Working hours in general practice

Your health and safety and that of the people you are caring for is paramount when considering the hours that you are on placement. Here are some general principles;

• You should attend placement for the weekly hours stipulated in the programme plan.
• Students are always supernumerary when on a placement.
• If catching up missed placement hours, this must not exceed 48 hours in any one week.
• It is important for students to be there at the beginning and end of the shift so they can contribute to the continuity of care and ongoing communication between shifts.
• Students must normally undertake some night duty (if the course requires this) and weekend working each year dependent on the nature of the placement.

Before going on a clinical placement

There are mandatory requirements which must be completed before a students can go into the clinical areas. This was the case before the pandemic, but Covid 19 has added complexities to preplacement processes.

When students are offered a place at the University they will be asked to complete a Declaration and Barring check, an occupational health questionnaire (including Covid 19 risk assessment) and complete the required vaccinations for attendance in the clinical areas. These checks and processes form part of a contract between University and the clinical learning environments to protect the students, and the public they care for. If these processes are not completed in a timely manner students will not be able to attend the clinical areas, and this may interfere with the completion of their programme.

Rest breaks during a shift

• be uninterrupted
• be away from the workstation
• be during working time
• not be taken at the start or end of the working day
• not overlap with the daily rest

Daily rest breaks

Students should have an 11-hour break between shifts. Where this is not possible, you must be given “equivalent compensatory periods of rest” or “appropriate protection.” Please note that the 11 hour break between shifts does not include travelling to and from work.

For example; If you work a late shift, 12.30h to 20.30h, and your next shift is an early shift 07.30h to 15.30h this provides an 11 hour break.

Working long days in the clinical areas

Long days should only be used where the student’s supervisors work long days, and the appropriate break between shifts, outlined above, are maintained. Students should be aware of the balance between completing hours; fulfilling their learning needs; levels of fatigue; and travel time which can be up to 1.5 hours. Shift patterns will vary across programmes and different placement experiences.

12-hour shifts should be considered in the context of patient safety; the physical and psychological demands of shift work; the smooth running of the clinical learning environment, and up to 1.5 hours travel to and from placements for students.

In some clinical areas the 12 hour shift is actually 13 hours e.g. the shift starts at 07.30h and finishes at 20.30h This 13 hour shift will include a 1 hour break (or 2 x half hour breaks) which is deducted from the hours worked and up to 30 minutes break (or 2 X 15 minute breaks) which students are entitled to but wilI not be deducted from the hours worked.

Example
Start of shift: 07.30h
End of shift: 20.30h
Break at 09.00h (15 mins; entitlement), Break at 13.00h (1 hour; discretionary), Break at 18.30h (15 mins; entitlement)
Total hours worked: 13 hours
Total hours which can be claimed: 12 hours

If students are on a long day, they may need to alternate between 3 and 4 shifts per week over the course of a month or have a shorter shift at the end of the placement to account for any short fall in overall hours required for that placement.

Working short days in the clinical areas

Students can ask to be work short days (8 hours) even if their supervisors work long days. On a short-day students are entitled to a 30 minute unpaid meal break and a 15 minute tea/coffee break. This means that they will record 7.5 hours on their timesheet (e.g. PEMS).

Example
Start of shift: 07.30h
End of shift: 15.30h
Break at 09.00h (15 mins; entitlement), Break at 13.00h (30 minutes; discretionary)
Total hours worked: 8 hours
Total hours which can be claimed: 7.5 hours

Recording of placement hours

Placement hours are recorded on an online system called PEMS:

1. Log into PEMS (www.pems.hud.ac.uk) and click on 'Practice Hours'
2. Click on 'Add Hours'
3. Select your placement from the dropdown menu
4. Click on 'Add Hours'

There is a full guidance sheet on how to complete the online time sheet (PEMS) on the practice module spaces.

Working weekends

Experiencing a placement at weekends is required if this fits the needs of the service and if it is required by your course. Service provision and ways of working are different at weekends and therefore it is beneficial to experience this before you qualify and indeed essential on certain programs.

Working night duty

Students are required to undertake night duty if it is required as part of their programme.

In the interests of safety, students should avoid walking to cars or public transport, for example, during the middle of the night.

Completing the required number of hours

Your course teams will inform you of the required number of clinical hours. The program plan is designed so that students can achieve these hours if all the clinical experiences are completed as planned. Students who miss parts of their allocated clinical placement practice (whether that be hours or specific experiences) must make the placements department and their course teams aware of this so that they can action plan a solution.

Absence from placement due to illness

If at any point during the course students are unable to attend a scheduled shift on a placement, they should email hhs-epd@hud.ac.uk. Please state student’s name, placement and length (number of hours) of the shift missed. Please inform the placement area of any absences as well as your visiting tutor/ academic assessor.

If a student is ill for more than 7 days (including Saturday and Sunday) the student must provide a medical certificate completed by their doctor, which should be sent to the course assistants within 7 days via email hhs-epd@hud.ac.uk.

Consistently poor attendance

Students must meet NMC or HCPC requirements re clinical hours on the programme; consistently poor attendance may mean they fail to do this. In addition, poor attendance may impact upon achievement of proficiencies and impact on assessment of the student in the area of professional values.

Students with poor attendance on placement can expect their practice supervisor or assessor to contact the placement learning facilitator and the academic assessor (visiting tutor)to report their concerns.

The academic assessor will contact the student’s personal academic tutor who will contact the student to offer advice and guidance and support to assist the student to attend placement as expected.

The aim of this process is to ensure that the student receives the support they require as well as to ensure that they understand the long-term implications of consistently poor attendance.

It is important to note that if attendance continues to be poor, the student may need to temporarily withdraw from the programme and join a later cohort.

The student can be referred to the Fitness to Practice process, possibly being asked to leave the course. https://www.hud.ac.uk/registry/current-students/taughtstudents/fitnesstopractise/ftp-procedure/.

Making up missed placement hours

The standard working week whilst on a clinical placement is 37.5 hours. If a student is in a situation where they need to ‘make up hours’, for example if they have been off sick for one week, they will need to make up 37.5 hours; they can make up this time in discussion with their clinical placement manager. The student can work up to a maximum of 48 hours per week HOWEVER this includes the 2.5 hours of reflective time so the student can physically work up to 45.5 hours per week. (Paramedic students will be expected to work significantly longer than this).

If a greater amount of time has been missed e.g. due to a prolonged period of absence during the pandemic, another placement may need to be arranged.

Requesting a change to allocated placements

Placements are allocated by the University to ensure that all students get the breadth of experiences necessary to meet the requirements of the course. Therefore, changes to placements are not permitted unless there are exceptional circumstances which may be as follows:

• Conflict of interest between the student and the placement (e.g., the presence of a family member in the placement area)
• Substantive post held in the placement area
• Physical or Mental Health reasons which must be supported with a doctor’s letter

Placements will not be changed for the following reasons:

• To accommodate childcare arrangements
• Travel distance/cost. You are expected to travel up to 1.5 hours from the base site (which is the University of Huddersfield main campus; for Blended learning students this is their home address) and may have up to 2 changes of transport.
• Mental or physical ill health without evidence
• Personal preference
• Paid employment arrangements

Students wishing to request a change to their allocated placement must complete the ‘Placements exceptional circumstances form’ and submit this within 2 weeks of being notified of their placement. This form should be returned to the Placements Manager, Janette Willetts via email j.willetts@hud.ac.uk.

Download Placements Exceptional Circumstances Form.

Dress code on placement and in the clinical skill environments on university property

The public’s first impression of healthcare students is very important and helps to instill public confidence in healthcare students. A smart professional image is expected of all students when on clinical placement and in the clinical skills laboratories. Students must ensure that clothes and accessories worn on placement and in the skills labs are well maintained and adhere to infection control and health and safety policies.

Patients, visitors, members of the public, partner organizations and patient groups need to see healthcare student as competent, respectful, professional, trustworthy, safe, reliable, and caring. Wearing the correct uniform or plain clothes helps to promote this professional image.

The University recognises diversity of cultures, religions, and beliefs, and that in some instances students may need to request a change to their uniform or clothes worn in placement. This may include:

• Pregnancy
• Disability
• Gender
• Religious Observance

When considering the above it is still of primary importance for students to dress professionally, adhere to infection control policies and procedures and ensure the safety of themselves and their clients/patients while following the general principles below. The School of Nursing has a Professional Appearance Policy and Dress Code which student nurses are expected to adhere to.

Download Dress Code PDF.

Reporting concerns in the clinical learning environment

Students may have concerns with aspects of their clinical placement. If the concern relates to supervision and assessment in placement the student should discuss this with their practice supervisor/assessor in the first instance. If unresolved the student should contact the Practice educator and visiting tutor/ link tutor for the area. If the issue is still unresolved the visiting/ link tutor will contact the Head of Practise Education (HoPE) for their programme who liaises with the practice education team/placement.

If the concern relates to quality of patient care in placement the student should discuss this with their practice supervisor/assessor or placement manager in the first instance. If unresolved the student should contact the Link tutor. If the issue is still unresolved the link tutor will contact the Head of Practise Education (HoPE) for their programme. The University policy related to raising concerns in practice areas is here:

Download Student Raising Concerns in Practice flowchart.

The HCPC have guidance on raising concerns in practice: Concerns | (hcpc-uk.org)

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have produced guidelines on raising concerns about care “Student nurses and midwives are now protected by legislation if they raise concerns about care”. https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/guidance/raising-concerns-guidance-for-nurses-and-midwives/

Practice assessment documents

Some University of Huddersfield healthcare students complete their practice assessment documents (PAD) via an online platform ‘PebblePad’™ The completion of this document in a timely and thorough manner is fundamental to completing the course. The PAD is the complete record of student achievement of the required HCPC/ NMC proficiencies. The PAD document requires significant input from practice supervisors and assessors and academic assessor, but it is very important that the student takes ownership of this document and proactively seeks learning opportunities and ensures that these are evidenced in the PAD. The student must establish dates with the practise assessor to complete the initial, intermediate, and final assessments of their clinical development and ensure this is fully recorded in the PAD.

There are many opportunities within the Practice modules and allocated Brightspace areas for students to learn how to complete the PAD. The practice learning facilitators can also support the students and their practice supervisors/assessors to complete the document if that is necessary.

Any time spent in clinical learning environments, real or virtual, are valuable learning experiences. Students can continue to enhance their PAD at any point in their placement and practice supervisors/ assessors will continue to monitor student progress. The student must always show the required professional values and continue to develop their nursing competencies and proficiencies. If a student has been assessed as achieving the professional values, or a particular proficiency, but then practices at an unacceptable standard the practice supervisor or assessor can adjust their comment and create an action plan to support the required student development.

Supportive roles related to the clinical learning environments

There are many people in the clinical environment, and the University, who will support students to achieve their proficiencies to become a competent and confident professional registered nurse, many mentioned above. Key personnel include:

Frequently asked questions