The UK Forum for Stroke Training (UKFST) will support the development of stroke training and education UK wide through the Stroke-Specific Education Framework (SSEF).

Registered users can submit applications for endorsement through the UKFST website.

To view UKFST ebulletins click here.

Benefits to individuals

Endorsement will improve service and care for people affected by stroke and for those working in stroke care at all levels through developing transferable education and learning programmes and presenting a coordinated, strategic approach to workforce development.

Benefits to endorsed organisations

Education and training will feature on the UKFST’s national stroke-specific website database, searchable by potential students and attendees. Organisations can apply to endorse all their training and education - from one day sessions to events, internal workshops to postgrad courses.

UKFST Committee and Endorsement Initiative Project Team

The UKFST Endorsement Initiative is overseen by the UKFST Committee.  Committee members bring personal experience of education and training to the Committee, and represent their professional organisation.  The Project Team manage and administer the project and are based at the The Stroke Association's Life After Stroke Centre in Bromsgrove.  A list of committee members and the project team is located here. 

For a list of out professional and lay reviewers click here

The benefits of UKFST endorsement are wide and varied and the quotes below from Professor Roger Boyle CBE, devolved nation representatives, members of the UKFST Committee, and UKFST Reviewers highlight the importance of the UKFST Endorsement Initiative.      

Professor Roger Boyle CBE, National Clinical Director for Heart Disease and Stroke, Department of Health:

“A skilled and knowledgeable workforce is essential to delivering the best possible outcomes for stroke survivors. We are now making meaningful progress towards achieving this. The Stroke Specific Education Framework will make a significant contribution to improving outcomes for all who have a stroke, by both setting clear standards for stroke training and education across the pathway and providing a clear process for identifying stroke strategy and NICE Quality Standard compliant courses through the UK Forum for Stroke Training Endorsement Quality Mark which will act as a recognised standard of quality. The Department of Health encourages providers of stroke training and education to have their courses endorsed so as to support delivery of this commendable ambition.”

Professor Caroline Watkins, Professor of Stroke & Older People's Care, University of Central Lancashire:

“Improvements in stroke care can only be achieved by investment in stroke-specific training for staff that is relevant to their role in the stroke care pathway.  The UKFST will review training, developed by a range of training and education providers, and endorse training that is appropriate.  This will help individuals and organisations in choosing courses appropriate to the needs of their workforce.”

Professor Martin Dennis, Chair - National Advisory Committee for Stroke (NACS) in Scotland:

"In the current financial climate we are unlikely to be able to increase the numbers of health professionals contributing to stroke services. However, by providing the workforce with appropriate knowledge and skills so that they are more effective, we will improve the quality of health services provided to stroke patients and their families. The UKFST will help underpin improvements in specialist training."

Dr Anne Freeman, Clinical Lead for Stroke Development Program in Wales and Chair of the Welsh Stroke Alliance:

"Wales has welcomed the development of the new Stroke-Specific Education Framework and is delighted that this is a UK wide initiative. The national and local training opportunities that it will provide and support will underpin and strengthen the stroke development program here in Wales.”

Sandra Aitcheson, Chair, NIMAST (Northern Ireland Multi Disciplinary Association of Stroke Teams): 

"NIMAST is delighted to endorse the SSEF as a vital tool in delivering NIMAST’s primary aim of supporting the education and training of the stroke workforce in NI. Specialist education and training is key to the delivery of high quality patient focused care and has been highlighted in the NI Stroke Strategy (2008) as a priority. The stroke workforce can be confident that, with the development of this fully validated and endorsed framework alongside dedicated support from the UKFST, the quality of stroke training will go from strength to strength and ultimately facilitate the delivery of excellence in stroke care. NIMAST look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the UK FST in the further development and promotion of this excellent initiative)."

“Stroke services provide specialist multidisciplinary care for patients who have complex individual needs. An effective team requires evidence based training delivered at an appropriate level by trainers who understand the needs of patients and their carers. The SSEF badge indicates to staff and managers that the endorsed training is of high quality and will improve the care that the service provides.”

Ian Golton, Director, NHS Improvement – Stroke Improvement Programme:

“The SSEF is a practical and helpful way to ensure that those caring for people with stroke have the right skills for their work.  Through the SSEF, organisations and individuals can be confident that the training they are receiving and providing meets the highest quality standards and will help them provide the best care possible.”

Dr Damian Jenkinson, Clinical Lead, NHS Improvement – Stroke Improvement Programme:

“The workforce is the cornerstone to the delivery of high-quality, effective stroke care. By developing a strategic level approach to workforce development through providing a national framework for assurance of skills, competences and leadership, we can ensure that people with stroke receive the right care from the right staff, all of the time and wherever that care is provided. It will also benefit services at a local level. Local services should use the framework as the basis for their own competences, to add additional detail where a specific role exists - this should be shared with UKFST to allow further evolution and development of the SSEF.”

Dr David Britt, Lay Reviewer - UKFST:

"UKFST endorsement of education/training programmes in stroke care and management involves input from stroke survivors themselves to ensure relevance and reality in the appraisal.   Course providers with the UKFST Quality Mark can be assured they are meeting high quality standards - as too can participants in these courses."