Professional Networks
Professional networks are communities and organizations
that connect healthcare workers for knowledge sharing, career advancement, and
improved patient care. They can be formal, such as professional organizations
like the British Medical Association, or informal, such as online groups on
platforms like LinkedIn or local hospital committees.
Benefits of professional networking
- Enhanced
patient care: Collaboration and shared knowledge and experience
can lead to accurate diagnosis and comprehensive treatment plans.
- Career
advancement: Networks provide access to job openings,
professional references, learning opportunities and mentorship to guide
career progression.
- Professional
support: Networks offer a valuable source of emotional support
for navigating the challenges of a demanding field.
- Innovation: Networking
can lead to sharing knowledge and experience and help foster new ideas and
collaborative working.
Types of professional Networks
Professional Body
Clinical Staff:
- Royal College of General Practitioners
(RCGP)
- Royal College of Nursing (RCN) includes
practice nurses, nursing associates, nurse practitioners, healthcare
assistants (HCAs, etc.
- Faculty of Physician Associates at
the Royal College of Physicians
- Health and Care Professions Council for
dieticians, occupational therapists, paramedics, physiotherapists,
practitioner psychologists, speech and language therapists, etc.
- College of Paramedics
- Royal Pharmaceutical Council for
community and clinical pharmacists and pharmacist technician roles
The General Medical Council (GMC), National Nursing and
Midwifery Council (NMC), and other professional regulators also signpost to
resources on digital primary care, education and training, as well as guidance
on professional standards, for example remote
consultations and Doctors’
use of social media:
Non-Clinical Staff:
- Association of Medical Secretaries,
Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists (AMSPAR)
- Practice Managers’ Association (PMA)
- Institute of Health and Social Care Management
- Personalised Care
Institute for support and education and learning for social
prescribing link workers, health and wellbeing coaches and care
coordinators
Please note that some associations or organisations may
offer access to their resources via a paid subscription service. There
may also be associated costs for any training resources on offer.
Online Networks
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the world's largest professional social
networking service, used for professional networking, career development, and
job searching. Many healthcare professional bodies maintain a profile on
LinkedIn which you can follow to keep up to date with news, training and
developments. You may also want to use LinkedIn to network with staff across
your field, keep up to date with organisational news and to search job
listings.
