Respiratory Leadership Programme FAQs
Who is this course aimed at?
The course is ideally suited for those respiratory practitioners who are keen to explore new leadership skills or expand the application of leadership principles. This is a non-clinical course and open to a wide range of disciplines across the primary, community and integrated respiratory sector. Participants value the diversity and insights that learning alongside multidisciplinary colleagues brings. The course is designed to deliver the key leadership skills and techniques that have been identified as criteria for advance and expert level of Fit to Care. We think the course is particularly well suited to specialist practitioner NHS bands 6 and above and those on GP trainee schemes.
How do I enrol?
Enrolment is simple and can be completed online. You will need to be a member of PCRS so if you are not already a member, please join now. Once you have joined you can complete the online enrolment form. The form asks you to identify your learning objectives for the course. Don’t worry this is not a selective process, but is designed to encourage participants to think carefully about what they want to get out of the course. This helps us to ensure we are structuring the workshops and resources to meet the needs of participants.
Is there a fee to register?
The course is free to PCRS members only. If you are not a member you can join now. Membership is only £59 and comes with many additional benefits as well as being able to joint the PCRS Respiratory Leaders course. As spaces are limited, we do ask for a small deposit to secure your place. This deposit is refundable upon completion of the course. This is simply to reduce the likelihood of people enrolling and taking up a valuable space, but not turning up to the course. The deposit is refundable upon completion of the course.
What will the course cover?
The course will cover the leadership skills identified as being key criteria for the advance and expert levels of the PCRS Fit to Care Guidance. The course will cover topics like how to influence change, motivate teams improve your personal effectiveness, increase efficiencies, quality and improve project planning and evaluation. The aim is program to help clinicians grow in confidence so that they can deal with the complexities and challenges of working in a busy practice, or out of hospital setting.
Will I get a qualification?
PCRS will issue a certificate upon completion of the course. In order to complete the course, participants must attend at least 80% of the workshops and peer support groups and demonstrate that they have made progress on their learning project.
When does the course take place?
The course is entirely online. Enrolment opens on the 15th April. The Course itself will take place between the 13th May and 18th November. Course dates can be found here.
How is this course different to other leadership courses?
We know that there are lots of leadership course available, but what makes the PCRS course unique is its strong foundations in respiratory practice. The course is designed by and run by experienced respiratory practitioners that work in primary, community and integrated care. All of our facilitators have attended the leadership course themselves. This means that they have a really good insight into what participants want, what will best help them in the workplace and support them in their career. Unlike many leadership courses, the PCRS leadership course is multidisciplinary, and participants really value learning alongside other clinicians – pharmacists, paramedics, GPs, nurses and physiotherapists and gaining an insight into their professions, challenges and careers.
What if I miss a session or can’t complete the course?
We hope that by providing the dates of the workshops at the start, you’ll be able to attend all of the workshops. However, we understand that things happen, health care professionals are busy people! One of the advantages of running an online course is that the workshops will be available to download after the course and therefore if you miss one sessions, you can always catch up this way. In order to complete the course and receive the certificate however, we do expect you to attend at least 80% of the workshops. If you are struggling to attend any of the workshops for any reason or your circumstances change however, please do contact us so that we can discuss your options with you.
I’ve attended a Leaders Course in the past but would like to attend this one too – is that possible?
Yes – the course is constantly evolving and changing and we recognise that learning is a continual process. Even though some of the course content may be familiar, it will be presented in a different way, there will be new resources and you will learn from the group around you. So yes, we encourage you if you have attended one of our leadership residentials in the past to sign up for this course.
Why is this course online and not face to face?
The PCRS 2021 Respiratory Leadership Programme is designed to be delivered entirely online. This is in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An online course helps to ensure that we can keep all of our participants safe. In addition an online course is more flexible, easier for participants to attend. We are also able to provide the course at lower cost meaning that we can provide a wider variety of resources and materials. We hope that future courses may involve an element of face to face meetings subject to funding being available and any future pandemics!
I am not a PCRS member can I still join the course?
This course is available for PCRS members only. Membership is open to all UK resident health professionals. In addition to being able to enrol on the PCRS Leadership Course, there are a wide variety of other benefits available. For more information see here.