18th January 2016

Junior Doctors' Strike

Tuesday was the Junior Doctors' Strike @theBMA. Pretty much everyone pulled together to ensure our patients were safe on the day: congratulations to those who took the trouble to plan ahead and reallocate resources.

There were some grumbles: let's not name the one or two who, faced with Fracture Clinic for the first time in a decade, took umbrage - they were by far the minority. I love that Matron Kelly Irvine felt she was "awash" with Consultants & was struggling a little to know what to do with them all. Special mention to @bobpeet1 Chief Operating Officer Bob Peet who took Cathy Parsons @cparsons007 and I seriously when we highlighted potential issues ahead of possible December strike dates and co-ordinated a pragmatic response throughout the hospital.

Lovely feedback from our Admin staff who spent the day liaising with patients about rearranged care. Ronnie Elliott @nannyrons told us every single patient she spoke with expressed support for the junior doctors, which was lovely to hear.

Wednesday and we were back to normal working. I went on an @RCPLondon course held at Frimley Park, hearing about the new GMC requirements for revalidation as an Educational Supervisor.  As with all ARCP/ Appraisal information collection, it's much better done prospectively and a considerable amount of material is required. I came away with the major concern that many Consultants currently in that role may look at the demands the GMC have stipulated ...and wash their hands of it. A topic for our next LFG @humphrey_scott & @jacquelin_joyce: how can I retain our existing AESs? 

There's a long history here of medical education #meded being undervalued & ignored. Making it even harder for my tiny band of committed enthusiasts to stay accredited when their teaching time has already been busted down to squat in aggressive rounds of job-planning, could see really great teachers walk away. Looking forward to your constructive thoughts on retention!

Before I get depressed about educational headaches to come, let's turn to celebrating what we have...

Surgical Trainer of the Year 2016

We have a victor! Despite many juniors having a very elastic definition of a deadline, I have collated all the citations and come out with a 'winner'

This was never going to be about numbers of votes: there would be a mismatch across subspecialties and that couldn't be fair. Instead I looked at quality & depth within the citation, and matched that with my own experience of engaging with the educational process in the Trust

So... *drum roll* ... @ASPHFT Surgical Trainer of the Year 2016 is... Consultant Urologist Bill Dunsmuir *wild applause* 

I'm all about celebrating success: here is part of the citation that won him Top Gun

 

"Mr Dunsmuir is a fantastic trainer, who seems to live and breathe teaching.  Every clinical situation, he makes into a learning opportunity, from theatre, ward rounds and even more difficult situations in A&E.  He is always careful to check a trainee’s experience level and then assists only as much as is necessary.  He is a rare gem of a trainer as he initiates and requests work based assessments at every encounter. Practically, he is full of expert tips that I have found invaluable, and his feedback has always changed my technique for the better.  Even when ‘examining’ in a regional skills competition, he could be spotted teaching candidates wherever possible."

We also have some Highly Commended runners up: Robin Cole, Humphrey Scott and Jon Trickett so bravo to you all, certificates and citations will be on their way to you.

Finally... CST Interviews

If you are attending the CST interviews in a week's time and you haven't already... PLEASE COME AND SEE ME WITH YOUR PORTFOLIO

I can't help you after the event but I think there is lots I can do to help you during. And those I've seen already but required quite a bit of reworking: let me glance over the improved version if you can.

#pinkwednesday #likealadydoc

If you saw that extraordinary article by professional-pundit-despite-having-absolutely-no-knowledge-of-the-subject Dominic Lawson in the Sunday Times this weekend, you'll see that all the ills of the NHS and in particular the origins of the dispute leading to the Junior Doctors Strike lie in the fact that there are too many women in medicine. http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/comment/columns/dominiclawson/article1656813.ece

Oh yes indeed, we have been catapulted back to the 1950s. 

Regardless of your gender, wear pink on Wednesday & send a selfie to @thetimes & @thesundaytimes #pinkwednesday. The profession is a better place for having the brightest & best, even if some of them happen to prefer skirts.