When an experienced practitioner moves to another team or organisation, should all their IV therapy training automatically start again?

The 2025 IV Therapy Passport and the 2026 NIVAS standards support a more structured approach.

Previous learning and assessed proficiency can be recognised, but evidence, role, scope of practice and local requirements still need to be checked.

Transferability depends on a governed record and a local authorisation process, not on a certificate alone.

What the IV Therapy Passport is designed to do

The IV Therapy Passport is a standardised pathway for IV medication-administration learning and assessment. It was co-designed by healthcare organisations and higher education institutions across London and is described as having wider relevance across the UK.

The pathway combines standardised learning and knowledge assessment with supervised practice, role-relevant proficiencies, a Record of Achievement and a Declaration of Practice.

The current document does not treat transfer as automatic permission to practise. When a practitioner changes organisation or role, their evidence is taken to a supervisor for review:

“They will verify it and confirm local requirements before authorising IV practice.”

That sentence captures the important boundary. The evidence can travel with the practitioner. Local authority to practise remains with the receiving organisation.

What NIVAS says

The 2026 NIVAS Standards for Infusion Therapy and Vascular Access address this directly. Standard 3.2 states:

“Staff new to an organisation or clinical area who are already competent in IV therapy and vascular access should be allowed to practice…”

NIVAS then sets the conditions around that statement. The practitioner should receive orientation covering local policies and protocols. Evidence of prior learning must be available. Formal training and assessment should be undertaken where evidence is absent or there are concerns about current competence.

Standard 3.3 also requires up-to-date records of IV practice and competency. It identifies a standardised training-record passport as one way to demonstrate competence across NHS organisations.

What actually makes competence transferable

Taken together, the two sources identify five practical requirements.

1. A standardised learning foundation. The knowledge and practical expectations need to be clear enough for another organisation to understand what was completed.
2. Evidence of supervised practice and assessment. Completion of learning alone is not the same as assessed proficiency.
3. A role-specific record. The practitioner is proficient only in the activities and devices that were selected, assessed and recorded.
4. A transfer conversation. A new role may require additional proficiencies, equipment training or practice updates.
5. Local authorisation. The receiving employer verifies the evidence, checks local requirements and authorises practice within its own governance arrangements.

This is why portability and local accountability are not opposites. A well-designed passport reduces unnecessary repetition while preserving the employer's responsibility to assure safe practice.

How this relates to VeinTrain

VeinTrain's structured learning approach follows the same core sequence: learning, supervised practice, assessment, evidence and employer confirmation.

A VeinTrain certificate documents learning or training completion. It does not replace local employer competency sign-off, local policy, supervision, scope of practice or employer assurance.

The useful question for organisations is therefore not simply, “Does this practitioner have a certificate?” It is, “What learning and assessed practice does the evidence demonstrate, and what is still required for this role here?”

Related reading: Certificates versus clinical competency and Certificates, competency and employer sign-off.

Sources

IV Therapy Passport: Practice Learning and Assessment Document, 2024-25 review, developed through the London IV Therapy Passport collaboration. The document was read in full for this article and used only as a referenced comparator; its assessment forms have not been copied.

NHS England e-Learning for Healthcare. IV Therapy Passport programme information.

National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS) (2026). Standards for Infusion Therapy and Vascular Access, first edition. See Standards 3.1-3.3, printed pages 11-12. Read the NIVAS standards.