Rhubarb, Rhubarb ...

New Stuff to Download!

2012-02-24T05:48:00.001-08:00

I have just put a load of 'stuff' on the website for you to download. To get to the download page click here. What I have put on the website is really, really useful:

HDR and whole day attendance sheet - compulsory for ARCP panels - less than 14 weeks away now!
Whole day training programmes for Group A and Group B hospital trainees
HDR training programme for trainees in GP1
Resources used in a recent Prospective Trainers Workshop - PowerPoint's, CBD documents, and MRCGP Competency Framework document
AND
Feedback and evaluation forms for Thursday whole days and the HDR sessions at Drighlington and Normanton - remember Moira's job depends on this ...

Well, to be truthful it is not really that excited, but at last it is one click from everything you need to know!

Making it easy ...

2012-02-09T02:21:00.000-08:00

I have just updated the website. You will have seen lots of posts from Terry and me about links to our online evaluation pages for the Thursday Whole Day sessions for hospital trainees and the Tuesday HDR sessions for GP ST3 trainees at Normanton and Drighlington.

Well I have made it so easy for you now. I have added a link to both Evaluation Forms from the 'Download' page on our website.

To get to the Evaluation Forms click here - it is so easy....

Hands-Only CPR

2012-01-15T04:57:00.000-08:00

The British Heart Foundation has started promoting 'Hands-only CPR' for people who have not been trained in Basic Life Support. We looked at the You Tube videos at our Whole Day Training Session on Thursday and I thought they were worth sharing. The BHF has been running a TV advert campaign staring Vinnie Jones - the advert is really funny. To watch just the advert on You Tube click here.

For more information about this then click here for the British Heart Foundation website.

New Year Resolutions!

2012-01-03T05:49:00.000-08:00

I hope several of you have made New Year resolutions to keep up to date with your ePortfolio and make lots and lots of entries and loads of WPBAs...! That is perhaps not a New Year resolution and more wishful thinking along the lines of 'if pigs could fly' ... But never mind there is always a time to start and the time to start is now. So the next milestone is meeting your Educational Supervisor to sign off your current post before you finish it. If you have not arranged a meeting then do it now so everything is on track for the last six months.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

2011-12-20T03:05:00.000-08:00

Just a quick message to wish all our trainees, trainers, admin staff and other' list-lurkers' a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

There are no teaching sessions next week, but Tuesday small group teaching sessions for trainees in general practice starts again on Tuesday 3rd January and the whole day teaching sessions for our hospital trainees start on Thursday 12th January.

I wish you all the best for the festive season.

Feedback about hospital posts

2011-12-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

At the end of each six months rotation I try and get feedback from trainees about their experiences at our whole day training session, our help in preparing you for MRCGP and of course some feedback about your hospital posts. This time round feedback was generally very good about most of the hospital posts and there were no major issues about workload. Most of you are getting to the whole day training sessions and attendance is nearly 70% on average.

Of course, things can always be improved and there were some specific issues about speciality training in A&E and Medicine and increased workload at DDH when Pinderfields is on GP Divert to DDH. I hope to raise these issues with the relevant people at Mid Yorks but if you have any more issues you think need raising please let me know. Click here to send me an email directly.

What a difference three years make!

2011-12-02T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Deanery have recently been looking at attendance at our small group training sessions. They last looked at attendance in 2008 when GP HDR attendance rate was 73%, A&E 12 %, Paeds 40%, O&G 20%, Psychiatry 72% and Medicine 35%.

This time they have looked at 3 months attendance, May to July, 2011 and for hospital specialities the rates have massively increased. In GP HDR rate was 67% but in A&E it ws 60%, Paeds 66%, O&G 65%, Psychiatry 71%, Medicine 71% and Palliative Care 114%.

The target to attend small group teaching sessions is 70% and I think that we are almost hitting that target now.

It is a huge change in attendance for our hospital trainees since 2008, so obviously a whole day works!

Modular posts

2011-11-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

We have had a few queries recently about whether doctors can undertake modular posts. Being able to do a modular post is a 'privilege' and not a 'right'. They can be undertaken in the second post of ST3 IF:

You have successfully passed AKT
Taken CSA
Your trainer, educational supervisor and TPD have no concerns about your progress

No concerns about your progress means precisely that; you are up to date with your ePortfolio and not been to panel or have had comments made about your progress. You will not have had got your CSA result before you start your modular post but we would expect you to pass. If you fail it then you need to leave the modular post and start doing full time general practice again.

Its easy - modular posts are for high flyer's who are at the top of the game!

Ponte A&E to close at 10 pm and then permanently ....?

2011-11-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

Mid Yorks Hospital Trust, which is the organisation that runs our local hospitals has recently announced that Pontefract Accident and Emergency Unit is to temporarily close overnight from 10 pm. To read the full story click here. But essentially it is because there are not enough junior doctors to work in all three Accident and Emergency Departments to maintain a safe level of service to patients. The Trust denies that it is accelerating the closure of Pontefract A&E.

But a week later at the Trusts Public Board meeting it announced that it is considering proposals to change the way it provides services to patients in Dewsbury, Wakefield and Pontefract. To read the full briefing paper click here. In order to become a Foundation Trust, Mid Yorks needs to demonstrate that its services are financially and clinically viable. In a nutshell that means that it can live within its financial means (ie save £30 million a year) and make sure that its clinical services are safe and effective. The current configuration of services does not allow it to do this.

The Trust has produced five proposals that will reconfigure services. All of the proposals have Pontefract A&E becoming a Minor Injury Unit only and In-Patient Paediatrics being centralised at Pinderfields. Three of the options have the Consultant Obstetric Unit being centralised as well. To make room for all these services the options have various surgical units moving to Dewsbury and Pontefract. The Trust is currently consulting with staff and GPs to produce one preferred option that it will take to public consultation next year.

So, .... watch this space (again!).

DWP Vacancies in 2012

2011-10-25T04:25:00.000-07:00

In 2012 the GP Training School in Yorkshire and Humber will be offering 309 vacancies (compared with 255 eventually filled in 2011). Of these DWP has been asked to provide 35 rotations beginning in August 2012 and a further 4 beginning in February 2012. I have put the rotations together and you can view more details about our posts by clicking here

The rotations all have 18 months in hospital and 18 months in general practice. The last 12 months of the rotations are in one general practice training post. If you are interested in applying the deadline for applications is noon on Friday 9th December. If you would like anymore information about any of the posts then contact me by clicking here.

And of course DWP is a great scheme to apply to for many reasons - one of the best being that we have never had a single trainee fail because they failed CSA!

Smug eh!

2011-10-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all our trainees who have recently successfully passed CSA. We still have got a 100% pass rate with CSA (eventually ...). Or to put it a different way all of our trainees have eventually passed CSA and no one has failed to get a CCT because they have not passed CSA. A huge well done to our trainers, trainers and of course the TPDs who have been drilling our ST3 trainees in how to pass CSA.

Today I got some national CSA results sorted according to each Deanery. The mean pass mark was 55.2% - this is quite a bit lower than those in February or May - mainly because the September cohort is usually full of trainees who are resitting and the pass rate with CSA does not increase the more times you take it. But in this mean there were huge variations. For example in Oxford the pass rate was only 12.5% whereas in Yorkshire and Humber the pass rate was 64.7%.

One of my colleagues said today that all schemes should adopt our system. Train you like dogs and get you all to successfully jump through the hoops! But the real take home message to a wider audience is that if you are thinking of joining a GP Training Scheme then come to DWP because you will pass CSA. And that is a guarantee ...!

PSQ Fraud

2011-10-05T02:30:00.000-07:00

Just a quick reminder that PSQs need to be completed solely by patients and then every one that is completed needs to be entered onto your ePortfolio by an independent person ie not you.

Just for complete clarity it is fradulent to (1) help patients complete them (2) complete any yourselves (3) get a member of staff to complete them. These actions will get found out and will then inevitably lead to a referral to the GMC and some disciplinary action.

This should not need to be said but I thought I needed to make the above patently clear so that there is no doubt about this matter.

Oh dear, oh dear ....

2011-09-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

The overall pass rate for CSA in Yorkshire and Humber Deanery in 2010 was 84.5% according to the RCGP MRCGP Annual Report - click here to read the report in full. In the past no one on the scheme has failed CSA - but they may have had to take it several times to eventually pass it. The Training Programme Directors advise you to take the CSA at a stage in your training when you are able to have two attempts before the end of your scheme. This means that if you are finishing in July you should take it in February so that if you are not successful first time you have a second chance in May.

This will maximise your chances of passing it first time because you will have had more than six months in ST3 in preparation for CSA. I have heard of trainees who are in ST3 and have applied to do it in September or November. I wish you the best of luck but this is an expensive and high risk strategy. Remember you are only allowed four attempts so you could theoretically use all your attempts up in ST3 and have none in reserve.

I have in ST1 and ST2 tried to play down trainees anxieties about CSA but I think I may have been too laid back. Nearly one in eight trainees won't pass it without an extension of training so you need to treat the exam with respect and take it when you can maximise your chances.

Remember your TPD's know best!

Small Group Sessions on the website

2011-09-12T12:10:00.001-07:00

The programmes for the Thursday Whole Day Teaching sessions for hospital trainees and also the Tuesday afternoon Teaching session for trainees in their first GP training post are now up on the scheme website. To access the programmes click here for our download page and choose the one you are interested in.

I have got it!

2011-09-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

In the practice we have a 'Wednesday file' where we put random stuff that comes in the mail and once in a while we go through it at our Wednesday meeting - hence the name! Last week we were going through it and I came across a leaflet from Sheffield about how to obtain the Diploma of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare. This explained very clearly the steps you need to take. My five point check list is:

Register to do the DFRSH - click here for link - £60 registration fee
Successfully complete e-learning course e-SRH - free
Successfully complete 'Course of 5' seminars - typically £350
Complete clinical part of training - typically four sessions at £50 per session

You need to do them in the correct order and pass each component to get to the end and your DHSRH - easy peasy ...!

Or you could click here for more information from Sheffield Contraception and Sexual Health Services website.

New to scheme - you should have registered by now!

2011-08-30T02:17:00.000-07:00

Just a quick reminder that if you are new to the scheme you should have registered with the RCGP by now. You need to be registered to get and ePortfolio and start completing WPBA. If you have overlooked this then click here and register NOW!!!

The admin staff will shortly be chasing up new doctors who not registered, it will save us time and effort if you do it. You know it makes sense!

Educational Supervision

2011-08-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

All trainees are allocated an educational supervisor. Click here to go to our downloads page to obtain the list of supervisors and their supervisees. If you are new to the scheme you should contact your supervisor so that you can arrange a face to face meeting with them before the end of September. Click here to get to the GP Posts page on the website to find their contact details. If you are not sure where they are then the Google search button works on the website for trainers names.

You need to register with the RCGP NOW and once you have registered it takes a few days for the Deanery to up date your ePortfolio so that your educational supervisor can see your ePortfolio. If you have not yet registered with the RCGP then click here to get registered that you are undertaking GP training.

Warm welcome

2011-08-07T06:27:00.001-07:00

A very warm welcome to all new doctors to our scheme. I hope everyone is settling into their new posts. Just a quick reminder about when our small group training starts.

If you are in your first GP post then the first Tuesday HDR meeting is on Tuesday 9th August at Pinderfields Medical Education Centre. The session starts at 2.00 pm sharp.

If you are in ST3 then the first Tuesday HDR meeting is on Tuesday 9th August. We have split you into two groups - Group A meets at Kings Medical Centre, Normanton and Group B at Adwalton Surgery Drighlington. For directions or to check which group you are in click here. The groups have been chosen with care and no swaps between groups are allowed.

If you are in a hospital post the first whole day meeting is on Thursday 18th August at Kings Medical Centre, Normanton for trainees in Group A. For directions and to check which group you are in click here. Tea and coffee are available from 8.30 and the whole day training starts at 9.00 am sharp.

We look forwards to working with you and a very warm welcome to all new doctors to our programme.

Problems admitting patients

2011-08-01T01:59:00.000-07:00

Paul Carrotte and I have both had letters published in the BMA News Review this week. Click here to read the letters. The week before a junior surgical doctor had written complaining about GPs sending patients to hospital without first contacting the admitting doctor. Both Paul and I described our experience about how difficult it can be to get patients admitted. This will of course not be news to anyone who practices in our area but it is interesting that of the three letters published two were about the difficulties getting patients admitted to Mid Yorks.

Nuff said?

SJT scores, CSA preparation and targetted help!

2011-07-18T01:44:00.000-07:00

As you all may know I love TLAs (three letter acronyms) and this week I have found a new one. SJT (Situational Judgement Test) has been buzzing around the Programme Directors discussion groups like a bee around a honey pot. The Deanery is planning to use trainees SJT score to target resources for CSA preparation.

You won't know your SJT score but it comes from Stage 2 of the recruitment process. The National Recruitment Office has evidence that there is good correlation between trainees SJT score and their score at CSA. The Deanery wants to use this to target resources for CSA preparation. Currently the Deanery runs CSA Preparation courses open to everyone, but from August it is going to use SJT scores to plan capacity and ensure that those whose SJT scores are in the lowest 20-25% are the only ones who are invited to these course.

This is all new to us and of course there have been some issues. We have SJT scores for new trainees starting in August but these are not the trainees who need CSA preparation course - uhh! We are not sure how DWP should use this new information and we have not seen any published evidence about the correlation. Indeed we only had one doctor fail CSA last year so I am not sure what this can add.

But SJT scores are on their way - so this is a heads up!

Feedback from local ARCP panel

2011-07-08T04:49:00.000-07:00

At the Pontefract Trainers Workshop this week Jaz Walsh fed back about any issues arising from the recent local ARCP panels and this is a summary of what she said. Generally the evidence presented by trainees was a lot better in terms of doing more than the minimum and also the quality of the evidence. The only deficit was in the quality of some trainees PDP entries.

An ongoing issue is about who validates trainees professional competencies. On the Pontefract side of the patch we think that Educational Supervisors should read and validate competencies when trainees are in hospital posts but that Clinical Supervisors should do this for their own trainees. This is not happening at Wakefield and Dewsbury and the TPDs will be seeking some consensus from trainers in Wakefield and Dewsbury about what we should do in the future.

Overall feedback about trainees ePortfolios was that the were better, but remember the bar is always being raised!

Pause, reflect - now what!

2011-06-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

I went to a really interesting working group meeting yesterday discussing the future of GP Training in Yorkshire and Humber. I hope I added my tuppenneth but the really interesting news was where we are now after the pause and reflect time on the NHS changes.

Skills Networks have gone and the new kid on the block is the Local NHS Education and Training Board - forever known as LETB. In Yorkshire and Humber their will be one LETB with 3 hubs for West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and North East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (sound familiar ...!).

The LETB will have a programme board and on the board will be nine chief executives (or their deputies) from acute trusts - three per hub, but the acute teaching trusts will not necessarily have a seat on the board, and three primary care board members - one from each locality. The Deanery will be split into schools and each school is likely to be hosted by another NHS organisation.

It is unclear where the GP School will be hosted and it maybe an acute trust. The hosting trust would employ all trainees on training programmes and trainees would have a single contract with the hosting employer. This will make things a lot better for GP practices.

Things are certainly clearer for me now than they were yesterday - LET it Be!

Future of GP Training?

2011-06-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

In the recent paper produced by the DoH in response to the NHS Future Forum report there is more detail about what will happen to Deaneries. To read the full report click here and chapter 6 is concerned with Workforce Development and Training.

But the response comments that further work is needed to develop plans about how the workforce will develop to meet the needs of patients and communities, more clarify is needed about where accountability will lie and more detail about provider-led networks.

My reading of the response paper is that it highlights all of our concerns, sets out an agenda for what needs to be done but gives no clear guide about what will happen. Apart from the bland reassurance that Deaneries will remain within the NHS family.

So much more work to be done!

AKT feedback

2011-06-01T01:45:00.000-07:00

The RCGP has published feedback on the May 2011 AKT. It is a really useful document because it tells you what the examiners are thinking when they come to set the next lot of AKT questions. Briefly they listed the areas that candidates did poorly as: management of basic medical emergencies, treating symptoms which may affect terminally ill patients and eye emergencies. Undoubtedly these will all be tested in future exams - because that is what they do!

To read the full feedback click here.

NOE - all you need to know!

2011-05-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Its only three weeks before the ARCP panel. You should ALL have organised an ES review. This is just a quick reminder about NOE. This is compulsory and although it does not appear on the ePortfolio you will need to complete all the elements of NOE for satisfactory completion and transition to either CCT or the next year of training. Click here to read the NOE regulations on the Yorkshire and Humber Deanery website, but in summary you need to:

Three Significant Event Analysis per 6 months post filed under Significant Event Analysis in your ePortfolio
One Reflection on key learning from each post for each post. File under Courses/Certificates
One Audit or Reflection on QOF during your (preferably) first GP attachment. File under Audit/Project
One Case Study or Presentation per each six month post. File under Lecture/Seminar
Six OOH sessions per six months of General Practice. File under OOH.
Leave and complaints. File under Professional Conversations.

Easy really - just six steps to (ARCP) heaven!