Key News
FTSU Policy Launch
Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub (CWTH) have launched a new Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Policy for General Practice.
Alongside the policy, we are introducing our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, Mai Elftise, whose role will be to support you to speak up if you feel unable to do so by other routes. You can contact Mai via pcftsu.guardian@nhs.net and further information on the role can be found in the policy.
New to Practice Fellowships – Update
You may have heard that NHSE have confirmed that the New to Practice Fellowship (NtPF) will be closing to new applicants. If you are a current fellow on the New to Practice Fellowship, please be assured that this will continue for the full two years as originally offered.
If would like to join the last cohort of the New to Practice Fellowship here in Coventry & Warwickshire, starting April 2024, you need to be a GP, employed substantively in C&W, either within 12 months post CCT or due to CCT prior to 31.03.24. Please register before 1st March 2024 to secure your place and benefit from the full two-year programme.
Primary Care Strategy Development – Questionnaire
We are asking Primary Care to support the Primary Care Strategy Development and complete a short survey to gain feedback.
This is your opportunity to share your views and ideas. We need all aspects of General Practice to feedback so we capture the breadth of views and ensure the strategy clearly articulates the current position and future aspirations for General Practice.
Diabetes UK – Clinical Champions Programme
Diabetes UK have announced that applications for their Clinical Champions Programme are now open!
It’s a free opportunity for healthcare professionals from across the UK to develop leadership skills and build a support network to make diabetes care fairer and better. For more information, please see the flyer below or click here for the application pack.
Medical Education Team
Primary Care in Practice
Primary Care in Practice (PCiP) is designed to help navigate the world of Primary Care sharing insights into Population Health, Integrated Care Systems, Primary Care Networks and Finance in primary care. It will also cover leadership and coaching and mentoring.
This programme is open, free of charge to everyone new to Primary Care in Coventry and Warwickshire. The sessions will be held live, hosted by local GPs Maria Ceurstemont and Sarah Hall. They will be held as a combination of virtual sessions (through Zoom) and face-to-face sessions.
The next Primary Care in Practice session will be held on the 21st February at The Warwickshire. The topic for this session will be ‘Communication in Primary Care’.
February 2024 – PLT Sessions
- 8 February – RUGBY PLT Early Intervention Team & Colorectal cancer update
- 8 February – RUGBY NURSE PLT Infection Control
- 21 February – COVENTRY PLT In-House (this will include Nurses)
- 28 February – SW PLT Greener Primary Care (this includes Nurses)
- 28 February – WN PLT Safeguarding Level 3 (this includes Nurses)
Health and Wellbeing
Mental Health Skills: Managers & Leaders
We are pleased to share an opportunity for managers and leaders within your PCN and Practice to register for the accredited Mental Health Skills for Managers training delivered by MINDs workplace mental health experts.
With the demands on general practice remaining high there is a clear need to focus on looking after yourself and your teams.
This training workshop is centered around supporting you and by attending, you will learn to:
- Identify if an employee may be experiencing mental health issues
- Feel confident having open conversations about mental health
- Appropriately signpost to available support and know where to go for support and guidance for yourself
- Role model good self-care practice, inspiring your team to look after their own mental health and wellbeing
Training will take place during PLT, we aim for sessions to be face to face but there may be occasions when they are virtual.
Places are limited, please select the correct link below to register your interest
How to deal with stress and anxiety
This month’s work well webinar is on Tuesday 13th February at 7.30pm
At this interactive webinar, we will explore the emotions that professionals working on the frontline experience and we will offer strategies and tips to take control of your stress and anxiety.
You’ll learn:
- The common emotions we experience and how we try to deal with them
- How these emptions can be helpful, or how they can hold us back
- Some simple strategies and tips to manage your anxiety and other emotions
If you work in a high-pressure role where things can get stressful quickly, it’s crucial you understand how to manage your emotions, and how you can support those around you to respond better too.
Health and Wellbeing Champions
If you are interested in:
- Promoting health and wellbeing within your organisation
- Supporting your colleagues with 1:1 wellbeing conversations
- Developing wellbeing initiatives and events to support building a happy healthy workplace…
Please get in touch!
We don’t always reach everyone via this newsletter so please share the poster below with your colleagues who are passionate about Health and Wellbeing (HWB).
For further information on the role, please contact Rita Roberts via rita.roberts6@nhs.net
Big Savings & Mental Health support – all in one place!
Vivup is your employee assistance programme, it’s free for anyone working in General Practice across Coventry and Warwickshire to access.
If you haven’t registered yet…it takes 2 minutes to pop your details in and you have access to mental health support, financial wellbeing advice and lifestyle savings…
To register, click here and remember you must register using the organisation name ‘Coventry and Warwickshire -General Practice…’ to have access to all of the relevant benefits and features.
Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
What’s the difference between anti-racism and race equity?
Book your place on Activate, the King’s Fund new anti-racist leadership development programme in collaboration with brap.
Through a combination of workshops and learning sets you will explore how you can see differently, respond differently and lead differently when it comes to anti-racism.
How can we tackle racism in medicine – with Dr Chaand Nagpaul
‘Talking General Practice’ speaks to former BMA chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul about the extent of the problem of racism in the medical profession and what we can do to address this.
He talks about the impact racism has on doctors, how it affects patient care and how we can address differential attainment in medical exams and disparities in GMC referrals, as well as the importance of having more leaders in medicine from different ethnic groups
The Big Coffee Break welcomed the research team behind the ‘Addressing Unprofessional Behaviours’ guide.
Training & CPD
CPD Funding – 2023/24
As training and education slowed down during the winter period, we would like to take this opportunity to ask you to encourage your eligible staff to use their £333 CPD funding by the end of March 2024.
Please review the range of training and education sessions available via the Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub calendar which can be found here
Training and CPD Calendar
Our calendar shows upcoming training and education events for all workforce roles across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Browse the calendar by date or search by keyword, then click on the event to find out more information, such as the location, times, cost, and how to book!
Learning and Development Opportunities
Mentoring Scheme – For GPs, PMs & Nursing Staff
Regular mentoring can help you with a range of professional issues.
You might like to chat with a colleague about your role and get support with career development, discuss how to handle a working relationship or ask for well-being advice.
For information on each of the mentoring schemes we run, please click on the links below
New to Practice Fellowship – GP/GPNs
Are you a GP who has recently qualified – or a Practice Nurse who has recently joined the Primary Care workforce?
The New to Practice Fellowship provides you support to transition from training to employed members of the primary care team.
Please register before 1st March 2024 to secure your place and benefit from the full two-year programme.
For information on each of the mentoring schemes we run, please click on the links below
ARRS News
Pharmacy Technician Away Day
Last Friday saw our Pharmacy Technician Ambassador, Donna Towers, hosting an away day for all our Coventry and Warwickshire PTs. Including discussions on new Pharmacy programmes, including Pharmacy First and promoting the Pharmacy Technician role, the event was a great success.
Limb Examination Training
Earlier in January, our Paramedic and FCP Ambassadors hosted a Limb Examination session at Coventry University. This session covered how to perform a comprehensive limb examination to improve patient care.
This event was well received by all who attended and we look forward to future sessions.
GP News
Middle(Twenty)5
‘The Best We’ – Wednesday 28th February
Join us for a networking event to connect with other mid-career GPs across the Coventry and Warwickshire area.
This event will feature a workshop from Dr Amar Rughani, a former practicing GP, who helped develop GP assessments and the RCGP curriculum. They also co-authored a book with Joanna Bircher called the ‘The Leadership Hike’.
Locum Champion – Welcome!
The Training Hub would like to welcome Dr Chris Boyson to our team. Chris will be joining as our Locum Champion, working to develop a local GP Locum Network across Coventry and Warwickshire. Please see below for a short introduction from Chris.
I am Dr Chris Boyson and am here in my role as Locum Champion of Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub. I have only ever worked as a doctor in the Midlands, from day 1 as an FY1, (excluding 6 months in Australia!) through to my current portfolio career, based in Warwick. I am here as an advocate for sessional GPs and work with the Training Hub to help support and integrate our locums. Please do contact me if you have any suggestions, or would simply like a chat: c.boyson@nhs.net
To join the Coventry and Warwickshire Locum Network, please fill out this form.
International Medical Graduates
The aim of the International Medical Graduate (IMG) Scheme is to create awareness for IMG GPs that there is support specifically targeted to cater to their needs post-CCT, to create opportunities for networking with colleagues/peers who share similar experiences, and to encourage them to access wider Training Hub offers.
To take part in group discussions, access peer support, and receive up-to-date information on IMG Scheme events, you can subscribe to updates from the IMG scheme by clicking here.
Parental Leave Support Network
The next support circle is on the 27th February, starting at 10am at Kenilworth Methodist church. Please join the WhatsApp group if you are a GP who is on parental leave or just returned to work, so we can share parental advice and learning events.
For more resources around parental leave, please visit our webpage.
GPN News
Nursing Team – Contacts
The GPN Retention Fellows will be actively involved in various aspects of general practice nursing to aid in the implementation of retention initiatives. To contact them, please see below.
GPN Recognition
This year, we want to celebrate the huge wealth of experience and commitment given by Nursing Teams across Coventry and Warwickshire, and to thank you for your service.
If you or a colleague within your Nursing team (HCA, NA, Practice Nurse, ANP, ACP) have completed 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 years of General Practice service, or are due to retire within the next six months, or you have just completed your first year as a Practice Nurse, we wish to celebrate this with you.
Please email kate.freeman3@nhs.net with yours or your colleague’s details
Late-Career Nurses – EOI
Are you a late career Nurse thinking about flexible retirement in the next five years and what roles may be available to you on a temporary basis?
Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub would like to explore interest in creating a resource that links / introduces experienced General Practice Nurses (GPNs) and Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) in primary Care with GP practices in the coventry and warwickshire area that may require your valuable skills on an ad hoc/temporary basis.
For more information and to express your interest, please see the attached document.
Core Competency Framework
HEE are encouraging nurses to view and use the core competency framework for Primary Care to understand and guide development of Nursing Teams in General Practice.
This framework sets a standard and offers the opportunity for nurses at all levels to develop and evidence their knowledge and skills, enabling the highest standards of practice as well as providing a structure for career and role development within primary care.
tNA Expressions of Interest – Students
We are welcoming expressions of interest from applicants for the next intake of the tNA apprenticeships at Coventry University. Please scan the QR code on the flyer or contact us for more information.