South West Peninsula and Severn Postgraduate Medical Education programmes, on behalf of Health Education England, South West, will be holding their annual educational conference on 28th September 2018 at Taunton Racecourse. This year, given it is the 70th Birthday of the NHS, the conference will consider the journey of postgraduate medical education, where it is today and speculate on what it may look like in future.

There will also be a variety of workshops which will provide an opportunity to discuss topical issues, gain a greater understanding of PGME related subjects and support educator development. This year it is our intention that one of the workshops be trainee delivered.

The conference aims to be an enjoyable and valuable interactive experience for all those involved in clinical postgraduate medical education. It will be of particular interest to Associate Deans, GP Associate Directors, Regional Advisers, Heads of School, Training Programme Directors, Directors of Medical Education, Clinical Tutors, Foundation Leads and College Tutors, as well as Clinical and Educational Supervisors.

All the speakers have an interest and considerable experience on the areas they will be presenting and there will be an opportunity for interactive discussion and networking throughout the day.

CPD recognition with the Royal College of Physicians will be applied for.

Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. There will be no charge to those involved in educational roles in the footprint of Health Education England working across the South West. A programme will be available on this website shortly, but in the meantime registration for the Conference can be found on the link below.

Application Form

Draft Programme

The ARCP animation and guide is now live and can be viewed on the Specialty Training website.   

Lydia Taylor
Communications Programme Manager
Health Education England

Please note that Health Education England’s Peninsula office will be moving out of Raleigh Building to a new location.

With effect from Monday 12 March 2018 our new address will be:

Health Education England
Plumer House
Tailyour Road
Plymouth, PL6 5DH

Our telephone numbers will also change following the move, so please note the updated email signatures of individual contacts.

There is no central switchboard number – all calls will be direct dial.

We apologise in advance if there is any temporary break in communications between the 9 March and 14 March 2018, however in case of an urgent query  please ring 01454 252 688.

For all other queries please send an email to the person with whom you wish to talk and they will contact you as soon as possible.

Please see the Joint Statement from COPMED and AoMRC on Reflective Practice.

Date for your Diaries

South West Peninsula and Severn Postgraduate Medical Education programmes, on behalf of Health Education England - South West, will be holding their annual educational conference on 22nd November 2017 at Somerset County Cricket Ground in Taunton. This year the meeting will be specifically focussed on trainee support and will cover a number of areas relevant to this topic with presentations from national and local keynote speakers

There will also be a number of workshops during the day along the same theme.

The conference aims to be an enjoyable and valuable interactive experience for all those involved in clinical postgraduate medical education. It will be of particular interest to Associate Deans, GP Associate Directors, Regional Advisers, Heads of School, Training Programme Directors, Directors of Medical Education, Clinical Tutors, Foundation Leads and College Tutors, as well as Clinical and Educational Supervisors.

All the speakers have an interest and considerable experience on the areas of support they will be presenting and there will be an opportunity for interactive discussion throughout the day.

CPD recognition with the Royal College of Physicians will be applied for.

Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. There will be no charge to those involved in educational roles in the footprint of Health Education England working across the South West. A programme will be available on this website shortly, but in the meantime registration for the Conference can be found on the link below.

Please note, the conference is now fully booked, but any new registrations will be placed on a waiting list and you will be contacted as soon as any cancellations come in.

Application form

We (Julie Screaton (Director, London and the South East) and Professor Ged Byrne (Director of Education & Quality, Health Education England working across the North West)) are pleased to let you know that our survey of higher education institutions about embedding national antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship competences into curricula is now available to access on our website.

The antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship (AMPS) competences, produced jointly by the Government's expert advisory group for antimicrobial resistance and healthcare acquired infections (ARHAI), and Public Health England were published in 2013. Implementing these competences forms a key aspect of ‘Key area 3’ of the Government's five year strategy for tackling antimicrobial resistance - improving professional education, training and public engagement to improve clinical practice and promote wider understanding of the need for more sustainable use of antimicrobials. The antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship (AMPS) competences can provide clarity for regulators, education providers and professional bodies to inform standards, guidance and the development of training.

Undergraduate students have expressed interest in receiving more education about antimicrobials, especially about their multidisciplinary use. This survey asked higher education institutions about their awareness of the competencies, and how they had embedded them into their courses.

The results showed:

• From the 45 universities that submitted information for a total of 100 health-related course 86% of universities confirmed they were aware of the national AMPS competencies.
• Implementation of the five domains of the AMPS competencies showed that 91% of courses had embedded statements on infection prevention and control, 75% of courses for antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobials, 66.3% of courses for the prescribing of antimicrobials, 62% of courses for the prescribing of antimicrobials and 40% of courses for monitoring and learning.
• Embedding of the AMPS competencies per professional group showed an average of 90% implementation for medicine, 82% for dentistry, 81% for pharmacy, 76% for independent non-medical prescribing courses, 52% for midwifery, 46% for nursing and 40.8% for allied health professionals.

We welcome the findings of this initial survey and hope best practices can be shared between higher health education institutions to enhance the adoption of these competencies. It has also highlighted the importance of non-medical prescribing courses adopting these competencies.

We would encourage you to:

• implement the recommendations in this report on behalf of your organisations
• raise awareness of these results within your organisations and networks
• provide system leadership as individuals, groups and organisations in enhancing the adoption and implementation of the antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship (AMPS) competences within your academic and health networks and organisations, at both undergraduate and post-graduate level.

For further information please contact Mohamed Sadak (Clinical Lead and Programme Manager, Antimicrobial Resistance and Sepsis).

Applications are welcomed for the 2016 intake of the Professional & Generic Skills programme for Doctors in Training (ST3 and above) and a small number of places for SAS Doctors.

Click here for further information and the application form.

Applications are now invited for the National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow Scheme 2016/17. Now in its fifth year, the scheme provides junior doctors with a unique opportunity to gain experience and insight into healthcare leadership, policy and strategy by working with senior healthcare leaders in national organisations such as NHS England, Health Education England, General Medical Council, BUPA and medical royal colleges.

Fellows spend one year involved in, and often independently leading, projects under the guidance of host organisations’ senior leadership teams. As well as the knowledge gained from their particular project, fellows gain skills in project management, collaboration, effective communication, presentation and team management. Fellows are seconded from their current trusts or employer for one year. Appointments are made in February 2016 with posts commencing from 1 September 2016.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 20 January 2016 . Please do not hesitate to contact the scheme coordinator Donna Hickford or call 020 3075 1471 for further information.

More Information

Full details on the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management site.

What is it?

The scheme provides doctors in training with the unique opportunity to spend one year working with the most senior executives in leading national healthcare-affiliated organisations to develop their skills in:

• leadership
• management
• strategy
• project management
• health policy

Fellows are immersed at the centre of organisations such as NHS England, Health Education England, General Medical Council, BUPA and medical royal colleges. The scheme is sponsored by Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s National Medical Director, and managed by the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management.

Am I eligible?

The scheme is open to doctors in training who have full GMC registration and have completed both years of foundation training by the start of the fellowship (commencing annually from 1 September). Doctors from all specialties are welcome.

General Practice ST3 trainees with CCT before or around 1 September of the year they are applying are eligible to apply, in recognition of the shorter training programme. 

How do I apply?

Candidates submit an application online and, if shortlisted, will attend a panel interview.

How does this work with my training?

Successful candidates take up the fellowship role as an out-of-programme experience.

They are seconded from their employing trust to the host organisations and will retain their existing trust terms and conditions, pension arrangements etc.

Please see the attached letter from the Chief Medical Officer, NHS England, regarding what is currently known around Ebola survivorship, and what measures clinicians should take.

Applications for the post of Associate Postgraduate Dean - Performance is now open.  Please view details in our Vacancies section.