Training course format As before, the 2-day New Medical Appraiser Training Courses have a maximum capacity of 18 participants while the 1-day Refresher Medical Appraiser Training Courses are run with a maximum of 24 participants per course. For information on how a New Appraiser application is processed and what is covered at the training course, please download our posters: “Becoming a Medical Appraiser” poster () “Appraiser Training content” poster () The New Appraiser Training Courses are assessed. The tutors observe the participant in a number of roles during the course of the two days (a week apart), and assess them against criteria linked to Communication, Empathy, Challenge and Professional Integrity. Although rare, there have been occasions over the years where participants failed to meet the criteria requirements and subsequently have not been recommended at that time for the Appraiser role. The Refresher training courses are NOT assessed. But any significant concerns raised by the tutors would be shared with the appraiser’s Appraisal Lead so these can be addressed. The ‘mini’ Appraisal sessions on both training courses are video recorded, which are then uploaded online to a secure location, with access only being granted to those participating in the particular session. Participants and course tutors will have the links to the videos – which are split into groups, meaning Group A participants cannot access Group B etc – and the videos are deleted 6 weeks after the training. Since introducing this initiative last year we have monitored progress and user feedback on this, and are pleased to report that the new method has been well received. New Medical Appraiser Training Courses The following illustrates the attendance at the courses. Course Participants Unused (out of 18) Primary Care Secondary Care Total DNAs N27 - 18 & 26 May 2016, Lanarkshire 3 15 18 0 0 N28 - 9 & 17 June 2016, Forth Valley 2 15 17 1 1 N29 - 23 & 31 August 2016, Glasgow 2 15 17 0 1 N30 - 18 & 26 January 2017, Edinburgh 0 16 16 1 (on day 2) 2 N31 16 & 24 February 2017, Ayrshire 1 16 17 1 1
8 77 85 3 5 8 additional New Appraiser training Courses were added into our existing training delivery schedule to meet the demand for training that was presented to the team and that, if left un-addressed, had the potential to impact on Health Boards and their abilities to meet their appraisal and revalidation obligations. These additional courses varied slightly from our normal courses in terms of the capacity that they could accommodate, due to either (or both) a combination of venue restrictions or the availability of tutors, with 5 of the 8 courses running at less than the normal capacity of 18. The table below shows the numerical details of these additional courses Course Participants Unused (out of 18) Primary Care Secondary Care Total DNAs XN1 21 & 29 November 2016 Inverness 1 8 9 0 0 (Course only had capacity for 12) XN2 28 November and 6 December 2016 Glasgow 1 13 14 4 4 XN3 29 November and 7 December 2016 Glasgow 1 13 14 1 4 XN4 30 November and 8 December 2016 Glasgow 0 13 13 2 5 XN5 9 and 16 December 2016 Edinburgh 3 10 13 0 2 (Course only had capacity for 15) XN6 1 and 10 February 2017 Edinburgh 2 9 11 0 1 (course only had capacity for 12) XN7 3 and 13 February 2017 Glasgow 1 9 10 0 2 (course only had capacity for 12) XN8 8 and 16 March 2017 Stirling 2 10 12 0 3 (course only had capacity for 15)
Total 11 85 96 7 21 Refresher Medical Appraiser Training Course We successfully trained 16 GPs and 54 Secondary Care doctors. The following table summarises attendance at the courses. Course Participants Unused (out of 24) Primary Care Secondary Care Total DNAs R11 - 8 2016, Edinburgh 5 16 21 0 3 R12 - Cancelled 0 0 0 0 0 R13 - 15 November 2016 Inverness 1 9 10 2 5 (course only had capacity for 15) R14 – 1 December 2016 Perth 4 14 18 1 6 R15 – 23 March 2016 Glasgow 6 15 21 2 3 R16 - Cancelled 0 0 0 0 0 16 54 70 5 17 2016-17 saw the introduction of secure on-line course feedback and reporting via the use of Questback. This has proved to be popular with delegates and has also enabled stronger analysis of the feedback and dissemination of the information to relevant interested parties. Feedback continues to be very positive and demonstrates that the two training products that are currently delivered to an external audience are successful and well received. This does not mean that we are becoming complacent as there is always potential to improve, or the need to adapt to new factors in the operating environment, for example the introduction of Recognition of Trainers (ROT).
The main discussion topics focused on appraisal of Locum doctors, Job planning for Secondary Care Appraisers, and various discussions regarding SOAR functionality and documentation. Medical Appraisal Team Members update Following internal re-alignment, William Liu, Alistair Bryan and Kris Wright have moved out of the Medical Appraisal Team to become part of the NES Digital Directorate. William will continue to lead on SOAR Development and Alistair and Kris will also continue in their IT related roles, with all three progressing their careers as IT Developers. We wish them well with this change and recognise the valuable support and contributions that they have made over the years as the Medical Appraisal training model in Scotland has evolved. Plans for 2017/2018 Course Delivery and promotion At time of writing it is now approximately 17 months since I took up the post of Training Manager for Medical Appraisal and it has been an eventful period. I joined in the early stages of an existing schedule of training course delivery that was based on the established model of courses being delivered on a rotational basis across the territorial Health Boards. Under this arrangement it was the Health Board’s responsibility to provide the training venue and this was not always easy to do, or for the Board to provide all the room and facility requirements that we would normally seek. Following on from an opportunity to bring an NHS Lothian course in-house to our Westport Offices, it indicated that there could be scope to use the NES estate across the country to host training courses, thus reducing the cost and administrative burdens to Boards, as well as savings around travel and accommodation, whilst also enabling more productive use of staff time during course delivery. This concept was expanded and tested with courses in Glasgow and Inverness and the experiences and feedback have been positive. Building on this, the latest training delivery schedule (currently known as Phase 6) will run from August 2016 to March 2017 and will aim to use the NES offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, and Aberdeen. The latter two venues are smaller, so course sizes will reflect that. Our Dundee offices don’t readily lend themselves to hosting the courses that we deliver, so to be able to accommodate a central Scotland location we have sourced Stirling Court Hotel (formerly Stirling Management Centre) and having already conducted training events there we are happy that it suits our requirements. The current schedule of courses is advertised on the Medical Appraisal Scotland website under Events: