Time to define and refine OOH skills for GPs

We’ve absolutely no idea what the stats are on this, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that a significant number of GPs working Out of Hours are Freelance GPs. Exactly how many isn’t the issue (but it would help to know), it’s the quality of care they’re able to provide within the context of the support thay’re able to receive to practice as GPs in as risk-free way as possible.

To help us understand more about this, the NASGP has set up a working group of 3 Out of Hours Freelance GPs to construct a ‘core competencies’ document to first deconstruct, then define, the skills required to work as an OOH GP. On the basis of this we then hope to be able to look at any necesssary training and development needs for OOH GPs.

And we’d love your help! We’re looking for any OOH GPs to help us with this so if you’re interested then please leave your comments on this Blog, or email us at info@nasgp.org.uk, and we’ll get back to you.

AiTs could do with training on how to locum

I had the pleasure of being flown up to Newcastle on Thursday to speak to a group of locums about the joys of working in Locum Support Teams such as locum chambers. While I was there, I spoke to a charming VTS course organiser on how much actual training her AiTs received on how to work independently as a peripatetic locum in a multitude of practices. As expected, she acknowledged that most would be spending months to years working as locums. As expected, her AiTs were receiving no such training.

Working as a locum in multiple practices is different to working regularly in the same place. Unfamiliar surroundings; patients are always new; the patient’s records are nearly alwyas difficult to penetrate (access, quality, vaguaries of IT systems etc); we don’t know about the other GPs, so ‘handover’ needs to be robust – there must be a ‘succession of record’.

As a fresh pair of eyes, we are ideally placed to highlight areas of risk in the practice; working as part of a team, we can be empowered to spread best practice between practices and PCTs. For patients, we can provide a second opinion, a new way of looking their illness.

Considering the overall gigure for the number of locums is 25% of the workforce, the likelihood is that there will be a bulge in numbers at the post-training end of the curve. There needs to be debate, recognition, change and progress.

Orange Books now out of print – but available on the web…

We’ve always managed to give new NASGP memebrs an up-to-date ‘Orange Book’  - the excellent ‘Handbook of Medical Emergencies in Primary Care’ published by Kingston PCT (it really helped having the ever helpful Oriana Dwight at the other end of the line believing in the cause that disseminating high-quality clinical information to locum GPs was a Very Good Thing).

What it used to look like

But alas, people move on and cost savings by some muppet at the Department of Health means that this essential hardcopy (how many lives has it saved?) is only available for download – useless in a medical emergency. I’ve spent the last hour toing and froing between the Dept of Health Response line on 0300 123 1002 anf The Stationary Office, speaking to all sorts of line managers, being cut off, no end of ‘computer says no’ operatives and the such like. It would have entirely more productive – and more fun – to have been banging my head against my printer for that time.

My latest lead is the National Treatment Agency (for substance misuse – no, me neither) and an answerphone 0207 600 5522. Why do I just know they’ll never call me back?

 

MDU advises practices on how to reduce risk to locums

Great to see the Medical Defence Union coming up with simple, pragmatic advice published in GP newspaper yesterday, to our practice-based colleagues on how to avoid risk when employing locums. Cuts both ways, and gives us all a break!