The National Ambulance Resilience Unit (NARU) is once again celebrating being re-accredited with the prestigious Skills for Health Quality Mark for its excellence in delivering world-class training modules to thousands of frontline ambulance staff.
The Skills for Health Quality Mark – the first for the UK’s health sector – provides a framework that defines and endorses superior learning and training standards that healthcare employers need to cultivate a world-class workforce.
The Quality Mark gives health sector organisations greater confidence when commissioning external training or delivering internal training and means that providers can enjoy industry-wide credibility and the knowledge that their offering meets a unique and recognised audit process. NARU was initially accredited in June 2014, becoming the first ambulance organisation to attain this.
NARU works with all NHS ambulance services to support the development of properly trained, fully equipped ambulance first responders who can deal with especially hazardous or difficult situations.
For example, the NARU Education Centre has trained every single member of each ambulance service’s Hazardous Area Response Teams – the specialist ambulance staff who have responded to such high profile recent incidents as the Manchester bombing, the Westminster and London Bridge attacks, the Grenfell fire and the recent tube attacks.
NARU also provides front line and control room staff with training materials via its online education site and documents such as command guidance and action cards.
NARU National Director Keith Prior said:
“NARU remains the first and only ambulance service organisation to be awarded the Skills for Health Quality Mark and I am extremely proud of the staff at the NARU Education Centre who are so committed and work tirelessly to provide the very highest standards of ambulance service education.
With the UK terrorism threat level now at Severe it is more important than ever that our specialist responders have been pre-trained in circumstances which are as realistic as possible, to give them every chance of remaining vigilant and saving as many lives as possible when something happens – and staying safe while they are doing so.”
NARU Head of Education David Bull QAM said:
“The quality mark provides organisations sending staff to us from across the NHS with sound evidence that the methodology and subjects we teach are appropriate and to the standard that the modern NHS requires.
It is particularly rigorous and the entire process starts with the submission of all of our policies, programmes and documentary evidence. This is followed by inspections, visits to teaching sessions, consultation with staff and current and previous delegates, as well as their managers. Finally, a panel sits and approves or makes recommendations for improvements.
Aside from underpinning the quality of education we constantly strive to attain this reaccreditation is testament to the hard work of the staff and the delegates at the Education Centre and I am exceptionally proud of them all.”
Managing Director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) Mr Martin Flaherty OBE said:
“Once again, AACE is delighted to see NARU leading the way with its world class education and training for our specialist ambulance responders, particularly at a time when the UK is going through a hugely challenging time for the emergency services.
The work of NARU has done a great deal to bring fire and rescue, police and ambulance services to work more closely together than ever before, especially through joint training initiatives and this can only be welcomed.”