CSA results - well done!

The latest CSA results came out last week and DWP has done spectacularly well (again !!!) Of the nineteen trainees currently in ST3 sixteen have now passed CSA - this is a pass rate of 85% - which is pretty damn good, in my opinion.

Commiserations to those who did not pass it this time, but DWP has a 100% pass rate of trainees taking CSA. Everyone who is coached, mentored (and even bullied) by the 'dream team' - Richard, Rosemarie and Jaz will eventually pass.

So well done to all those who have passed and good luck next time to those who did not.

The topic tutorial is dead ....

We had a very interesting Joint Trainers Workshop yesterday which was titled 'Helping Trainees with Difficulties'. I had invited Nick Whelan, the Deanery Performance Tutor, to come along and talk/be an expert resource. Nick meets all doctors who have failed one of the components of MRCGP and had some very helpful and useful insights in how to help trainees who are having difficulties.

There were actually two different agendas. Trainers and Educational Supervisors were interested in what to do with their trainees and supervisees who they thought were running into difficulties, whereas Nick was very keen to get trainers to do more consultation skills training. We spent some time looking at how we could do this.

One of the issues that arose was that trainers maybe spending more time on observing consultations for COTs and less on teaching consultation skills. There, of course, is a tension between assessment and teaching but it is clearly possible to teach consultation skills and do a COT with the same material. But the only way that we (as trainers) will have enough time to do this is to let some things go. One of the things we can let go of is the 'Topic Tutorial'.

The 'Topic Tutorial' is dead, long live 'Consultation Teaching'. Hip, hip, hurrah...

Recruitment update

Recruitment has now finished. At the final assessment centres 241 candidates were found to have achieved the competencies to be appointed and offers are in the process of being sent out to them. There were 300 vacancies so that leads about 60 rotations that have not been filled.

Last week we had an email from the Deanery asking us to suggest rotations that could be culled from our list of rotations because the Deanery has not got next years budget and is not sure whether their will be enough funding for a second round selection process.

This is nonsense - vacancies in hospital rotations will destabilise hospital departments, it risks demotivating GP trainers who have worked hard to create the extra capacity requested by the Deanery and we are moving to a NHS that is GP led so we should training more GPs, not less.

The GP part of the Deanery knows it makes sense to have a second round to fill our rotations - but if you have any influence you now know what to say!

Look after your bag, prescription pad and video ...

I have blogged about this before (click here for a previous blog about video security) but we have had another significant event where a trainees car was broken into and their medical bag and video camera were stolen from the boot of the car.

This exposes the trainee, trainer and practice to all kinds of unwanted attention.

• The theft of prescription pads has to be reported to the PCT as Serious Untoward Incident
• The theft of a video camera has to be reported to the PCT who then reported it to the Strategic Health Authority. Loss of tapes or cards with patient consultations on is another SUI
• There are issues about who is responsible for the loss of trainee medical bags.

So ....

Be very careful where you store cameras, bags and prescription pads, because if anything happens you are responsible for keeping them safe.