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Revalidation Roadshow Seminars

Premier IT, in conjunction with Edgecumbe and a series of revalidation experts, will be running a Revalidation Roadshow throughout 2012. The first round of seminars will take place in March 2012 on the following subject:
Getting to Grips with Medical Appraisal and Revalidation
a specialist seminar for revalidation project teams

A relaxed and informal seminar to give delegates the opportunity to share experiences, network and discuss the key challenges ahead in the implementation and ongoing management of appraisal and revalidation. 

Book your place: http://revalidation.premierit.com/roadshow

19/01/2012 – posted by Sarah George

The Health Committee says NO more revalidation delays.

Earlier this month the Health Committee published it’s conclusions on an inquiry into the GMC’s proposed processes for revalidation.  Among the conclusions were that there must be no further delays to revalidation, due to begin from later 2012, and that "The GMC needs to satisfy itself that all organizations which employ doctors have robust and consistent systems of appraisal in place on a timescale which makes possible its objective of introducing revalidation in late 2012".

This suggests that there is a need for NHS organisations to build and strengthen their appraisal systems ahead of 2012 to ensure they are ready for revalidation. 

If you think you would benefit from an expert external review of your appraisal system contact  Edgecumbe’s appraisal lead, Caroline Taplin on 01179 258822. Edgecumbe’s appraisal quality assurance report will provide you with an up to date assessment of your appraisal system together with clear recommendations on how to achieve the required standards.

21/02/2011 – posted by Sarah George

Calling all NHS Medical Managers – a date for your diary

Edgecumbe are sponsoring a Consultant Selection conference with Healthcare Events on the 9th June in Manchester.

If you are interested in attending, click here for full details

Here Megan Joffe explains why more and more Trusts are prioritising this area for attention.

How much time and energy at your Trust goes towards selecting a new consultant colleague?

Given that the cost associated with a consultant over the course of their working life in your team or hospital is likely to be more - probably much more – than the cost of a new home, the question is, is it sufficient to:

• Ask HR to write a job description and person specification

• Ask the candidates to prepare a presentation on their ideas for the future of the department

• Meet half an hour before the panel interview with other panel members to discuss who will ask which questions

• Read their application and CV – particularly noting who they have worked with and for, where they trained and how many research papers they have written?

Using such a process with how much confidence could you answer these questions about your successful candidate?

• Is the candidate likely to be as valuable a team member as team leader?

• What type of leadership style are they most likely to display?

• How do they react to conflict? How do they manage conflict?

• Can they persuade reluctant others to a new way of thinking/working? How are they likely to do this?

• How does their behaviour change when they are under pressure?

• How easily will they fit in with your current team?

• What will they bring to the team (other than their specific technical skills) that will make this a better team?

• If a new consultant how are they likely to manage the transition from trainee to consultant?

Importantly, will you be able to provide evidence that is beyond what they said in answer to your questions?

How many sources of evidence can you provide? Remember too that it is easy enough to create a positive impression during a 45 minute interview – haven’t you done so yourself? First impressions can be wrong, we know that we tend to recruit in our image – does your department need more of you or someone with a different set of skills and new attitudes?

We know that the following makes a difference to your selection process:

• A panel trained in observation and structured interviewing

• A process consisting of a variety of exercises requiring situational judgement so that triangulating evidence can be obtained

• The use of psychometrics to inform observations and appropriate questions

Using all of these rather than only one method incrementally increases the predictive validity of making a good selection decision. These techniques can also help you to select out those candidates who will not work well in your context, culture and team.

Edgecumbe Health in association with Healthcare Events are co-sponsoring their second Consultant Conference this time in Manchester after last year’s successful event in London. We have put together an exciting programme of speakers to give you an understanding of best practice; successful use of new methodology; problems associated with implementing a new system; and the legal implications of introducing a new selection process. Hear from experts and users including Medical Directors, Clinical Directors and Human Resource Professionals.

15/02/2011 – posted by Dr Magan Joffe

COMING SOON! New and improved Edgecumbe Doctor 360 online tool for Colleague and Patient Feedback!

Read on for more information including news of launch events

In the spirit of continual improvement we are unveiling some improvements to our online tool for colleague and patient feedback at the end of February. 

Based on positive feedback from over 1500 doctors who have used Doctor 360 since 2009 we are implementing a number of improvements to the look and functionality of the tool.  These improvements will mean an even better user-experience, greater time efficiency and more flexibility for Trusts and Doctors to use the tool in a way that works best for them.

We are monitoring updates from the GMC and the RST regarding revalidation plans and are confident that Doctor 360 meets all proposed criteria for colleague and patient feedback, along with general best practice guidelines.

We are holding two free to attend half-day events:

Manchester - 17^th March 2011 at Manchester Conference Centre

London - 18^th March 2011 at Royal College of Anaesthetists      

These events will showcase the newly improved Colleague and Patient Feedback tool as well as discussion around successfully implementing Colleague and Patient Feedback within a Strengthened Appraisal system.  This will include lessons learned from pilots we have recently been involved in and some of our clients will be talking about their experiences.  It will be a great chance to network and share best practice with your colleagues from Trusts around the UK. 

Please get in touch if you would like to know more about our Colleague and Patient Feedback tool or our events in March.

11/02/2011 – posted by Sarah George

Coping with adversity - How to develop resilience

The current environment is a challenging one – as it has been for some years now.  The constant reminder in the media of the impending cuts and forecasts of doom and gloom and the actual day to day challenges of doing more with less provide a demanding context.  The pressure seems to be relentless.

How do you deal with this adversity?    Do you flourish or flounder; cope or collapse?

Do you have the resources to cope with the day to day and focus in the face of these potential threats?  What is the difference between the person who seems to cope and take it all in their stride and indeed to thrive while others lose focus and energy and experience extended periods of low moods. The difference between these individuals is more than the difference between being an optimist and pessimistic although that certainly has an impact.  The difference is often down to resilience.

 Some of us are naturally more resilient than others – we were born that way; others have learned through experience (sometimes bitter) to ‘toughen up’; others of us have very low thresholds for tolerating pressure and stress.  Susan Kobasa’s important research conducted in 1985 found that those who were more resilient – better able to cope with pressure and stress – possessed what she called hardiness.

Those who were more hardy had developed a pattern of behaviour and attitudes which helped them to see stress as a normal part of life and therefore to cope more easily.  The features of these coping behaviours were based on differences in attitudes to challenge, control and commitment. 

Challenge:  those who viewed the stresses and demands as a challenge - as something to work on and engage with rather than something to surrender to - coped better. Taking the attitude that this was a challenge to be managed enabled them to feel stimulated rather than overwhelmed. It energised rather than drained them.

Commitment:  those who remained involved, engaged and connected with others rather than withdrawing and becoming isolated found life easier to cope with.  Focusing on commitment enabled them to feel supported rather than alone. It helped them understand and get perspective.

Control: those who tried to find aspects of the situation they could control, who continued to try to influence events and did not waste mental and physical effort on those aspects that were outside of their control did better. Feeling in control empowered them rather than feeling hopeless and helpless.

We can learn to be hardy. Each of us needs to find the right balance between too little or too much commitment, control and challenge.  Finding the right balance for yourself may help you to understand what is going on around you better and to reflect on what you might or might not be doing which could make your personal situation better or worse.  You will develop hardiness to resist panic and find opportunities or understanding that leaves you feeling calm, capable and competent. 

This is not to say that if you are hardy that you will enjoy the pressure and stress or that you will never find it difficult, annoying or become down hearted.  Instead you are likely to manage it rather than let it manage you.  You are more likely to be mindful of how it is impacting you and take action if that impact is something that you don’t like.  You will be better able to resist doing or saying the first thing that comes to mind which you might regret later.  You will be easier to live and work with because you will be able to empathise with others and not focus only on your own needs – you will get support.  Your approach to problem-solving is likely to be focused and realistic rather than scatter-gunned.  In short,  you will feel that you are coping rather than crashing!

06/12/2010 – posted by Dr Megan Joffe