Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub – September Newsletter

Supporting your people – Health and Wellbeing Champion Pilot

Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub would like you to join us in welcoming Laura Williams, who will be leading on a pilot as a Health and Wellbeing Champion to support all staff working in PCNs and Practices across C&W that don’t currently have a Health and Wellbeing Champion.

The pilot will run from 1^st September to 31^st March 2026 and has been introduced as staff wellbeing across general practice in Coventry and Warwickshire has been highlighted as an area that requires support. This has been echoed in the most recent general practice staff survey.

All PCNs and Practices without a Health and Wellbeing Champion have been sent an email with our offer of support and Laura will be in touch shortly to discuss next steps. For any questions please contact us via cw.traininghub@nhs.net

Quality Assured Learning Environments – Congratulations!

Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub would like to formally congratulate the below PCN’s and Practices on becoming fully ratified Learning Environments via the Training Hub Quality Assurance team and NHSE.

The PCN’s and Practices have taken invaluable steps through their dedication and patience to complete the application process, working alongside their Learning Assurance & Placement officer (LAPO) from the Quality Assurance team.

This adds another layer to ensuring high quality student experiences within general practice, and is becoming the normal process to follow prior to Training Practice status from the GP School. It encompasses a multi-disciplinary format to assess learning culture, supervisor support and ability to grow the next generation of staff within general practice.

The Quality Assurance team are working at pace to increase the number of NHSE quality assured PCN’s and Practices throughout Coventry and Warwickshire, with many already at various stages of application, meaning there will be more announcements to look forward to in the coming months.

If you have any questions about the process or would like more information please do reach out to Gemma Stainthorp, Quality & Operational Lead, who will be more than happy to discuss your options, the process as a whole or signpost to your relevant LAPO.

Future Leaders Programme

We are pleased to announce, following resounding feedback from the first round,  that applications to the next cohort of our  Future Leaders Programme are now OPEN. 

CWTH recognise that there are some people that may wish to start on their leadership journey,  but are not sure where to start. This programme, which seeks to support delegates in taking those first steps,  is ideal for self-development and investing in your future as a leader. It is available to the entire General Practice workforce in Coventry and Warwickshire. 

The programme includes exploring the type of leader you think you are or want to become, gaining insights into your personality and strengths, and starting to explore leadership theory and how to affect change, and some coaching tools. Local and national speakers and facilitators will guide you along the way during sessions.

Our programme is a free, six-session, face-to-face series running from January to June 2026. It is open to everyone who may be considering a leadership journey.

Places are offered via an application process, with 20 spaces available. Delegates are expected to attend all 6 sessions.

Applications will close on the 31st of October, and successful applicants will be informed by 7th November. For more information, and to apply, please click here or the poster below.

Skilled Worker Visa Reimbursement Scheme

We are pleased to announce that the Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub (CWTH) Visa Reimbursement Scheme has now been approved. This scheme is designed to support the recruitment and retention of General Practitioners with Skilled Worker visas, by offering financial reimbursement for associated visa costs. 

This is a one-off offer for individual GPs for 2025/26. More detailed criteria and information on how to apply can be found here.

If you are a practice/PCN seeking reimbursement, please click here.

To be eligible for this scheme, General Practitioners must have:

• A CCT Completion Date between 1 April 2024 and 31 July 2025. CCT date has been set at 31.07.25, to cover the last year’s activity. However if your CCT date is up to, and including 30.11.25, please still apply and we will give due consideration where possible.
• Must hold a permanent or fixed-term contract at a GP practice or Primary Care Network in Coventry & Warwickshire at the time of application. This includes applicants employed directly by CRGPA, SWGP or IPC.

Key Timelines

• Practice Sponsorship Licence applications close: 30th September 2025
• Individual visa reimbursement applications close: 30th November 2025

General Practice Staff Survey – Submission Deadline

The deadline for staff list submissions is Monday 15 September.

We’re delighted to share that out of 119 practices across Coventry & Warwickshire, 55 practices have already signed up for this years General Practice Staff Survey, a huge uptake! If your practice hasn’t submitted a staff list yet, there’s still time to make sure you’re included.

Last year’s survey results were extremely well received, with feedback showing how valuable the reports were in helping practices focus on areas such as staff wellbeing and improvements for teams.

This year’s survey is scheduled to go live in early to mid-October (exact date to be confirmed). Practices that have signed up will be notified as soon as the launch date is set.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to all those practices that have already submitted their staff lists and committed to taking part in GPSS 2025.

 For further information, please contact pinky.sidhu2@nhs.net 

Delivering STOMP through SMRs

Working with CWPT, the Health Innovation Network Medicine Safety programme and CPPE, our delivering STOMP through SMRs workshop is designed to help equip attendees with the knowledge and skills to feel confident to make appropriate interventions and reduce inappropriate prescribing in patient with learning disabilities.

This event is open to anyone who works with patients with learning disabilities in practice, particularly CPs, GPs and ANPs.

Event Agenda

• Session 1 – 1.15pm to 1.45pm – STOMP – Prescribing Psychotropics to People with Learning Disabilities – Why primary care medicines optimisation can make a huge impact
• Speakers – Dr Hassan Mahmood (Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Learning Disability Services at Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust) and Sarfraz Bolia (Chief Pharmacist at Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust)
• Session 2 – 2pm to 2.45pm – Speaker – Emma Barnes MRPharmS DipClinPharm FHEA, CPPE Regional manager, West Midlands
• Consulting skills and learning opportunities for medicines optimisation for people with learning disability.
• Session 3 – 3pm to 3.30pm – STOMP – Medicines optimisation and having support across the integrated system.
• 4.50pm – Closing reflections and feedback

Coventry and Warwickshire FCP Supervisor’s Training Afternoon

An afternoon of training for prospective and current FCP supervisors

Have you completed your stage 1+2 FCP roadmap training

Or….

• Are you a registered Advanced Practitioner
• A GP
• A clinician with a post reg MSc?

If so join us for a hybrid in person/virtual FCP supervisor session where you will learn how to supervise FCPs in Primary Care.

To register for the Virtual Session please use RegisterVirtualSession. To book onto the in-person event, please click the button below.