We carried out 19 training events this year across Scotland:
2-day New Appraiser Training (x5)
1-day Refresher Training (x4)
Additional 2-day New Appraiser Training (x8)
1-day Responsible Officers Conference Day (x1)
1-day Tutor Training Day (x1)
MEDICAL APPRAISER TRAINING COURSES IN 2016/2017
2016/2017 has been another busy year for the team as we completed the Phase 5 Medical Appraiser Training programme and delivered eight additional training courses at various locations to meet the acute demand for New Appraisers to be trained. The next Phase of training, Phase 6, has been scheduled to run from August 2017 through to March 2018, and going forward future training schedules will mirror the Appraisal Year of April to March.
The 13 New Appraiser Training courses successfully trained a total of 162 new Secondary Care Appraisers and 19 new Primary Care (GP) Appraisers.
In Scotland, it is a Revalidation requirement for all appraisals to be completed by a NES-trained Appraiser. For a number of Secondary Care Appraisers, the Refresher Medical Appraiser training offered a necessary opportunity to attend NES training; to develop and refresh their skills and allow them to continue in their role as an appraiser. For others, the Refresher courses enabled them to refresh and review their skills as an appraiser, particularly a number of Primary Care Appraisers who had originally trained more than five years ago. In total, 54 Secondary Care Appraisers and 16 Primary Care Appraisers have attended our Refresher Training events.
We have also successfully trained 7 new tutors who joined the existing panel to increase and refresh our training capacity; and 4 of Scotland’s Responsible Officers attended the Responsible Officers Conference Day. (See later sections for details)
We also recognise the valuable work that takes place at a local level and is led by local Lead Appraisers to support the appraisal workforce in their own health board.
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:
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 table illustrates the attendance at the courses.
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
Refresher Medical Appraiser Training Course
We successfully trained 16 GPs and 54 Secondary Care doctors. The following table summarises attendance at the courses.
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).
Challenges in the delivery of training
Two recurring themes emerge across all the types of courses that we delivered during 2016-17:
• Courses running at less than full capacity; and
• Delegates unable to attend on the day(s) of the course
Courses at less than full capacity
Of the 17 training courses undertaken (new appraiser and refresher) only N27 and XN1 ran at full capacity.
2 of the 6 scheduled Refresher training courses were also cancelled due to a lack of delegates.
Delegates not attending (DNA’s) was a significant factor with 9 of 17 training events affected.
It is accepted that clinical or personal emergencies can arise that result in delegates needing to cancel attending a course. However, it should be noted that DNA’s do create a significant amount of additional work in re-structuring the in-course small groups work, and impacts on other course delegates as well.
There are also cost implications for the Medical Appraisal team, as late changes to course numbers can affect a range of costs that are still required to be paid even if the service or time is not used.
We are developing a course costing model that can create a notional cost-per-delegate, as this will enable us to start reporting “fruitless payments” in line with more stringent financial budget reporting that we are being required to do.
Both themes are possible reflections of the increasing pressures across all of the Healthcare system and whilst these “wicked problems” (Keith Grint) cannot be completely resolved - they could benefit from being better managed, if a way to do so can be developed.
Secondary Care Appraisers
During Financial Year 2016/17 we have successfully trained 217 Secondary Care doctors; 163 of whom attended the New Appraiser courses, and 54 attended Refresher courses. The spread across the Health Boards is summarised below:
Primary Care Appraisers
We trained a total of 35 Primary Care doctors, 19 new GP Appraisers, and 16 GP Appraisers attended a Refresher course this year. The distribution over Health Boards is shown below:
The number of appraisers, appraisees and appraisals undertaken, per Health Board, is summed up for GPs and Secondary Care doctors in tables under Appendix A and B.
TUTORS INDUCTION DAY
An Appraisers Tutor Training Day was organised on 22nd March 2017 at the NES Edinburgh office (102 Westport), the aim of which was to recruit and expand our existing Tutors Panel.
7 new Tutors were successfully trained and have joined the existing tutor cohort to increase and refresh our training capacity.
RESPONSIBLE OFFICERS CONFERENCE DAY
Following on from the success of the 2015 Responsible Officer (RO) Training Day, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Department requested a further event in 2016. This was hosted at the Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel on 26th October 2016 and was attended by an extended audience of 40 medical professionals with vested interests in appraisal and revalidation, including 4 RO’s and several Medical Directors.
The event was introduced by Dr Catherine Calderwood, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), and included appraisal and revalidation presentations by Professor Ian Finlay (SGHSC), Victoria Carson (GMC Scottish Lead) and Leslie Marr (HIS).
The event was a success and we have provisionally scheduled the 2017 event for 5th December at Murrayfield Stadium. Further details will follow in the months leading up to the Event.
TRAINING & RECRUITMENT
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT OF MEDICAL APPRAISERS
Click on each poster to take a look!
“Becoming a Medical Appraiser” poster
“Appraiser Training content” poster
© NHS Education for Scotland 2017. You can copy or reproduce the information in this document for use within NHSScotland and for non-commercial educational purposes. Use of this document for commercial purposes is permitted only with the written permission of NES.