ARTP Insourcing and Community Provider Charter
The Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology (ARTP) recognises the important contribution of independent and community-based respiratory and sleep physiology service providers, and the challenges they face in delivering and sustaining the highest standards of care to NHS trusts and other NHS settings that utilise their services.
Independent providers form a vital part of the respiratory and sleep physiology community. They support NHS services by assisting with waiting list initiatives, delivering commissioned diagnostic services, and providing flexible and responsive workforce solutions for healthcare scientists.
To reduce unwarranted variation and promote best practice, the ARTP and leading independent providers of high-quality respiratory and sleep physiology insourced and community services have worked together to develop this charter. The charter sets out a minimum set of standards to which signatory organisations commit.
Commissioners and service leads seeking quality and value should prioritise long-term patient outcomes and diagnostic quality over short-term cost savings. NHS organisations that work with named signatories to this charter can be assured that services will be delivered in line with these agreed minimum standards.
This charter represents a voluntary agreement among organisations committed to the values of the ARTP and to maintaining the highest standards in respiratory and sleep physiology. Should a signatory no longer operate in accordance with the spirit or principles of this agreement, they may be removed from the list of signatories and their details removed from the ARTP web page.
Working in partnership with the ARTP, named service providers commit to delivering the following minimum standards:
Minimum Standards
A minimum appointment duration appropriate to the investigation being performed must be allocated to allow an appropriately qualified healthcare scientist to undertake the test, ensure patient safety, and complete accurate documentation and reporting, unless local policy specifies otherwise.
- Diagnostic protocols and datasets
Investigations must be performed using ARTP-recommended minimum datasets and testing protocols relevant to the modality being undertaken (e.g. spirometry, full lung function testing, sleep studies, cardiopulmonary exercise testing). All results must be recorded and reported in full.
- Reporting standards and CPD
All investigations must be reported in accordance with the latest ARTP and national clinical guidelines. Providers must ensure active participation in continuing professional development (CPD) and have processes in place to monitor and assure ongoing compliance.
- Competence and pre-employment checks
Robust processes must be in place to ensure and maintain practitioner competence. Pre-employment checks must include confirmation of appropriate qualifications, professional registration where applicable, and up-to-date knowledge of ARTP standards and guidelines. Evidence may include completion of relevant ARTP or nationally recognised e-learning and training modules.
Healthcare scientists must be supported to deliver high-quality diagnostic services. Where the provider organisation is responsible for quality assurance, this must be overseen by an appropriately experienced and competent practitioner, ideally holding relevant ARTP accreditation or equivalence.
- Experience and workforce standards
Patients are best served by practitioners who have benefited from broad-based training and clinical exposure. It is recognised that some experience is gained post-qualification or accreditation; therefore, providers commit to recruiting staff with sufficient post-qualification experience to practice independently, unless additional supervision, training, and support arrangements are in place. This standard does not apply to organisations formally training pre-qualification or trainee staff under supervision.
- Professional Registration
In line with national recommendations, it is expected that those delivering patient services will be registered with an appropriate organisation, such as the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) assured voluntary registers (PTP, HSST) or the Health and Care Professions Council (Clinical Scientist).
- Management of substandard practice
Clear processes must exist to address substandard practice. This should include removal from independent clinical activity where patient safety or diagnostic quality is compromised, engagement with host departments where relevant, and implementation of appropriate remediation and re-education plans. Independent practice should only be reinstated once competence has been demonstrably restored and it is safe to do so.
Signatories
