An evaluation, at the 1-year stage, of a 3-year project to introduce practice education facilitators to NHS Tayside and Fife

As a result of the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) initiative, Facing the Future [Scottish Executive Health Department, 2002. Facing the Future. SEHD, Edinburgh], a need was identified for a group of experienced nurses and midwives to help support students and mentors within practice settings. It was agreed to fund one hundred "G" grade posts across NHS Scotland for an initial period of three years. As a result of this initiative, in 2004 a group of fifteen Practice Education Facilitators (PEFs) were employed by NHS Tayside and NHS Fife in Scotland. Their brief was to maintain and improve learning environments within the practice setting. This paper describes an evaluation of this new role as carried out at key stages within the first year of the project. A combination of focus groups and questionnaires were used, both to analyse the perceptions of the NHS staff that PEFs would be working with and to explore the lived experience of the PEFs during their first year in post. There was a general welcome for the role across all groups. Perceptions varied on the PEF role itself, most staff groups expecting PEFs to work mainly with students. The PEFs, however, saw the main thrust of their work with mentors, their associates and other staff.