What are the FCP Roadmaps to Practice?
The FCP Roadmaps to Practice were written as guidance documents which set out nationally agreed education and training standards for AHPs moving into FCP roles in primary care. They described the educational supervision and governance to safely support practitioners through the process.
The first roadmap was developed in response to the 2018 Musculoskeletal (MSK) Core Capabilities Framework, which set out nationally agreed standards of practice for practitioners who were in a first point of contact role diagnosing and managing people with MSK conditions.
FCP Roadmaps were subsequently developed for specific professions – Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Paramedics and Podiatry – which were aligned to relevant capability frameworks. These now underpin the commissioned education and training pathways, which have replaced the FCP Roadmaps to Practice.
Why should I complete a FCP education programme?
FCP education and training that has been nationally commissioned, meets agreed standards providing AHPs with the framework to demonstrate skills and knowledge needed to practice safely and effectively in a FCP role in primary care.
All registered healthcare professionals are accountable for their practice. The FCP programmes support AHPs moving into primary care to engage with relevant continuing professional development and supervisory activity, supporting them to maintain their skills and knowledge and to re-enforce their need to act within their scope of practice and governance framework.
As the independent regulator for health and social care in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will look for evidence that employers have systems in place to recruit staff appropriately. For employers that recruit AHPs in FCP roles, the CQC expect to see evidence of completion or plans for completion of FCP education and training.
How do you complete the requirements of FCP education and training?
Learners can access one of two educational routes to complete the specific requirements of a FCP education and training:
- FCP Supported Portfolio route – the practitioner works with a supervisor and education provider to create a portfolio of evidence to meet the knowledge, skills and attributes outlined in a FCP Roadmap and to demonstrate they have applied these in clinical practice.
- FCP Taught route – the practitioner undertakes a level 7 master’s level module(s) at an education provider, which is mapped to the knowledge, skills and attributes in a FCP Roadmap. Stage 2 is completed as part of a level 7 module delivered in clinical practice.
For further information, please refer to the NHS England FAQs at First Contact Practice FAQs | NHS England | Workforce, training and education.