A toolkit to support hospitals implement high-quality genomic care.
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    As the use of genomics increases across multiple specialties, health services will need to ensure that clinicians can practise it safely and within their scope of experience, knowledge and skills.

    This webpage can assist your hospital to develop an approach to workforce support and credentialling. This will help minimise unwarranted variation and enable safe and effective care.

    Workforce support is one of the key actions in the Genomics and Your Hospital toolkit, which supports hospitals to plan and implement genomic care.

    Why credentialling is important for genomic care

    Genomics is a multidisciplinary, multispecialty field that is evolving rapidly. Its unique and uncommon features can sometimes lead to risks or unwarranted variations in care – for example, when ordering complex tests, using genomic results to inform care, returning complex results to patients, or communicating the familial implications of a genetic result.

    While genomics offers many clinical benefits, it is important that your hospital’s workforce is appropriately skilled and supported to use it in patient care. This includes credentialling and scope of practice for all relevant practitioners.

    Credentialling is a process to verify the competence of the practitioner i.e. assessing their skills, qualifications and experience to determine their ability to provide the required safe, high quality health care.

    In the context of emerging practice, it involves determining whether competencies gained through previous qualifications and experience are sufficient for autonomous practice in a new or emerging area.

    A practitioner’s scope of clinical practice is defined by their health service organisation. It is dependent on the practitioner operating within the bounds of their qualifications, education, training, current experience and competence, and within the capability of the facility or service in which they are working.

    Assessing workforce needs

    This may be an ideal role for your hospital’s genomics leadership group, if one exists. Because this group brings together executives, clinicians and other experts with diverse perspectives, it may be well placed to consider the different contexts in which genomics is used, clarify scope of practice, and assess workforce and organisational needs.

    If a genomics leadership group has not yet been established, you could consider your organisation’s credentialling committee(s) and executive directors with professional governance of relevant practitioners (who are typically medical practitioners and genetic counsellors).

    Tool: Principles and suggested activities for effective workforce credentialling and support

    This document can help guide health services establish appropriate supports to and credentialling of clinicians in genomic medicine. Different health services will have different needs, these principles should be seen as a starting point for discussion. It also includes a list of suggested activities to undertake for workforce support and planning.

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