Introduction
BCS has developed an accreditation system for cardiology courses designed for Practitioners with a Special Interest in Cardiology (PwSI), e.g. nurses, technicians or GPs that are working within cardiovascular healthcare in the community. We decided to set up BCS Accreditation to meet the growing demand for a uniform and consistent measure of cardiology courses for PwSI in England.

Skill-based Framework
Local Commissioners and Employers in the health sector need to be able to know that the people they employ match the skills needed for the job; BCS accreditation can confirm the skills that a cardiology course has given to an individual. Our Accreditation system is based on the Framework for skills-based training created by the Heart Improvement Programme in January 2007. The framework was designed as a means of providing some common national structure for training so that candidates could be assured that their qualifications were understood and accepted by potential employers throughout the country: download framework

BCS Accreditation Process
We developed BCS Accreditation in consultation with current course providers in England and other relevant stakeholders, to ensure that our process is simple yet effective. BCS Accreditation is done through a system of review and site visits. We map the course contents against the Framework and our final certificate of Accreditation gives details of which elements of the Framework the course matches.

How to get your course accredited
If you are interested in getting BCS Accreditation for your PwSI in Cardiology course, contact Kirsten Bradbury on 0207 380 1915 or email bradburyk@bcs.com