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All-Wales Urgent Primary Care Practitioner Competency Framework Evaluation

 

The All-Wales Urgent Primary Care Practitioner Competency Framework was created to improve multi-disciplinary working, in line with the Strategic Workforce Plan for Primary Care (2025-2030). The framework's primary objective is to strengthen Urgent Primary Care (UPC) services by supporting the learning and development of the UPC workforce. It is designed to enhance professional learning, build clinical skills, and ensure competency standards are consistent across multi-disciplinary teams, especially in urgent primary care centres and out-of-hours services. The framework offers individuals a structured way to collect work-based evidence to demonstrate their level of practice and progress along defined career paths. 

The first pilot cohort of practitioners for the competency framework began their programme in early 2025. The entire project is funded by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW). 

CEDAR’s role 

CEDAR has been commissioned to undertake a service evaluation of the Urgent Primary Care Practitioner Competency Framework programme. This evaluation is part of a wider All-Wales review of the pilot and will assess the framework's effectiveness, identify areas for improvement, and explore additional benefits for urgent care services. The findings will help inform the future national implementation of the framework. 

The key objectives of the evaluation are to: 

  • Explore the perspectives, expectations, and experiences of practitioners on the framework, and their assessors/mentors. 
  • Assess the framework's effectiveness in improving the skills, confidence, and professional development of Urgent Care Practitioners. 
  • Identify and address potential barriers to implementation to aid in its widespread adoption. 
  • Recognise any unintended benefits that could support the Urgent Primary Care workforce and services. 

To meet these objectives, CEDAR is collecting primary data from two groups: course participants (trainees) and their supervisors/assessors. Data collection involves an online survey administered at two key points: at baseline shortly after the course begins, and again upon course completion approximately one year later. Participants from both groups also have the opportunity to take part in one-to-one interviews with a CEDAR researcher to share their experiences. The evaluation is scheduled to run from March 2025 to Spring 2026. 

For any questions relating to CEDAR's evaluation, contact the CEDAR project lead, Senior Researcher, Michael Beddard (michael.beddard@wales.nhs.uk)