Medical Professional Support Unit for London

Attendees of the recent MPSU development engagement event

We have proposed a framework for establishing a pan-London unit to support professional performance for doctors in London. The Medical Professional Support Unit (MPSU) will be set up as part of the London Deanery Provider Services that is being established to host administrative and specialist resources to support medical and dental education providers across the capital. The MPSU will provide a single point of access to an expert shared service to support doctors with a range of services from across the capital. These include;

• Coaching and Mentoring
• Language and Communication Resource Unit (LACRU)
• Careers support including psychometrics and occupational psychology
• International Medical Graduate Office; Primary & Secondary Care Schemes:
• Refugee Doctor Foundation Clinical Apprenticeship Scheme
• Pre-Certificate of Completion of Training (Pre-CCT) Return to Practice Scheme
• MedNet for confidential career and emotional support
• GP Career Development Unit including
• GP Induction and Refresher Scheme
• GP Performance Unit
• Fresh Start courses that offer an opportunity for individual reflection on the daily realities of changing practice and group support for personal development.
• Secondary care Post-Certificate of Completion Training (Post-CCT) performance support for GMC referrals; Doctors that have finished training and work in a secondary care (hospital) setting that have had concerns raised regarding their performance.

Dr Julia Whiteman, Director of Appraisal Revalidation and Performance for the Deanery said, “The London Deanery currently provides a number of high quality services that support professional development for doctors across the capital. However, these are distributed across various parts of the organisation and are not uniformly available to all.

“The scope of the MPSU will embrace all doctors working in London that relate to the pan-London Responsible Officer Network and will include doctors working in foundation and postgraduate training posts to established practitioners including staff and associate specialist grades and locums. The MPSU will also cover those dental trainees on programmes leading to CCT.”

A number of key individuals, London organisations and representatives from national bodies have been involved in developing the thinking to date; this has included;

• Heads of Schools for specialty training and Trust Liaison Deans
• BMA Doctors for Doctors and BMA Industrial Relations
• General Medical Council (GMC)
• Medical Protection Society
• Revalidation Support Team
• NHS London

Consultation led to the development of the proposed framework for setting the unit up. The comprehensive framework sets out the case for establishing the unit and details the approach and values that will steer the way the unit operates. Click here to read the Framework Document.

Having developed the proposed framework with key stakeholders, Dr Julia Whiteman and her team organised a stakeholder engagement event that took place in October 2011. The event was attended by over 65 key stakeholders involved in working in medical and dental education across the capital. Click here to see full list of attendees.

The event aimed to involve stakeholders in;

• Identifying what will make the MPSU a successful resource for stakeholders, individuals and organisations
• Identifying opportunities and threats for successful delivery
• Identifying priorities for action and next steps

Attendees were asked to consider, when the MPSU is established, ‘what would success look like for them and their organisation?’ and to make their suggestions for ‘top tips’ for success; so that success could be demonstrated and measured. Some excellent suggestions were made, some of which may not have been considered as a success marker without stakeholder engagement, for example, ensuring that that the service was clear about what it could and could not do so that expectations were appropriate amongst service users and so that demand didn’t run the risk of outstripping the services available. It was also emphasised that it was key to be ‘customer focused’, ensuring that customer care demonstrated a culture of helpfulness and respect. Click here to see the full presentation from the engagement event.