E-LEARNING
Preparing for the next step O
ne health authority which is currently leading the way in
terms of PCT to GP knowledge transfer is NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent, which is running a programme which actually dates back to well before the election.
“The training was set up just over a year ago as a pilot by ourselves and the Kent, Sussex and Surrey Deanery,” says Hazel Carpenter, director of workforce and organisation development at NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent.
“There were two reasons for setting it up originally. Firstly, the Deanery were looking to increase their placement capacity so that there would be more places for GPs to get their training. From our perspective, we wanted to ensure that GPs would have the opportunity to discover the kinds of roles which were available to them in commissioning right from the start of their training.
“Obviously, this is pre-white paper and represents the approach which we have always taken with regards to working in partnership with clinicians. It is just an extension of that really.”
One issue which the PCT faces is that Kent is surrounded on three sides by the sea and this programme offered an opportunity to address the recruitment issues which that presented.
“Attracting and retaining talent can present a challenge. So by developing this programme, it gave us an opportunity to develop the talent and leadership ‘pipeline’, especially in terms of
28 nhe
future commissioning medical directors. These positions will now be in GP commissioning consortia but this programme still offers a good opportunity to identify future leaders whilst they are young.”
Ironically, whilst the One of the main
challenges in all of this is making the training programme sustainable
government’s white paper will eventually lead to the dissolution of NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent, it has had the opposite effect on this programme.
“It is interesting, really, because just before the white paper was announced we had reached a point of evolution in terms of this programme and so were considering its future. If anything, the government’s white paper has made it even more relevant and breathed even more life into it.
“Now we are in discussions with the strategic health authority about how we can take it from a pilot stage and develop it into something a bit more robust and sustainable that will enable GPs during their training to get the necessary experience in areas such as service redesign, service change, public health and the wider determinants
The hand over of responsibility for commissioning from primary care trusts to GP consortia will require a huge amount of knowledge transfer over the next couple of years, reports Richard Mackillican
of health and the social care agenda. These are all bound up in commissioning and so it has made the programme even more important really.”
So what does this training involve?
“When GP trainees are undertaking their training they spend several years firstly in hospital acute and mental health settings, from which they go out into a GP practice in their third year. As part of our programme, they spend two days a week for the first four months of their year in GP practice at the PCT, one day working with our lead commissioners on a specific commissioning project.
“This gives them first hand experience of commissioning and what it involves, whilst also giving them the chance to bring their clinical knowledge to that process at the same time. The other day is then spent doing a variety of things including facilitated learning sets and specific training sessions which have been tailored to their particular curriculum.
“We also bring them together with general management and public management trainees to facilitate cross learning. The GP trainees shadow board members and attend board committees - specifically those committees where we have senior GPs on the committees, so that they can understand why the commissioning process is so important.
“The four months is a journey which begins with them feeling unsure as to why they are even
Nov/Dec 10
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