AdvDip(CPD) Understanding Triage Methodologies, Patient Prioritisation and Care Pathways (HE6)
Course Overview
This stand-alone advanced professional development course offered by the University of Bolton aims to provide you with the knowledge required to use triage processes and decision-making theories to assess the urgency of patient care needs and apply principles of prioritisation and the identification of red flags. Our dedicated team will support you in exploring the evidence base which underpins the knowledge and skills of a range of triage and decision-making models used to prioritise individuals within various care environments.You'll explore the concepts of effective consultations, identification of appropriate triage pathways for individual patients, determination of discriminators to inform decision-making and individual care and treatment planning. You’ll also gain the knowledge and skills required to communicate and collaborate effectively with other agencies and services to enable patients to make informed decisions regarding their access to care and treatment. You’ll develop your understanding of the legislation, national and local policies, and guidelines that govern practice and facilitate the delivery of ethical, safe and effective care.
We’ll focus on using a patient-centred approach and consider the potential barriers that can affect your clinical decision-making. You’ll also consider the key concepts of safeguarding that may arise in practice. You’ll be required to work within your scope of practice to identify patients’ needs within the multidisciplinary team and ensure referral to other services as deemed necessary. This short course will support you in developing key employability attributes, with a particular focus on self-awareness.
Highlights
- Our dedicated academic team have a wealth of experience working in health and social care settings. They are engaged in relevant research, bringing their expertise and passion for service excellence to their teaching.
- This continuing professional development course is flexible and designed to fit in with busy home and working lives.
- As you study this course, we'll encourage you to develop the skills, values and behaviours popular with employers. These include action planning, personal impact and confidence, self-awareness, social and ethical responsibility, problem-solving, initiative and communication skills.
- When you successfully complete this course, the University of Bolton will award you an Advanced Diploma of Continuing Professional Development in Understanding Triage Methodologies, Patient Prioritisation and Care Pathways worth 10 credits at Level HE6.
Key Features
- This short course allows you to enhance your skills quickly – especially useful if you have responsibilities that might otherwise prevent you from studying.
- We've been offering high-quality courses specifically designed to meet the needs of the health and social care sector for over 30 years.
- Regular review of the course curriculum ensures that contemporary theories are adopted.
- Your employer may give you financial support to undertake this course, or you may be self-funded.
- Completing this course will enhance your professional practice proficiency and demonstrate your commitment to lifelong learning.
Entry Requirements
- You must have an appropriate health and social care-related qualification (for example, registered nurse, assistant practitioner, nursing associate, allied health professional, or paramedic).
- You may be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
- If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
- Please note that this course is subject to the University of Bolton's Fitness to Practise procedure.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
Career Opportunities
This course offers academic progression for healthcare professionals. It provides a trajectory of learning which enhances your existing knowledge, helping you deliver outstanding care.
As a recognised and approved programme of study, this course offers evidence of your continuing professional development and demonstrates you are an autonomous, confident and highly employable practitioner with expertise in the healthcare field.
Fees & Funding
The Royal College of Nursing may offer educational grants. Please visit https://rcnfoundation.rcn.org.uk/Apply-For-Funding/Educational-grants for information.
Home/EU Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
International Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
Bursaries
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2025-26 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
How to apply
Home Applicants
Course application details are unavailable at present
International Applicants
Course application details are unavailable at present
Partner Organisation Applicants
Course application details are unavailable at present
Teaching & Assessment
We use a blended learning approach, using the principles of problem-based learning to develop your enquiry skills and place this within the context of patient care. We'll introduce topics through keynote lectures that use mixture of theory and case-based discussions around clinical scenarios. Following the lectures, we'll expect you to undertake self-directed learning to explore each topic in greater depth, and in relation to your own area of practice, to increase your knowledge and understanding of the key concepts of triage methodologies and decision-making theories. This approach will enable you to consider current research evidence and use this to inform your clinical decision-making and communication skills.
The module's assessment strategy is underpinned by an oral assessment designed to test your achievement of the module's intended learning outcomes.
We use a blended style of learning and teaching, including online delivery and engagement where appropriate.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
- APD Understanding Triage Methodologies, Patient Prioritisation and Care Pathways
Assessment methods
| Level | Assessment method |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Coursework 100% |
Learning Activities
| Level | Activity |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Guided independent study 76% Scheduled learning and teaching activities 24% |
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
