What is the VPR education pathway?

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has been commissioned by NHS England (NHSE) to develop a comprehensive accredited educational pathway, to build on the work of the NHSE Violence Prevention and Reduction Programme and the publication of the NHS Violence Prevention and Reduction Standard.

This pathway will consist of qualifications at Levels 3 and 4 and will be designed to meet the training needs of Violence Prevention and Reduction leads employed by Trusts, as well as other members of the NHS workforce who are considered to be working in ‘at risk’ environments.

The pathway takes a public health approach to understand and prevent the root causes of violence and abuse, and equips individuals to support and/or lead on the design and implementation of appropriate principles of practice in responding to incidents involving violence and abuse with a focus on:

  • individual-specific factors such as trauma and distress, and
  • structural, environmental, and societal factors, such as the impact of health inequalities and the behaviour of others.
Who is the pathway aimed at?

The project aims to target staff working across health and care settings and services, including, but not limited to:

  • Acute, Mental Health and Specialist secondary care Trusts 
  • Ambulance Trusts
  • Learning Disability
  • Specialist secondary care Trusts
     
Which Qualification is for you?

Read about the differences between the qualifications below.

Qualification Audience Learning Time

Level 3 Award in Violence Prevention and Reduction for Operational Leads 

For Operational Leads working in ‘at-risk’ environments in healthcare settings with a responsibility for supervision of staff/teams. 

For those working in ‘at-risk’ environments in health and care settings. The target audience for this qualification are individuals with leadership roles in these settings, such as Security Management Specialists, Ward Managers, Senior Sisters/ Senior Charge Nurses, and Matrons.  

The qualification will focus on the contribution to VPR that can be made by those in front-line roles across the health and care sector, such as Nursing, Midwifery, Medical, Administrative Staff, Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians, Allied Health professionals, domiciliary and care home staff, those working in the voluntary, community, and social enterprise arena. It will support learners to explore how they can use their roles to support those working on the front-line, as well as how they can build teams and cultures that contribute to VPR.  

Up to 2 days equivalent learning time, classroom/ virtual delivery 

Level 3 Award in Violence Prevention and Reduction for  Strategic Specialists 

For Organisational Leads for violence prevention and reduction working in health and care settings with a responsibility for planning team strategies and operational plans  

This qualification is aimed at organisational leads for violence prevention and reduction working in NHS Trusts, primary care, social care, voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, and Integrated Care Boards (ICB’s).  The qualification will focus on building the skills, knowledge, and confidence to recognise and address the triggers for violence in health and care settings and develop strategies to prevent and reduce violence to support individuals and teams with their organisation to feel able to contribute to these strategies. 

2 days 

equivalent learning time, classroom/ virtual delivery 

Level 4 Award in Violence Prevention and Reduction for Strategic Specialists 

For Strategic Specialists for violence prevention and reduction working in health and care settings with a responsibility for planning organisational strategies and operational plans 

This qualification supports specialists across the health and care sector to develop their own leadership skills and to identify and collect a range of evidence and perspectives to critically review the impact of policies and systems in place to prevent and reduce violence in their workplace setting.

4 days 

equivalent learning time, classroom/ virtual delivery 

Applications are now closed. 

If you'd like to enquire further about our VPR Pathway, you can reach out to [email protected].