Non-urgent advice: An intro to Work-Place Based Assessment (WPBA)
There are lots of workplace based assessments. These are listed below. The list is rather large – in order to provide you many opportunities for demonstrating your ability in the 13 Professional Capabilities. Different assessments test different things. However, many assess similar things. This helps to triangulate the evidence you provide to ensure there is reliable evidence of your capability.
Non-urgent advice: A list of WPBA
– COT / Audio COT
– CBD
– Mini-CEX
– CAT
– CEPS
– MSF
– PSQ
– Learning Logs
– Significant Events
– Prescribing Review
– Leadership Activity
– QIP (Quality Improvement Project)
– CSR
– ESR
Below are the minimum assessment numbers for each year
| Mini-CEX/COT Any setting (face to face, telephone, or video) | ST1: 4 | ST2: 4 | ST3: 7 |
| CBD / CAT | ST1: 4CbD | ST2: 4CbD | ST3: 5 CAT |
| MSF | ST1: 1 (with 10 responses) | ST2: 1 (with 10 responses) | ST3: 2 (1 MSF, 1 Leadership MSF) |
| CSR | ST1: 1 per post* | ST2: 1 per post* | ST3: 1 per post* |
| PSQ | ST1: 0 | ST2: 0 | ST3: 1 |
| CEPS | ST1: Ongoing | ST2: Ongoing | ST3: Across 3 years 5 intimate plus a range of others |
| Learning logs | ST1: 36 Case reviews | ST2: 36 Case reviews | ST3: 36 Case reviews |
| Placement planning meeting | ST1: 1 per post | ST2: 1 per post | ST3: 1 per post |
| QIP | ST1: 1 (in GP) | ST2: 1 (in GP) – if not done in ST1 | ST3: 0 |
| Quality improvement activity | ST1: All trainees must demonstrate involvement in Quality Improvement at least once a year | ST2: All trainees must demonstrate involvement in Quality Improvement at least once a year | ST3: All trainees must demonstrate involvement in Quality Improvement at least once a year |
| Significant event | ST1: Only completed if reaches GMC threshold of potential or actual serious harm to patients. | ST2: Only completed if reaches GMC threshold of potential or actual serious harm to patients. | ST3: Only completed if reaches GMC threshold of potential or actual serious harm to patients. |
| Learning Event Analysis (LEA) | ST1: 1 | ST2: 1 | ST3: 1 |
| Prescribing review | ST1: 0 | ST2: 0 | ST3: 1 |
| Leadership | ST1: 0 | ST2: 0 | ST3: 1 |
| Interim ESR | ST1: 1** | ST2: 1** | ST3: 1** |
| ESR | ST1: 1 | ST2: 1 | ST3: 1 |
| CPR & AED Use (BLS) | ST1: Competence in CPR and AED use for all placements | ST2: Competence in CPR and AED use for all placements | ST3: Competence in CPR and AED use for all placements |
| Child and Adult Safeguarding | ST1: Knowledge and Reflection*** | ST2: Knowledge and Reflection*** | ST3: Knowledge and Reflection*** |
Non-urgent advice: How are the WPBA capabilities assessed?
Like we said earlier, capabilities are assessed by the full range of WPBA tools, allowing you to record multiple perspectives on your performance in the ePortfolio. It is best practice for each capability to be assessed at different times using different tools and ideally with multiple assessors.
In ST3 the trainee is being assessed at the level of a General Practitioner. In ST1 and ST2 the trainee is being assessed at the level of their peers when these are done in hospital posts. During a primary care post in ST1 and ST2 the COT assessment is benchmarked against that of an independent GP.
Non-urgent advice: How does it all work together?
You collect evidence for the 13 areas of professional capability using specially designed tools (see above). The tools ensure that evidence is collected in the same way for each GP trainee, promoting consistency between different trainers.
In each six month Educational Supervision review period you should produce evidence relating to each of the capabilities. This evidence should be evenly spread through the review period and derived from a range of the WPBA tools. This will enable you to create a picture of your capability coverage. The amount of evidence needed to create this picture will depend on the depth of the evidence from each log entry or completed CbD / COT / miniCEX etc.
Think of making a digital picture where you need to have enough pixels to create a clear image. In the same way, the amount of ‘pixels’ that a log entry or WPBA tool gives will vary depending on the detail included in the tool.
Non-urgent advice: What if I am part-time?
Less than full time (LTFT) trainees still need to have an ES review every 6 months, however, the minimum number of required mandatory assessments (eg. COTs and CBDs) is pro-rata to a full time trainee. Note, that LTFT trainees are expected to complete the same number of MSFs and PSQs over their training programme as full time trainees. The ES will check at the 6 monthly reviews that WPBA collection is on track.
Think of making a digital picture where you need to have enough pixels to create a clear image. In the same way, the amount of ‘pixels’ that a log entry or WPBA tool gives will vary depending on the detail included in the tool.
Non-urgent advice: I have completed my MSF and PSQ but I cannot see the results!
To be able to view your results, it is necessary for your ES to “release” the results of your MSF and PSQ to you. To do this he/she needs to have already created a blank ES report form for the relevant training review period, and clicked the Release to trainee button at the bottom of the report.
If you have not entered a minimum of 40 PSQ responses, each of them with all of the questions answered, then a PSQ report will not be generated. It is therefore recommended to normally try and get about 45 PSQs filled out to allow for incompletely completed ones.