flexible and working with your employer.
The other member was returning to practice after 12 years but had never worked in the NHS. This member joined the HEE leadership placement and enrolled on the University course. The member recommended being flexible and not limiting yourself, especially when looking for placements.
These case studies have been added to the existing return to practice webpages.