The Progress Support Plan process aims to intervene and support trainees who may be experiencing difficulties and challenges within a Professional Practice. A trainee may need the support of a Progress Support Plan if they are not meeting the necessary curriculum benchmarks for their course and/or expected standards of attendance, punctuality or professional conduct.
The ‘triggers’ for the PSP process may include:
- Mentor indication via the Weekly Development Summary (WDS) that the trainee is not making sufficient progress despite additional support being provided
- Trainee disengagement with the WDS process lasting longer than 2 weeks (for example, not uploading their WDS on a weekly basis despite reminders)
Providing additional support does not necessarily mean that the trainee will require a Progress Support Plan however, a trainee cannot be provided with a Progress Support Plan if additional support has not already been put in place (by the mentor and/or Link Tutor).
There are three steps in the Progress Support Plan process and these and the responsibilities of the mentor, link tutor, and trainee are outlined below:
Low-level concerns about progress
The Mentor: Discusses concerns about progress with trainee in the weekly mentor meeting and agrees additional support. Indicates ‘additional support required’ on WDS. Contacts the LT.
If despite the additional support the trainee is still not making progress, then the Progress Support Plan process is formally started and follows the three steps below.
Step 1
The Mentor: Despite the additional support, trainee is not making progress. Discusses this with the trainee in the weekly mentor meeting, informs trainees they will be recommending Progress Support Process is started, indicates ‘additional support required’ on WDS.
Step 2
The Mentor: Meets with Link Tutor and trainee (as soon as is reasonably possible) to agree cause for concern targets. Informs Lead that trainee has been placed on a Progress Support Plan.
Step 3
The Mentor: Within an agreed period of time meets with the link tutor.
Where a trainee is identified as needing further support, please follow the Progress Support process and inform the Link Tutor immediately.