Knowledge and Skills Framework

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The Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) is a competence framework to support personal development and career progression within the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It applies to all staff except board members, doctors and dentists, as they did not come under the Agenda for Change Pay Negotiations.

It is one of the three key strands of Agenda for Change. These are:

  • The NHS KSF and the development review process
  • Job evaluation, and
  • Terms and conditions

The Knowledge and Skills Framework and the development review process is about lifelong learning.

The Agenda for Change national agreement includes a commitment to introduce a system of annual development reviews and to create development opportunities for all staff. Everyone will have their own Personal Development Plan (PDP) – developed jointly in discussion with their manager or reviewer, and everyone will have an annual development review.

The NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework is designed to ensure that staff are supported so that they can be effective in their jobs. It also gives them opportunities to progress and develop through their time working in the NHS.

The NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework is designed to do six things:

  1. identify the knowledge and skills that an individual needs to apply in their job – this is described in an NHS KSF post outline
  2. help identify any gap between the knowledge and skills needed in the job and the current knowledge and skills of the individual
  3. if there is a gap help to identify the learning and development that is needed to close it
  4. provide a system of pay progression across the service based on a single agreed system
  5. help individuals develop throughout their careers
  6. help in the development of services by linking what the NHS needs for effective service delivery with the knowledge and skills needed in specific posts and enabling the people in those posts to develop that knowledge and skills.

Each NHS post/job will have a KSF outline (much like a job description)- this describes the knowledge and skills that need to be applied in a post. At least once a year you and your manager will review how you are applying knowledge and skills against the KSF outline. From this you will both develop and agree a Personal Development Plan for you to guide your learning and development for the year ahead.

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