Provision of Simulation Services on behalf of the National Clinical Assessment Service

NCAS provides a confidential service to the health and social care service resolving concerns about the performance of practitioners. Our aim is to work with all parties to clarify the concerns, understand what may be leading to them, and to develop and deliver effective interventions to help healthcare providers to ensure practitioners continue to deliver a high-quality and safe service for patients.

In an NCAS full performance assessment, findings from an occupational health and behavioural assessment are considered alongside findings from workplace-based clinical assessments, and thereafter NCAS produces a report which cites evidence of satisfactory and poor practice, presenting conclusions based on the triangulation of evidence from across all components of the assessment. This is subsequently shared with the practitioner and the referring organisation.

We assess a practitioner’s fitness for purpose rather than the Regulatory fitness to practise.

This contract is to provide high fidelity simulations for use as part of NCAS’ full performance assessment. Such services are normally utilised by NCAS in circumstances where either it is not possible to observe a practitioner’s clinical practice within their normal place of work (for example where the practitioner is excluded, suspended or restricted from work) or where a simulation would allow observation of aspects of clinical practice which may not occur routinely in their clinical work. The contracted service providers will support NCAS assessments by providing simulation facilities, equipment, simulated patients (if appropriate) and simulation scenarios which cover the full scope of practice for practitioners undergoing an NCAS assessment in order to enable NCAS assessors to make judgements in line with the purpose of the NCAS assessment.

NCAS requires simulation services for practitioners working in these contexts: