HEE and NHS England & Improvement have published the latest version of the NHS People Plan, for 2020 / 21. Coupled with Our People Promise, it establishes what people in the NHS should expect from their leaders and each other. Indeed, the plan presents practical actions for employers and systems, as well as the actions that NHS England & Improvement and HEE will carry out during the remainder of 2020 / 21.

Included are specific commitments around:

• Looking after our people — with quality health and well-being support for everyone
• Belonging in the NHS — with a particular focus on tackling the discrimination that some staff face
• New ways of working and delivering care — making effective use of the full range of our people’s skills and experience
• Growing for the future — how we recruit and keep our people, and welcome back colleagues who want to return

We have added a handful of new videos to our Video Library. One is on the significance of first contact physiotherapists in general practice, whilst the other three look at how a GP’s career can develop in any number of ways, depending on your personal interests — to tie into HEE’s current GP Specialty training offer (to read more about it, please click here).

A message from Phil Elverd, our Education Facilitator:

The University of the West of England (UWE) is expanding its physician associate (PA) programme for the next academic year and are looking to place students in primary throughout the programme’s duration. BNSSG Training Hub is working collaboratively with UWE to assist in placing students in primary care.

The first placement is a one-week observational, immersive week, beginning Monday 26 October, 2020. The rest of the placements will be as follows:

Academic Year 2020-21
First year:

• Block 1 – 1st week (observational / immersive week): 26/10/2020
• Block 2 – 4 weeks: 01/03/2021
• Block 3 – 3 weeks: 07/07/2021
• Block 4 – 3 weeks: 05/07/2021

Academic Year 2021-22
Second Year:

• Block 1 – 3 weeks: 02/05/2022

The daily tariff per PA student placement day is £97.35 in primary care.

Below is a quick reference guide giving details of the PA student’s role and requirements during these placements. I hope your organisation is able to support and develop the programme by providing placement for one or more students. Please note that placement offers are not guaranteed to be taken up, however they will be distributed as equitably as possible.

Thanks for your continued support with student placements.

Kind regards,

Phil Elverd
Education Facilitator | BNSSG Training Hub

Alex Stevens, PA Programme Leader for UWE, has produced a quick reference guide covering who PA students are, what they can do, and how you can support them on placement in general practice.

HEE are now recruiting for General Practice Specialty and Targeted GP training, expected to begin on Wednesday 3 February, 2021.  This is an exciting, open-ended chance to decide the future course of your career, open to candidates across the nation.

But spaces are limited, and all applications must be in by 16.00 on Thursday 14 August, so please do make sure to read up on these schemes and apply soon if you are interested.

HEE South School of Pharmacy have announced funding to support the training of pre-registration pharmacy technicians (PTPTs) in general practice, from February 2021. HEE wish to work with practices to help train up to 30 PTPTs across the South, with GPs as the host employer, so as to enable a new pharmacy technician workforce with primary care experience.

An information webinar about this training was held on Monday 10 August, 2020, from 11.00 to 12.00. It covered how the £32,000 funding (available per apprentice) can be used, whom is eligible to join the apprenticeship, and more.

Powered by HEE, the new Learning Hub is a potent means through which you can easily access a wide range of education and training resources, all designed for use by the healthcare workforce.

It is currently in beta, and so is not currently accessible by everyone. The following groups are able to use it at the moment:

• Anyone with a NHS email address (including in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland)
• Anyone with a registered NHS England and NHS Scotland OpenAthens account
• Staff at hospices and care homes
• Social care workers
• Members of Public Health England
• Members of the Department of Health and Social Care
• Members of NICE
• Members of the Ministry of Defence
• Dental trainees / trainers and practice staff
• Members of local government
• University staff
• Registered e-Learning for Healthcare Hub users from any of the above groups

Florence Nightingale Foundation is collaborating with HEE to deliver a leadership programme for 40 mental health nurses. This is an opportunity to join a fully-funded bespoke leadership course, open to all nurses working in the field of mental health either within the NHS or in NHS-commissioned services across England.

There will be two cohorts, with 20 members each. Much of the course is currently scheduled to be run online, in light of COVID-19, with the hope that the residential module and face-to-face celebration day can safely go ahead later on.

The programme will provide candidates with:

• A clear understanding of their personal leadership style, with a critical awareness of blind spots and weaknesses
• Greater self-confidence
• An understanding of how to adapt to and lead change
• Improved personal resilience
• And more…

Applications must be in by Friday 14 August 2020, and as noted above, there are only 40 places — apply soon to avoid disappointment!

NHS England & Improvement have announced a second phase of their Video Group Clinic (VGC) training, and are seeking to recruit Sentinel practices for it this August. The South West has been allocated 41 places.

VGCs allow clinicians to undertake clinical reviews in a supportive, virtual environment. They not only help to improve clinician efficiency, but also to tackle loneliness amongst people with chronic health issues who are self-isolating or in shielding.

The training is entirely free, delivered by the ELC Programme, and to be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis — sign up as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Applications must in be 17.00 on Wednesday 19 August 2020.

St Peter’s Hospice‘s webinar series on professional tools for care and well-being in health and social care is nearly finished, with only one more webinar to go next week:

• Anticipatory prescribing
  on Tuesday 28 July at 13.00 and Wednesday 29 July at 10.00

Please note that you do not need to attend both sessions in a given week — the Wednesday session is a repeat. To join either of these sessions, please contact education@stpetershospice.org.

A draft of the Primary Care & General Practice Nursing Career & Core Capabilities Framework is now available, and Skills for Health is inviting you to review it and offer feedback via an online survey.

A copy of the draft framework, and the consultation survey, can both be accessed at Skills for Health‘s site by clicking here. The survey concludes 16.00 on Friday 7 August 2020.

This framework will support Health Education England in achieving the aims of the ten-point action plan, by supplying a clear baseline on the scope of practice for nurses in general practice and primary care settings. Opportunities will be provided for all nurses, at all levels, including the nursing associate, mental health nurse, and learning disability nurse.