School of Health and Social Care
Student/Staff Liaison Committee Meeting
BSc/MSc/WBL Nursing Programme
Notes of Meeting held on 7th March 2018
13:00-14:00
1.In attendance
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Tim Goodchild(AN Programme Lead) - Chair
Cathy Constable(MH Programme Lead)
Greg Cadge(Librarian)
Eve Humphries(BSc 1st Year MH)
Augustine Asiedu(MSc 1st Year MH)
Elizabeth Davies(MSc 2nd Year AN)
Clare Henney(BSc 2nd Year AN)
Kat Younger(SU Faculty Coordinator)
Ian Mounteney(IPL Administrator) – minutes
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2.Invited but unable to attend
Kath Burke
Winifred Eboh
Chris Green
Martin Harrison
Abigail Martin
Tess Wagstaffe
Steve Wood
Ness Woodcock-Dennis
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TG welcomed everyone to the meeting.
3.Chair’s report
TG went through the outstanding issues from the last SSLC.
- Both he and CC have reminded staff to inform students of the Visible Body resource that is available to download.
- The health and safety issue concerning the overhead in the new skills lab has been addressed.
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4. Programme cohort representative reports
MSc Nursing (Adult) 2016 Cohort
ED asked about the preparation needed for the upcoming EPUT interviews.
CC advised that she had contacted Nick Goodman from Employability, with a view to him giving a talk next week. It is also hoped that interview skills can be looked at.
Chris Green will be looking into this for BSc students going into their final year.
ED asked about the expectations for the PP3 portfolio, as some students aren’t entirely clear as to what is expected.
ACTION – TG will send out guidance.
A number of the cohort had raised the issue of formative feedback for HS859 being returned to students at different times. Some students received feedback from their research supervisors fairly quickly, whilst others waited a lot longer. It was felt that students who received their feedback quickly had more of an advantage, as it allowed them more time to work on their research proposal.
ACTION – CC to raise this issue with Penny Hodgkinson, Module Lead for HS859.
BSc Nursing (Adult) 2016 Cohort
CH raised the issue of some placement providers not being aware of the rules regarding break times.
ACTION – TG to speak with Chris Green and Placements to ensure that the rules are communicated to providers.
Students have asked if it would be possible to have their Skills Books returned to them a bit quicker.
ACTION – CC and TG to tell their teams.
CH raised an issue concerning the hot tap in the WC near the new skills lab – not only is it scalding hot, it’s also fairly impractical to use. This has been reported to Estates.
ACTION – CC will contact Estates as well.
BSc Nursing (Mental Health) 2017 Cohort
EH advised that there is some confusion among the cohort about how they should make up placement hours that were lost due to the recent bad weather.
CC advised that students should look at the handbook, as this outlines how hours should be made up and the point at which this can be done.
ACTION – CC to email link to placement guidelines and handbook
The issue of frontloading placement hours was discussed. TG and CC confirmed that this is not allowed, and that all timesheets are checked. If it is found that frontloading hours has taken place, a referral will be made to the personal tutor.
EH advised that some students had been surprised at their mentor’s lack of understanding of the placement handbook, and that some mentors wouldn’t sign it off.
ACTION – CC will contact Chris Green about this.
Concerning the Compassionate Care module, which is a joint AN/MH module, MH students felt that they did not have as much guidance as their AN colleagues.
ACTION – Students to feed this back to Peter Martin, Module Lead.
MSc Nursing (Mental Health) 2017 Cohort
AA raised the issue of some placement providers not seeming to be aware of which students are being placed with them, and being unprepared for them. Discussion was had about this, and it was felt that the issue should be brought to the attention of Placements.
ACTION – CC and TG to discuss with Placements.
AA enquired as to whether students could know their placement more than 6 weeks in advance, so that they could arrange rotas, childcare etc.? TG discussed various reasons for this, but would raise with Chris Green.
ACTION – TG to raise this issue with Chris Green.
BSc Nursing (Mental Health) 2016 Cohort
A report had been received from Abigail Martin.
Students enjoyed the recent module on Critical Recovery and felt that it had given them more confidence when going on their subsequent placement. They did feel, though, that it would be beneficial to have this module earlier in the programme. CC said that she would look into this for next year.
Students asked if Skills Books could be returned a little sooner, to make placement preparation a bit easier. Also, one student received the same type of placements throughout the year, and wondered if they could be better organised.
ACTION – CC to email the cohort regarding this.
Some students found that the online library service was more limited than last year, and that there was more of a need to request articles via the Inter-Library Loans facility.
GC advised that there had been no change in the subscriptions since last year, so if students experience any difficulties in accessing or obtaining articles then they can contact him direct for assistance, or he is happy to meet with the cohort to discuss the online library service.
ACTION – CC will email the cohort to advise how GC can help.
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5.Library matters
GC advised that the Library is now open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until 7th June (excluding Easter) and that outside of the standard hours there will be Security presence in the building.
GC reminded students about the LibChat facility which is available on the Library website at This is an instant messaging service and the chat functionality goes live once the Library is closed.
There are still a number of workshops available for students to attend in the Library Training Room, covering all aspects of using the Library. Details can be found at
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6.SAMT
TG advised that there are currently no completed SAMTs, but that there should be some for discussion at the next SSLC.
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7.Programme documentation for discussion
- Annual Review of Courses – this will be discussed when the report becomes available.
- External Examiner reports – none have been received for this academic year as yet.
- Student satisfaction survey outcomes – the National Student Survey is ongoing, but only applies to final year undergraduate students so is not relevant for current Nursing students at Colchester campus. Students do, however, have the opportunity to complete the UK Engagement Survey (UKES) and are encouraged to do so.
- Student feedback of modules and teaching – staff action points – these will be available at June’s SSLC.
- Anonymised module lead reports –these will be available at June’s SSLC.
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8.HEE Quality Framework updates (where relevant/if any)
CC advised that the autumn 2018 intake of Postgraduate students will now have the option of taking out a student loan if they wish to do so.
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9. New and revised programme developments (if any)
TG advised that the NMC has a new set of standards, and that the Nursing programmes need to be rewritten and revalidated in order to incorporate them. This needs to be done before autumn this year, so it is quite an undertaking. Students will be asked for their input as part of this process.
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10.Employability
The issue of Trusts offering interviews was discussed, and it was noted that some are offering a lot earlier now. EPUT are offering interviews in March for Southend students. CC and TG will advise students if they hear of any interview workshops coming up.
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11.Equality, diversity and inclusivity
No issues raised.
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12.Health & Safety
The issue of the hot tap in the skills lab, but CC will be taking this matter up.
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13.Any other business
The issue of student finances was discussed, as there is a big gap between the final payment of this academic year and the first payment of the next. Students are advised to contact the Student Union if they wish to have any guidance on budgeting, or if they find themselves in financial difficulty.
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14. Date of next meeting
Tuesday12thJune 13:00-14:00. Room 2S2.3.20
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