NHS Education for Scotlandogp.14.07

NHS Education for ScotlandOGP.14.07

Minutes of the meeting of the Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Paediatrics Specialty Training Board held at 1.30 pm on Friday28 March 2014 in Room 1, Westport, Edinburgh

Present: Jane Montgomery (JM)Chair, Claire Alexander (CA), Andrew Eccleston (AE), Moya Kelly (MK), Katherine Lawlor (KL), Chris Lilley (CL), Peter MacDonald (PM), Alastair McLellan (AMcL), John Morrice (JM), Rowan Parks (RP) left after Item 7.

By videoconference: Laura Armstrong (LA),Richard Ferguson (RF).

Apologies: Ian Bashford (IB), Phil Booth (PB), Claire Bulloch (CB), Catherine Calderwood (CC), Tacey Cameron (TC), Roderick Campbell (RC), Hilary MacPherson (HM), Kate McKay (KM), Susan Nicol (SN), Phil Owen (PO), Katrina Shearer (KS).

In attendance: Paola Solar (PS).

1. Welcome and apologies

The Chair read the apologies and welcomed the group to the meeting.

A special welcome was given to Katherine Lawlor who has substituted Birgit Weffers as TPD for the East of Scotland. Elma Stephen will substitute Phil Booth as TPD for the North of Scotland but she has conveyed her apologies.

Dr Weffers and Dr Booth were thanked on behalf of the group for their contribution.

1. Minutes of meeting held on 14 November 2013

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as a correct record.

1. Matters arising / Action points
2. CCH posts

PM reported that this issue had been discussed in the morning Paediatrics Subgroup meeting. A letter was sent to the College asking for guidance about the curriculum to CCH. The reply indicated that it should follow the grid training programme, although there was some reassurance that there is no need for the three years to be in CCH.

The subgroup had noted that any three year training will in practice take five calendar years to complete.

It had been decided to advise trainees to apply early to the grid, to start at ST6. They can then decidelater, before their third year of grid training what path to follow, in view of job development and Service requirements in Scotland.

JM indicated that she had enquired the Service about what will be the future service needs in terms of CCH but had had no reply. The informal feedback was that some Health Boards will come to the TPDs to enquire about the final year trainees and their intentions, in order to offer posts to attract them.

3.2.LTFT consistency

The paper from the four Associate Deans had gone to MDET and it had been well received. MDET were aware of the importance and service impact of the issue. However, the numbers used on the paper were not consistent with the ones provided by Duncan Keith, so more work on the paper will be needed to make it a robust case for MDET to back up.

It was acknowledged that there were ad hoc local solutions but this was not sustainable.

Once the numbers are clear, MDET will take the paper to Caroline Lamb to find a solution.

MDET was committed to find a consistent solution for the whole Scotland.

1. Shape of Training report – STB response

MDET has requested a response from each STB to the Shape of Training report.

The group noted that there were both positive and negative aspects to the report. Both Paediatrics and O&G stated that the trained doctor who would come out at the end of a 5 year generalist training period would not be the same as what is now called a competent consultant.

AMcL noted that the only voice against the report so far was coming from the BMA, who will be running an “anti” campaign shortly. There is wide acceptance in the four nations: it is almost a given that the recommendations are going to happen. The Scottish Government and NES want to see if there are any opportunities to implement the recommendations in a Scottish way. They would like to take advantage of intelligence within the organisation, in the STBs for example, to take this forward.

1. Inter-Regional Transfers in the Single Deanery

MK had drafted a paper for MDET which was very well received, and with a few amendments it will be ready to be applied as a policy from August as soon as it is ratified at the April meeting of MDET.

The same principles and criteria used for UK IDT are applied, but with flexibility on the dates. There are no windows of application and it will be on a “first come, first served” basis.

There is a recognised issue where there are trainees who meet the criteria but there are no posts available for the transfer. There is an opportunity to think about putting forward posts for IRT in the future.

1. GMC Recognition of Trainers

AMcL reported that Gillian Needham and David Bruce were leading on this work. A Scottish Trainers Framework was being created with Jayne Scott’s help to provide a cohesive strategy for Scotland. By 31 July the four roles defined by the GMC need to be provisionally or fully recognised with the GMC. By July 2016 all trainers will have to be fully recognised by the GMC.From NES’ point of view, the main posts are Educational and Clinical Supervisors. The appraisal and approval process will be done through SOAR, which will have a special Trainers tab.

DMEs and Health Boards are working on the identification of all their Trainers. One of the consequences of this work will be that consultants will have to have time put aside for this work in their job plans, which will translate into higher costs for the Health Boards. If this does not happen the side effect will be that consultants will be less inclined to take on ES and CS roles.

To clarify, the ES looks after the trainee during their whole training time, while the CS is the placement Supervisor. It was pointed out that many people do both roles at the same time.

1. QM: SSQ Reports

The group discussed the usefulness of these reports, both in terms of questions and of trainee participation. The questions had been provided by the Colleges and the group felt that some of them were not clear and relevant enough. It was also noted that not all trainees had replied to all questions and this can make a big difference in results. For example, the charts suggested that Child Protection is an issue, but neither CL nor PM have heard of any concerns about it.

It was agreed that these reports, which are complimentary to the NTS, have the potential to be very useful but will have to be looked at in detail at deanery level, by the TPDs. They will then contact their QM regional teams to see if there is anything that needs to be taken forward.

Action: TPDs

1. Recruitment update
2. Report from Subgroups

Paediatrics

• PM reported that a new lecturer had been appointed for three years to help develop the programme. He will start in August.
• ST1 and ST2 recruitment had gone very well with all posts filled in Round 1 bar one ST2 in the North that had to be recycled at ST1.The interviews for ST3 and ST4 will take place in London on 30 April and 1 May. They would try to retain current LATs in Scotland.
• The GMC had published all UK ARCP outcomes reports, which showed a variation within the Scottish regions. The TPDs were going to break down the data into LATs, STs and levels of training, in order to tease out the reason for the variation and to put in place a more consistent approach.
• AMcL invited contributions as to marketing of the specialty to the Scottish Careers. CL and Laura Hammond will lead on this work.

• In the recruitment for subspecialty training there had been seven posts offered to the grid in Scotland in total, all filled with Scottish trainees. Another one had been exported to England and two had been unsuccessful.
• The subgroup discussed having more focused meetings in the future to encourage attendance. They will set specific subjects, for example Academic training will go to the December agenda, with topics related to it and College members invited individually. Safeguarding training was another topic that will be discussed in the future. The group had decided that it would be good to have a half day meeting with the subspecialty training leads across Scotland, before the deadline for recruitment numbers.

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

• LTFT and gaps, running at 10-15% across the UK and this was affecting training as trainees are pulled in to cover service. Some places had developed rotas that allow to fill with those gaps. The subgroup had noted that an open dialogue about raising the quality of training was needed.
• Simulation was rapidly gathering pace – there had been a very useful meeting with representatives from across Scotland to make it more accessible for all trainees.
• All posts had been filled except some LATs in the West of Scotland.
• The effectiveness of the Subgroup had been discussed. They had considered the possibility to have more focused meetings to improve attendance. The subgroup might also meet at an earlier date, before the STB, rather than on the same day.

1. Report from Liaison Dean

AMcL reported that he was involved in the organisation of the first Scottish Medical Training Careers Far, which will take place on Saturday 20 September at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. The aims of the Fair would be to promote Scotland as a place for training, to showcase the Specialties, and to also promote the Regions in Scotland. There was a wide target audience: Medical undergraduate students, Foundation and Core Training doctors, SAS and doctors in transition.

The co-ordinating group have obtained the support of the BMJ Careers Fair and the Medical Schools for this event. They are asking that the specialty leads think about how best to market them at the Fair. There will be 20min talks, generic themes for applicants and specific for specialties as well. Using the Training Ambassadors would be ideal. The specialties can also have one or two stands. Paediatrics and O&G leads are requested to send their requirements to AMcL.

Action: CL / CA

1. Academic Report

No academic report was received.

1. Updates
2. RCOG

There was no College representative.

12.2.RCPCH

There was no specific report as items were covered elsewhere in the meeting.

12.3.Heads of Schools

CL noted that at the last Heads of Schools they had discussed CCH and the grid, as above; the START assessment; WPBA that will be piloted in Paediatrics; and the feedback from the College about Shape of Training.

There had been no Obs&Gynae Heads of School this year, the next meeting being in May.

12.4.TPDs

The TPDs had given their input above.

1. Papers received for information

No papers had been received for information.

1. AOCB

AMcL noted that this was JM’s last meeting as Chair of the STB. He thanked her on behalf of MDET for her chairmanship and contributions to the STB. AMcL noted that JM had been extremely effective in a challenging Board and wished her all the best in the future.

1. 2014 Meeting dates:

Monday 15 September 2014, at 1.30pm, Rooms 1&2, Westport

Monday 8 December 2014, at 1.30pm, Rooms 3&4, Westport

Obs&Gynae and Paediatrics STB minutes 28.03.141