Medipro Limited

Medipro Limited Reinspection monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Jonny Wright, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 29 and 30 November 2023

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address:

Faraday House Sopwith Close Stockton-on-Tees TS18 3TT Monitoring visit: Medipro Limited, 29 and 30 November 2023

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Context and focus of visit

This is the second reinspection monitoring visit to Medipro Limited following publication of the inspection report on 11 January 2023, which found the provider to be inadequate overall.

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Context and focus of visit

Medipro Limited is a specialist independent learning provider based in Stockton-on- Tees. It provides training to apprentices who work in the Bristol, London, and East of England Ambulance Trusts. At the time of the monitoring visit, there were 119 apprentices studying the level 3 ambulance support worker standard and 328 apprentices studying the level 4 associate ambulance practitioner standard.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers have made effective improvements to the way in which they liaise with employers to discuss the progress that apprentices make. They meet monthly with the training managers at East of England, London and Bristol Ambulance Services to discuss the progress of all apprentices. Where apprentices are falling behind, leaders and managers put in place actions in conjunction with employer training managers to help apprentices to catch up. As a result, the number of apprentices who are not progressing as expected toward their progress target has dropped significantly. However, in a few cases, employers are still not sufficiently involved in apprentices’ progress reviews.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers have improved the way that clinical mentors provide feedback on the development of apprentices’ knowledge and skills as part of the ‘practice assessment document’ process. Through this process, apprentices reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement. Clinical mentors identify how effectively apprentices are developing their knowledge and skills and, in recent months, have started to provide developmental feedback on how apprentices can improve further.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have rightly recognised the need to put in place a process for apprentices to reflect on their learning and the feedback that they receive from clinical mentors. They have designed a new progress booklet to capture more accurately apprentices’ progress linked to the knowledge, skills and behaviours of their standard and to inform discussions in progress reviews. This booklet is due to be introduced from December 2023 when the latest cohort of apprentices have completed their initial training. Monitoring visit: Medipro Limited, 29 and 30 November 2023 In a few cases, apprentices do not receive effective support and feedback from workplace mentors on how well they are developing their skills or how to improve. Apprentices work with a number of clinical staff when on shift, some of whom provide helpful support, while others do not.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers have redesigned the process they use for identifying apprentices’ starting point and have improved the way that tutors use it with apprentices. Tutors carry out in-depth conversations with apprentices to assess accurately the knowledge, skills and behaviours that apprentices already have as they begin their programme. They use the results from this initial assessment activity to assure themselves that apprentices are on the correct apprenticeship standard and can learn new skills. New apprentices follow personalised programmes based on their existing skills. For example, apprentices who have completed a level 3 ambulance support worker apprenticeship do not complete the driving element or some of the statutory healthcare modules, focusing instead on advanced clinical skills.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers ensure that apprentices with additional learning needs receive the support they need. Apprentices with dyslexia are provided with coloured overlays to use on computer screens and extra time in examinations. Tutors arrange additional meetings to keep learners with autism on track and in line with their peers. Leaders plan for tutors to receive specialist training in identifying and supporting apprentices with additional learning needs, but this has not yet taken place.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices receive an effective initial 12-week training period to help prepare them for their roles as ambulance crew. Those apprentices who have limited healthcare experience quickly become competent in working as emergency medical technicians. Apprentices develop an understanding of legislation related to controlled drugs, how drugs work and how to use drugs to treat patients.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers carry out useful activities to improve the quality of education that apprentices receive. These include observations of training and progress reviews, audits of the scheduling of progress reviews and reviews of the quality of progress reviews and feedback provided by tutors. Leaders and managers rightly Monitoring visit: Medipro Limited, 29 and 30 November 2023 recognise that they need to make further improvements to the process for collecting feedback from apprentices.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers have started to use the information they collect from quality assurance activities effectively to make improvements to the quality of training. Managers work with individual tutors to highlight where they can improve in areas such as initial assessment, providing feedback and in the development of specific teaching skills. Tutors undertake frequent training, such as working actively in an ambulance, to keep their knowledge and skills current.

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Reasonable progress

Apprentices benefit from training from experienced tutors. Tutors provide engaging lessons and link knowledge to their real-life experiences, which helps apprentices to develop their understanding of the job roles. Tutors develop productive relationships with apprentices based on mutual respect, and they boost apprentices’ confidence if they have self-doubt. As a result, apprentices feel well supported to take their next steps into ‘going out on the road’. However, in a few instances, level 3 apprentices stated that the initial training they received was not consistently helpful. They received training from a number of tutors who did not provide consistent information, which caused some confusion among these apprentices about whether they were developing the right knowledge and skills.

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Reasonable progress

Tutors provide helpful developmental feedback on apprentices’ assignment work, such as how to improve the structure of paragraphs and how to use Harvard referencing. However, in progress review documentation, tutors do not accurately identify what apprentices have learned or what they still need to do to improve. Most actions set for apprentices are deadlines for submitting work. Monitoring visit: Medipro Limited, 29 and 30 November 2023 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council

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Reasonable progress

children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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