Patients with or at risk of genetic conditions are being cared for across the NHS and advances in genetics are now impacting on clinical practice outside specialist regional genetics centres. As well as advances in the diagnosis, treatment and management of single-gene disorders, the genetic component and familial implications of many common conditions are increasingly understood and have implications for primary, secondary and tertiary care.
New services for a range of conditions are therefore being developed across the NHS, for instance, cancer family history clinics. New roles and new ways of working, including multidisciplinary clinics integrating genetics and new patient pathways, are being explored and tested.
Service developments have implications for the skills of staff and for their education and training. The Centre has therefore developed competences in genetics which outline skills involving genetics and the underpinning knowledge and understanding required, along with resources to support learning and teaching genetics in healthcare.
Information on current and past service developments involving genetics is available.
As part of our commitment to facilitating the provision of high quality services, a Toolkit for those who are designing or developing services for patients with or at risk of genetic conditions has been developed. The Toolkit is based on the experiences of previous service development initiatives in genetics. It presents ten key areas for consideration when developing services involving genetics and highlights important issues and questions that may need to be addressed during service planning. Example resources from previous service development initiatives are provided and you can read about how the Toolkit was developed.
Last updated: 13 October 2011
