Communities of Practice

As part of a secondment opportunity with NHS England’s Workforce, Training and Education (WTE) directorate, a team of three radiography clinical fellows led a project exploring the notion and the utilisation of ‘Communities of Practice’ within the radiography and imaging workforce. This was inclusive of diagnostic and therapeutic radiography, and the wider imaging team including nuclear medicine and technologists. This discussion article summarises the findings from this work, with consideration of the wider literature, and highlights the relevance of such groups for practitioners working at enhanced, advanced and consultant levels.

Based on the theory of situated learning, the term Community of Practice (CoP) was initially developed to describe learning through practice and participation in groups^{1, 2}. Over time, the concept has evolved and a CoP is now recognised as a group of people “who share a concern, a set of problems, or...