GP SCHOOL Newsletter March 2016
We would like to encourage you to contribute to this newsletter! So…. let us know about
any topics you would like covered in future editions – the contact details are the final item
below.
GP School Profile Series
This month we have a special profile feature on Dr Simon Downs and Dr Kate Wishart
who are both due to retire at the end of March. We wish them both well and hope that
they enjoy this new chapter in their lives!
Simon Downs – Associate Dean for Norfolk
Please give a brief description of your role here –
I started working in what was the East of England
Deanery as an Associate Adviser in 2002. The
deanery had expanded from Norfolk, Suffolk and
Cambridge to include Essex, Bedfordshire and
Hertfordshire.
As an Associate Adviser I had my own PA and covered
three training schemes with a total of 40 trainees.
There was no ARCP, no central recruitment, no eportfolio, no panels, no MMC and no practice visits.
Ten years later and I am looking at doing all the above
with no PA, 140 trainees and a need to increase the
training capacity but no increase in sessions to reflect
the change in role. There is a tipping point.
I have enjoyed the job. I became Deputy Director of
GP education (shortened to Deputy DOGPE) and was
fortunate enough to be involved in a number of
projects. With Nigel Towson, I developed an Associate Trainer Course, which has now
become the Generic Educators course at UEA, and formed the foundation to the OOH course
and the Associate Trainer course held in the East of England. We then developed the AT to T
course which has, so far, successfully allowed 75 Associate Trainers to become Trainers.
I led a project looking at caring for the dying. By educating health workers we found that the
numbers of people dying in their place of choice rose from 17% to 76% and yet other areas still
seem reluctant to adopt the work. It has won several awards and reached the final of the
Patient Safety Awards but it will take time for others to see the patient choice and cost
effectiveness of the approach.
What have been the highlights of your career?
My greatest achievement was being part of a gang of six who put together a bid for a new
medical school at Norwich. It was not designed to be a medical school intended to produce
general practitioners but I was allowed a lot of input as to the design of the course. It was a
very exciting time.
What will you not miss about work?
I will not miss the travelling. East of England is a big area. Even my patch covered Southwold
in the East, Wisbech in the West, Cromer to the North and Diss to the South. This does not
include trips to Stevenage, St Albans and Watford. I have seen the numbers of Trainers and
Associate Trainers rise so I am now approving and reapproving over 200.
I will miss the people - my colleagues in practice and the efforts which are put into providing
the right environment. I will miss the Director team and their industry and innovation.
What have you got planned for the first day of your retirement?
On the first day of my retirement I have promised to clear my study. It is called the ‘glory hole’
and my partner refuses to go in there. I have always foolishly stated that I would sort out the
study and my wardrobe when I retired. Luckily the day after my retirement is April 1 st!
Do you have any plans for this next chapter in your life?
My plan for the future is to buy a yacht to use mainly on the Norfolk Broads but which can go to
sea, if I have a good crew. I am looking at one at the moment. A tour of the pubs on the
Norfolk broads is my first navigation challenge.
I have children and grandchildren in Bangkok, Durban and London so I plan to see a bit more
of them and use them as bases to explore the areas.
Kate Wishart – Head of School
Please give a brief description of your role here –
I started as ‘Course Organiser’ then moved up to GP
Tutor for the HPE (Higher Professional Education)
scheme before being appointed Associate GP Dean for
Bedfordshire. I added Suffolk to my portfolio when we lost
Steve Lazar. I was promoted in January 2014 and
became Head of GP School in July 2015.
What have been the highlights of your career?
Being part of a great team of committed and supportive
people in this organisation
What will you not miss about work?
Getting up at 5am to avoid the traffic on the A14.
What have you got planned for the first day of your
retirement?
Absolutely nothing!
Do you have any plans for this next chapter in your life?
Too many to list – lots of music, a visit to my daughter in Peru, taking up neglected hobbies:
tennis, dressmaking, knitting, and doing lots of reading – and of course sleeping in late!
Upcoming Events for 2016
The Spring Symposium: Leadership for Learners.
This year our Symposium will be held at the Stansted Hilton on 16 and 17 March 2016. We will
look at how leadership in its widest sense, both for and by our learners, can make a difference
to our educational community and the populations we serve. This Symposium is open to all
who are involved in primary and community care education. The flyer, programme and
booking form can be found here on our website.
Places are still available but these are filling up fast, so please send in your booking
form and payment to secure a place!!
The Primary Care: Future Workforce Event will take place at the Radisson Blu Hotel,
Stansted on 30 March 2016.
During this interactive event we will discuss how we assess, plan and develop the future
primary care workforce across the east of England. There will be interactive workshops and
market stalls giving you face to face access to key figures in primary care and providing you
with an opportunity to share your vision of primary care. Further details can be found here.
The GP Open Day will take place at The Rowley Mile Racecourse on 8 June 2016.
Further information regarding the afternoon will follow shortly, for now, please put this date in
your diary.
Upcoming Courses
Information on courses and events organised and run by HEEoE can be found here .
Please email us at [email protected] if you would like to be added to a
waiting list.
OOH CS to AT Conversion Course
Please be advised that the Out of Hours Clinical Supervisor to Associate Trainer Conversion
Course 2016 is now live. Please be advised that although the OOH CS to AT course will
prepare for your application, approval is NOT included in the day. Additional information on
the course and how you can apply is available here on our website.
Edward Jenner Programme
We would like to congratulate Dr Janet Rutherford for her successful completion of the
Launch and Foundation levels of the Edward Jenner Programme!
The Edward Jenner Programme is a great opportunity for those looking to build a foundation
in leadership skills. If you are interested in learning more about the Programme please visit
the website here.
Stop Press – CSA results and CQC outcomes
Just to say the latest cohort sitting the CSA had a fantastic 91% pass rate – well done to all!
And…. CQC visits have been mounting up in our region and it is fantastic to see the vast
majority of practices graded as good…. Nationally over 90% of practices are graded ‘Good’
and of course we have a significant number of ‘Outstanding’ inspection results. Again this is
testament to the high quality of primary care in the east of England, despite the overwhelming
challenges we have been facing over the last few years.
Maternity Leave and Accrued leave
Accrued annual leave associated with maternity leave is part of that maternity leave and
should not be counted as part of annual leave associated with training time. Therefore, it
represents time out of training. The training time for calculating CCT dates should be
restarted only when the trainee recommences work after maternity leave.
Progress Reports
Can TPDs and GPST administrators please ensure that a Progress Report is emailed to the
assessment team at HEE whenever a trainee is attending a face to face ARCP panel. These
reports give the panel a useful insight into the background to that trainee as well as the local
thoughts on what might help next. The report can be found here on our website.
Gold Guide version 6
A new version of the Gold Guide has been launched and you can access this here.
The main changes are:
6.39 National Training Number (NTN) withdrawal – now includes interim orders suspension
from the GMC register prior to formal medical practitioner tribunal service decisions
6.85 & 6.86 Less than full time trainees should have pro rata extensions for inadequate
training competence progression but a fixed term basis for exam failure
7.51 Matters of clinical safety or perceived undermining raised in ARCP panels must be
referred to the PG Dean. Educational and clinical governance policies must be known and
followed by trainees and made explicit by placement providers in inductions.
7.71 Greater clarity about who should receive ARCP outcome forms
7.86 Introduction of the training “pause” as a term for a variety of situations when a trainee is
not in a placement contributing to programme progression. This is equivalent to the old gold
guide phrase of “stopping the clock on training”.
7.135 With the agreement of a trainee an appeal of an ARCP outcome can now be held
virtually with written submissions.
We will discuss these changes further as more clarity about the impact on GP specialty
training emerges.
New Community Education Provider Networks
As you know we were able to appoint Central Essex (three CCGs), Great Yarmouth and
Suffolk in the first round bidding process just after Christmas.
We have now been able to approve unanimously CEPNs in the following areas:
Greater Peterborough
Bedfordshire
Herts Valleys CCG
East and North Herts
West Norfolk
In addition we have given Provisional CEPN designation to West Cambridgeshire on
condition that a further and collaborative bid is submitted within the next 8 weeks. This has
been discussed and is fully supported in the C&P workforce partnership. In general the bids
were of a very high standard and reflected the diversity of the health care system.
Development of the School of Primary Care
We are pressing on with converting the GP School in to the East of England School of
Primary Care. The idea is that it is much easier for all colleagues to have a single educational
organiser for all the different learners in primary care, including GP trainees, student and postregistration nurses, clinical pharmacists and physician’s associates. We need to ensure there
is one set of standards and assessment of the clinical learning environment for all the different
disciplines.
We have strong support within HEE for this change; an integral part of the work is the
conversion of TPDs and Tutors to primary care educators, dedicated of course to their current
role. 10% of pre-registration nurse placements are now in general practice with another 23
practices commencing soon.
In addition early contacts between colleague Tutors from the Centre for Pharmacy
Postgraduate Education with GP TPDs and Tutors in relation to local clinical pharmacist pilot
sites are starting to demonstrate the opportunities for inter-professional education.
Discussions are continuing and we will bring you more news in due course.
Primary Care Workforce Development
As you know the team has been undertaking a huge amount of work to try and support
workforce development in primary care. A new primary care newsletter was distributed last
month and we are shortly going to launch a new primary care website. There is a wonderful
short video suitable for social media and all sorts of other platforms (you might consider
putting it on your information system in the waiting room) available here .
Book Review
Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End. Atul Gawande (2014).
London: Profile Books.
This book is a fascinating account of the way in which western society has medicalised death
and mortality, almost making it something to 'survive' at all costs. Gawande uses personal
experiences to look at the human costs of this approach and to contrast that with a more
honest one based on helping people to understand the realities of their situation, to vocalise
their hopes and fears for the remainder of their life, and to determine what trade-offs they are
prepared to accept to try to achieve those hopes. Whilst he supports the development of the
hospice movement, he also feels that there will only be cause for celebration when all doctors
adopt this approach with all patients. Food for thought - what do we need to change as a
profession to make that happen, and how can we as educators help to bring that about?
Feedback, Suggestions, Sharing Good Practice
If you have any feedback or anything you would like to be considered for the newsletter please
forward to [email protected] with the subject NEWSLETTER. We look
forward to hearing from YOU…...