NHS Education for Scotland
Minutes of the Foundation Programme Board
held on 16September 2014, at 2pm, in Room 5, Westport, Edinburgh
Present
Duncan Henderson (DH) Chair
Marlene Anderson (MA)
Jenny Hanslip (JH)Videoconference
Anthea Lints (AL)
David McQueen (DMcQ)
Gary Mires (GM)
Jill Murray (JM)Videoconference
William Reid (WR)
Andrew Todd (AT)Videoconference
Kim Walker (KAW)Videoconference
Apologies: Andrew Russell (AR).
In attendance: Steven Irvine (SI)
- Welcome and apologies
The group was welcomed to the meeting and the apologies were read.
DH reported that the F1 representative would continue on as F2 representative. DH willcontact the BMA for F1 trainee and student reps. DH will advise JM of the name of the F2 rep for the Foundation Doctors Advisory Board.
Action: DH
AT requested that minutes of the meeting are circulated earlier.
Action: DH
- Notification of AOB
DH added in QI workstream as item 4.8 and would raise the NES careers fair and report to MDET under AOB.
- Minutes of previous meeting – 17June 2014
The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as a correct record.
- Matters arising
- NES ePortfolio Board
WR was still waiting for the Terms of Reference from Caroline Lamb. The wider stakeholders board will meet less frequently and an operational group will meet more regularly.
NES is investing in ePortfolio and plans to enhance it. ePortfolio revenue has been addressed and it will be self-sustaining the future ie appropriate charges will be made for work undertaken. ePortfolio will remain on the agenda until it we have more information about a Foundation representative on the group.
Action: Agenda
AT expressed frustration at trying to get changes progressed through ePortfolio and some modules still said DOTS rather than LIFT. If certain deadlines are missed there can be months of delay. The costs of any changes are also very high. AT thought there should be an easier procedure for change requests. KAW agreed with the residual problem of updating of the modules from DOTS to LIFT. There were a few modules that needed to be removed and KAW will discuss with WR what needs to be done right now.
WR advised that the internal procedures are being looked at. WR asked AT to send him details of the LIFT modules requiring changes. He will pass this on to Alex Haig.
Action: KAW/AT/WR
It was noted that eLfH is extensively used by Foundation Doctors.
WR stated that some Colleges were now able to design their own forms in ePortfolio. ePortfolio was included in the NES Digital Strategy, which is still to be approved by the NES Board. JM reported that the Foundation School Managers were far happier with ePortfolio now.
4.2.Community posts
DH and KAW now have a meeting scheduled with colleagues in West Region to discuss the number of Community posts as they have the lowest % exposure for GP and psychiatry compared to the other Scottish regions. Whilst we are not affected by the mandate for the creation of community posts in England, there is support for community posts from both MDET and the Scottish Government. To expand access to these posts, the group will be discussing using all of the additional F2 posts from August 2015. DH will provide an update for the next Board.
Action: DH
AT and DH had already discussed with Ken Lee the possibility of additional F2 GP posts. There have also been initial discussions around specialties with exposure to conditions with long term management needs, such as diabetes. This would be discussed further at the meeting on 6th October.
4.3.Acute Service re-design in Glasgow
AT reported that the details of where each department was going kept changing and colleagues were finding it difficult to make plans for the move to the new hospital in May.
A document on the quality of training for all grades is being produced by the Deanery which may apply to the whole of Scotland. WR stated that this document will come to this group once it has been approved by MDET.
4.4.Medical Handover update
Ailsa Howie (AH) had completed the update of the module in time but because of delays adopting it into LIFT it had missed the 30 May deadline so it will not be in place until October. The FP leads had not been contacted by AH, however, JM had found out from colleagues that sessions had been run with trainees in her area. DH will write to AH for an update.
Action: DH
4.5.IFST
At the next Foundation School Directors meeting KAW plans to raise updating the Reference Guide regarding trainees who go on maternity leave. They obviously have their place on the Foundation Programme protected but do not necessarily return to the same job. It was also noted that medical students/medical schools should be aware that the criteria for an application under Special Circumstances differ from the criteria used for IFST ie someone could make a successful application via SC but be turned down for IFST. A recent example was noted. GM asked if this was becoming a significant issue. All agreed that it was not common and that Scottish Medical Schools had robust mechanisms for delivering advice to students. It was agreed that it would be helpful for the undergraduate schools to be made aware of the differences between IFST and Special Circumstances. KAW noted that the closing date for Special Circumstances is now the same that for the main Foundation application. Students have to choose the same first choice Foundation School on the SC and main application. This has not always been the case in the past.
The guidance around removal of programmes and long term sicknesswould also benefit from national review.
4.6.Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA) update
KAW has received a number of supportive responses to the letter she sent to the UK Foundation School Directorsaround the issues with the PSA. There is no appetite for the repeat of the poor implementation of the test this year. The FSD group / UKFPO are preparing a paper for the Medical Schools Council outlining their recommendations for the process next year.
In Scotland, trainees who hadn’t passed the PSA prior to Shadowing were required to sit the test, or an equivalent, before starting work. Those who still had not passed were instructed to complete all the LIFT prescribing modules. KAW will check if the PSA is going to be an FY1 requirement and report back to the group after the FSD meeting.
Action: KAW
WR thought that PSA was introduced to replace individual Schools’ assessments. KAW reported that the previous FSD minutes state that trainees should have passed PSA before entering the Foundation Programme. GM thought PSA and MSC-AA shared content for written and OSCE examinations were an approach to national assessment short of a national examination. DH stated that if all UK students are tested then it ensures fairness when requiring that overseas students are tested. Ultimately it is related to patient safety. Going forward, if the Foundation Schools are required to administer the test to a small number of new F1 trainees it would be helpful to have the option of two dates. KAW advised that shadowing week was not the appropriate time for PSA. KAW will seek clarity of where PSA sits.
4.7.Scottish Foundation School Communications
DH stated that there are normally good communication channels within the Scottish Foundation School. However, a recent issue had proved problematic for a number of people because of poor initial communication. He requested that early verbal communication rather than unhelpful emails would be the Board’s recommendation.
In a separate item, DH reminded the group of the recent problems of NES handling of a complaint around an IFST request. In short, the NES complaints team should have looked at process alone, but unfortunately felt that they should also comment on the initial panel decision and the appeal decision. Neither KAW nor DH had received a reply as to how this issue was being remedied. DH will discuss this with Stewart Irvine and report back to the Board.
Action: DH
4.8.Quality Improvement Workstream
DH and GM had been approached by the Professionalism and Excellence Group at the Scottish Government Health Department (SGHD)to lead on assessing current delivery and then harmonising UG and PG teaching around promoting QI. GM had discussed the NES Quality Outcomes Framework at SDMEG and all the Schools were happy to adopt theapproach of using this document in the scoping exercise. GM spoke to John Colvin who agreed to provide half the funding to appoint a clinical leadership follow post, to go round all the Schools and regions to assess current QI delivery. SDMEG has agreed to provide the remainder of the funding. It was anticipated that a trainee would go OOP in February to take up the post, which would allow time to set up the programme of work. KAW suggested a link to the curriculum and assessment group and the need for a second year of the programme to carry out any implementation. GM asked the group to ensure their have quality leads are sighted on this work. DH will circulate the NES Quality Outcomes Framework document to the Board. DMcQ suggested linking with the Medical ACT MoT project through Jayne Scott.
Action: DH
- 2014 Recruitment / Oversubscription planning
DH reported that one Medical School was still to submit their predicted 2015 output but nonetheless Foundation will be oversubscribed next year. DH hoped that funds would be made available for extra posts once the total numbers are known. Last year there were 45 extra F1 posts funded in Scotland and almost all were filled for the August start. KAW was concerned about expanding the number and not filling all the extra places. DH will revisit this with the Foundation Leads when the final number of students is known.
- Recognition of Trainers – Time tariff
GM and KAW reported no problems. DMcQ advised that a few trainers in Forth Valley had given up their role as Supervisors but these positions havenow been filled. GM stated that the GMC RoT Milestone 2 had been met. SDMEG and NES will prepare a joint return for the Milestone 3 questionnaire. SDMEG had been shown a template for a SOAR add-on to capture teachingand the Pinnacle database.
- Shape of Training (SoT) review
WR reported that a series of workshops was being held around the UK. The implementation will not start until next year to allow time to inform the four health departments and Ministers from the four Nations. A period of reflection and acceptance is needed to allow people to get out of the current paradigms and work out the benefits. The issue around timing of Full GMC Registration was still being discussed at a UK level. WR expected Foundation to continue as a two year programmein the new model and not fragment into an undergraduate year 6 and F2 as had been suggested by some. AL reported that awareness of SoT is low but also advised that SoT featured in the recent NES newsletter.
- FSD Committee
KAW highlighted an issue with FY2 trainees taking up a LAT post with another school in July / August. The FSD committee has agreed that no LAT posts are to be offered after the end of June to avoid churn of F2 training posts.
- Foundation Programme Groups
- Academic Group
KAW asked to discuss the value of academic posts to Foundation at the next meeting or once the outcome of recruitment is known, against the context of increased academic posts.
Action: Agenda
WR stated that the GMC would issue the report of their fact finding mission on academic training shortly. One of the recommendations will be to block trainees from taking on a four month lab block / non-clinical post at the start of their F1 training
The group discussed recommended exposure to academic training. DH stated that the percentage of academic trainees was specified in the HEE Better Training Better Care paper.
9.2.Curriculum and Assessment Group
9.2.1.Meeting held on 23 May2014
9.2.2.LIFT Editorial Group (LEG)
AT outlined progress with the LIFT project to review all the DOTS modules. Some were out of date and the project had been halted. KAW and Suzanne Navabian will review LIFT and how it can be progressed
9.3.Operations (FPOG)
The last FPOG meeting had been cancelled.
- Any Other Business
- DH did not think that the recruitment system for FPD’s worked very well because it often took longer than the three month notice period which meant there was no handover period. This problem was also found by the other regional representatives. DH will seek the views of the STB chairs on TPD recruitment at MDET. He will recommend an improved system which allows an advert and appointment to post within the three month notice period.
Action: DH
- Foundation has a stand at the careers fair on 20th September in Glasgow. AT has organised seven or eight Foundation trainees to attend. DH thanked colleagues for organising posters. GM reported there were about 480 delegates registered to attend.
- Date of next meeting
Thursday 4 December 2014, 2pm, Room 8 Westport, Edinburgh
Foundation Programme Board 16.09.141