Your Hospital Posts

Hopefully, the scheme should have provided you with your hospital post rotation. If this isn’t the case, get in touch with either the GP administrator for your scheme or one of the Training Programme Directors (which are called TPDs for short).

Then get in touch with your hospital department´s secretary and/or consultant. Write a little paragraph introducing yourself and then ask them if you need to do anything further.

The department is likely to send you an induction pack, a timetable and some preparatory homework to do before starting your first day. This preparatory material will help the department and your consultant to determine how to settle you in nicely as well as some educational stuff like identifying your educational needs.

For those of you who are part-time or coming back from sick or extended leave, PLEASE make contact with your department/rota-coordinator EARLY (at least 6 weeks before) to make sure any special arrangements required are all in place, and if not – gives them time to fix. Ask to see the timetable.

1. Register with the RCGP as an AiT (Associate in Training) if you haven’t already done so. Click here
2. Contact your hospital consultant and introduce yourself
3. Get a hold of your rota and specialty induction programme
4. Make sure your defense union subscription is all up to scratch (we still STRONGLY recommend you see out private cover on top of the NHS indemnity cover).
5. Note the dates for the GP training scheme’s induction – and book leave for it.

It’s worth trying to make the best impression  you can in the first few days of the post.  Be friendly and show genuine interest in the  job and all your colleagues at every level.  Show a willingness to work hard,  a willingness to listen to instructions and advice.  If you do this, people around you will find it a pleasure to want to help you.  

In the busyness of their hospital jobs, GP trainees often overlook their ePortfolio and their WPBA requirements. As a result, their Educational Supervisor’s Report will be marked “unsatisfactory progress” and then they will be referred to an ARCP panel who will then grill them about their poor engagement. Clearly, none of us want that to happen to you.  So…

• Please make sure you pay attention to both. Keep a notebook or send yourself an email about interesting patients or situations that you’d like to write about as you encounter them on your daily rounds.   Remember, do not include patient identifiable data in your write up because you will be breaking the rules of confidentiality (which is serious).
• And don’t forget to do the minimum number of Work-Place Based Assessments like CBDs, Mini-CEXs, MSFs and so on.   

All the communication skills you need to develop for General Practice are also invaluable for safe and comprehensive practice in your hospital posts.  So, you might as well get practicing now. Most of you will have been taught history taking and examination – BUT THAT IS NOT COMMUNICATION SKILLS.  That is DATA GATHERING and accurate data gathering is required for an accurate diagnosis and management plan. But THE WAY you gather this data is also as important because THE WAY you ask can affect the accuracy of what was conveyed.

We recommend: “The Naked Consultation” by Dr. Liz Moulton.

CEPS are thinks like Breast Examination, Rectal, Prostate, Male Genital, Female Genital. So, for example, in your O&G post, consider getting female examinations done. Do the appropriate CEPS in the appropriate specialty.

If you have a problem with the post, for example, the work load, difficulty getting time to go to HDR, someone not treating you right, rota problems, EWTD  etc, please speak to your hospital consultant first to see if things can be easily sorted at a local level.

ALSO talk to one of the Training Programme Directors (TPDs).  They are there to help you.   And especially get in touch with them if you feel uncomfortable talking with you hospital consultant.  TPDs can make things happen as well as providing a listening ear and a supportive hand.