Dr Sonali Kinra is our ICS lead for GP Retention. This is her monthly blog series where she gives an insight into her role and more.
It was meant to be summer holidays yet it has been very different this year. While we had really hot days which were welcomed by some, the relentless nature of the pandemic, the continuous cycle of bureaucracy & change while still trying to keep the ship steady balancing kids, home and work has been exhausting.
Nobody has it all sorted and please reach out to friends, colleagues and us for help and support.
There has been welcoming announcement around the much awaited New to practice Fellowship scheme for GPs and GP Nurses. The scheme is nationally funded two years of support, networking, PCN Portfolio working and structured learning opportunities that builds contextual confidence in newly qualified GPs and nurses working in general practice. Phoenix programme(PP) and Nottinghamshire Alliance of Training hub(NATH) have been providing ongoing support to trainees and newly qualified GPs and GPNs. Funding covers reimbursement of one session per week to the employer (pro rata) and provision of learning There is sufficient funding available for all newly qualified GPs and nurses to benefit from the scheme. There is national funding and further information released for Supporting Mentors Scheme and we are soon to hear more about Locum support scheme. Please ensure you are registered with PP and NATH to receive further information.
We have also launched fully funded GP Nurse leadership CARE programme which will be led by NATH in collaboration with National Association of Primary Care. The programme is for 20 nurses, ideally 1 across each PCNs, who would like to lead impactful quality improvement projects, power up multi-disciplinary working and improve their own resilience, confidence and leadership skills by participating in the programme. There are additional 5 spaces which we have made available for Community nursing and Care home nurses to further enhance collaborative working. It is a 6 month programme and includes leadership skills development for the nurse(4 webinars 2 hours each), Population health management project work (4 webinars 2 hours each) and action learning sets(facilitated by ICP lead nurse) with full support, mentoring and supervision. Nurses will be required to implement a service improvement project within their PCN. This is an exciting opportunity- please get in touch with Nicola.payne8@nhs.net for further information
I chaired the Primary care workforce group meeting on 30 July and received updates from various stakeholders. 4 GPs have now started within their PCN portfolio roles- with portfolio roles including care homes,mental health. With further funding and the evaluation from these roles will help us extend this programme to other GPs and GPNs.
Additional roles within PCN continue to be embedded and have been a vital part of the workforce during Covid pandemic despite being new in their roles. A recurrent theme has been concerns raised around mentoring and supervision for these roles as well as leadership opportunities and we continue to work towards this. There is emerging roles cabinet which has been set up but not very active- watch this space- in the interim please feel free to contact me. There is Recovery cell that has been set up across the system which has the responsibility Recovery and Restoration – Joe Lunn and Dr Richard Stratton bringing the primary care perspective. We are in the process of linking up to ensure dialogue.
There have been multiple updates received over the last month from various regulatory and statutory bodies. It can be overwhelming to read these thru- There is an easy to read summary produced by NHS employer’s on NHS People plan, third phase NHS response to Covid -19 letter where the take home message for me was “General practice, community and optometry services should restore activity to usual levels where clinically appropriate, and reach out proactively to clinically vulnerable patients as well as emphasis on winter planning with extended flu immunisation and extended 111 offer and Updated SOP(standard operating procedure) for General practice
Deadline extended to 24th August for expression of interest for NHSE Sentinel programme on Video Group consultations. I have conducted one for my Fibromyalgia/Chronic pain patient registered with my surgery alongside Rheumatologist and received great feedback from the patient.
We have also submitted expression of interest for Midlands Trailblazers fellowship which is being offered in conjunction with HEE Yorkshire and Humber who have been running these very successfully for some time. There is a new Deepend GP group set up in Nottingham- if interested please email helen.davies15@nhs.net– further information and podcasts here
I also recorded an interview with Dr Anthony James on top tips for CV and interviewing – as part of CelebrAiT series– festival to prepare GP trainees for a successful career ahead.
I have been supporting trainees in discussion with HEE discussing regarding structural barriers and racism and what needs to change as well exploring the learning needs around differential attainment unconscious bias and breaking down barriers. I would like to hear from you how we improve things.
We have set up Primary care Racial Equity and Diversity Working group and now submitted proposal to Notts ICS People and Culture board for supporting this group for You- Our Primary care workforce. We will be advertising further for electing lead for this Working Group. There are many who have volunteered their time in setting this up and I remain grateful to them and in giving this structure and vision.
We are holding 1st Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Racial Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Symposium on 2nd September 3pm-4:45pm on virtual platform. Chief people Office Prerana Isaar and newly appointed chair for NHS Health and race Observatory Marie Gabriel have agreed to join and we all want to hear from you- what has worked for you and what hasn’t- what barrier are you facing in your career progression and what can we(as system leaders and individuals)do better. Please register your interest with j.redshaw@nhs.net
And now a personal plug- I am standing for RCGP council election- voting now open 21st August- 11th September. I am standing for Accountability, Transparency and Engagement and hope that these blogs and my interaction with you has demonstrates these values I stand for. Please vote
As always open to feedback.
Sonali
@SonaliKinra