The short answer is no. None of the QCTO first aid curriculums are under review. Could they ever be? Yes, but there would need to be good reason, and no good reason has come to light yet (at time of writing). If any changes are made, with emphasis on “if”, they are likely to be minor. This article explores the origin of the rumours and the commercial reason driving them.
I’d rather not write a contentious article. But there is no way to handle this without being extremely direct. There is an ongoing campaign of confusion being run by Ken Annandale at Intra. His campaign against QCTO first aid is for commercial reasons, and not out of concern for patient care or medical accuracy.
Legislation is the tool he is trying to use to block QCTO aligned first aid. It has been unsuccessful. Last week (15 April) QCTO and HWSETA agreed with me that Ken’s concern is commercial and said, under no uncertain terms, that the curriculums are NOT under review. This is after Ken’s 11th April meeting with QCTO and HWSETA he believes went differently to how it actually did (I was in that meeting too).
Ken is running this campaign out of commercial interest. It is designed to give himself time to catch up to where others already are. He would be more productive creating a solution for his clients for first aid like Lime Green already has, instead of attacking the curriculums that were developed in 2023 by productive people, while, at the very same time, he was writing 12 page articles about how he was going to “wait and see” what came out of the work we were doing for hours on end and week after week.
After intentionally abstaining from participating in the process for a year, and after not attending or making a peep in any first aid curriculum development session, its now all pots and pans as he frantically sends out so much correspondence that I have to keep writing new articles to avoid replying to dozens of individual emails to demystify every new thing he has mystified.
Q: Are any of the first aid curriculums under review by QCTO and HWSETA?
A: No. Ken has been granted a meeting in June so his complaint can be heard. Other stakeholders can also join. This is not a review of any of the curriculums, the meeting does not have a link or calendar entry yet.
Q: Is it possible the curriculums will change?
A: Yes, however, the current official status is “NOT under review”. If there is sufficient reason to change something, it can be done. So far QCTO does not believe any sufficient reason to change any of the curriculums has been given by anyone yet. And if sufficient reason rises, and changes are made (emphasis on “if”) my guess is they will be very small and will have very little affect on stakeholders. I revise my learning material regularly to keep up with best practices anyway, so even if (emphasis on “if”) there is a change I’ll just do a revision for my clients and distribute the update.
Q: Is the basic first aid curriculum under review because of general safety regulations section 3?
A: No. This rumour was started by Ken, and he remains the only person who perpetuates it. The statement “The QCTO basic first aid curriculum contravenes or does not comply with general safety regulations section 3” is simply false and comes from a lack of understanding about what a QCTO curriculum is, what learning material is, what safety regulations section 3 says, and how QCTO quality assures and manages training.
Q: Is the advanced first aid under review because of a letter by HPCSA?
A: No. I was also called into a meeting this week with HPCSA, HWSETA, and QCTO about a letter HPCSA wrote about the vision screening curriculum. The meeting was quick, pleasant, and the matter was easily sorted out. I have been invited to a meeting on 21st May about the advanced first aid curriculum, also with HPCSA, QCTO, HWSETA etc and that meeting will probably go similarly to the vision screening one I’ve just described. I cannot comment further because the meeting has not yet happened. But no one thinks any training or applications for first aid accreditation should be ‘frozen’ because of this. That, again, is just Ken.
Q: Is the intermediate first aid curriculum under review?
A: No. Absolutely no one except Ken seems to think that. Not QCTO, HWSETA, HPCSA, the focus group that created the curriculum, the curriculum developer, or anyone else thinks that the intermediate curriculum is under review or even that there is a reason to review it. It’s just Ken.
Q: Where are all these rumours coming from?
A: I have not seen these rumours come from anyone other than Ken Annandale at Intra. The HPCSA correspondence came to me from HPCSA and QCTO and is not a rumour but a discussion. It is nothing new for a professional body to write a letter about something that falls under their scope. All the other rumours came from the same place. Ken.
Q: Why are these rumours being started?
A: Because, at time of writing, Ken does not have sufficient learning material or a viable package to offer his clients for all three QCTO first aid curriculums / skills programs. He spent 6 months trying to buy a distribution / ownership arrangement from me for my material, but when that failed he started a campaign against that too, as described here.
