F2 GP Supervisors Development Day February 2021 – Evaluation Report

Introduction

The GP development day is an annual half day event hosted by the Peninsula Foundation School for F2 supervisors in General Practice, which is normally delivered face to face in two venues. Due to the Covid 19 global pandemic the sessions in 2021 were run virtually through MS teams. 2 sessions were held, 2nd February and 24th February and were delivered by Sarah Rawlinson, Head of Peninsula Foundation School, Sarah Ansell, Head of Primary Care (Peninsula), Helen Rochester, GP Associate Dean and Helen Paley, GP Associate Dean. The aims of the event were to enable GP supervisors to share experiences, build on their knowledge and skills as educationalists and receive feedback and an update from the Foundation school. 37 (71%) GP F2 supervisors from across the Peninsula joined the online events.

 Agenda 

  • Foundation update and new curriculum for 2021 August 
  • Trainee in difficulty – case report and discussion  
  • F2 training in the COVID era

 Evaluation from supervisors

After the event, supervisors were asked to complete an evaluation form, 13 (35%) completed forms were returned.  92% said they found the session useful. The one person who did not find the session useful would have like some further information on the new curriculum rather than just headings. 

What did you find most useful?

  • Generally good - but a little too long a session
  • Opportunity to ask questions regarding training.
  • How to manage a difficult trainee and whom to contact.
  • Shared learning and experience
  • Curriculum update and opportunity to ask questions. Discussion around struggling trainee
  • General curriculum update - sharing experiences with colleagues.
  • Dealing with doctors in difficulty
  • Updates and chance to discuss issues with colleagues.
  • The process for helping trainees in trouble and the ideas for supervising F2 doctors in covid times
  • First 2 sessions - news/ updates and opportunity to share ideas with other GPs.
  • Update on the F2 competencies. Breakout groups looking at F2 in difficulty.
  • Getting an update on curriculum changes and the discussion of a trainee in difficulty

This is the first time the Foundation School have hosted this event online using MS Teams. The supervisors were asked if they felt the format of the event worked well using teams. 100% of attendees thought that the session worked well using the new online format.

The event gave the supervisors the opportunity to breakout into small groups for discussions and they were asked to rate the breakout sessions. 23% rated the sessions as Excellent, 54% as Good and 23% as Average. Some supervisors gave some comments about the breakout sessions: 

  • Nice to stay in the same small group each time -easier forum for discussion
  • For the 1st "breakout room" a little bit longer so that the participants can introduce themselves to each other before starting the exercise.
  • Good set of people. always difficult to get started without the chit chat that normally happens over coffee.
  • Takes a few mins to get started unless the facilitator is particularly adept - therefore tended to run out of time as the discussion really got going.
  • It was nice to speak in small groups and shared ideas and opinions.
  • They worked well - allowed small group discussion which is harder in a larger teams meeting.  Could have been just a few mins longer as had to cut discussion short.

The supervisors were asked 4 questions and their responses indicated that, as a result of the event:   

100% have developed their ideas on the best practice of supervision, based on the experience of the group. 

85% have identified and developed their competence in one area of supervision. 

92% have identified areas for further development. 

100% are aware of the current developments affecting the foundation years programme  

The supervisors were asked what format of the event would they prefer for future years 

54% said they would prefer face to face for the following reasons: 

  • Dislike of Teams meetings.  Nice to meet with people face to face.
  • Definite break from surgery
  • May be a mixture- if just imparting information teams is of use but even with breakout rooms- which can help online meetings are not so good for discussions
  • Easier and more productive interaction.
  • The networking at coffee etc which does not happen online
  • Value the opportunity to network and really get into discussions. Teams is convenient and OK but a break and change of scenery from the workplace is really valuable too. It's easy to be really "stove-piped" in general practice and f2f interaction helps to break down those barriers.
  • It’s more sociable 

46% said they would prefer an online teams meeting for the following reasons: 

  • Better environmentally. Would save a couple of hours getting to and from meeting. 
  • More flexible
  • Avoids travelling and saves time.
  • The format worked well and saved valuable travelling time. Breakout groups worked well
  • More convenient/ less time consuming so easy to participate even if within a working day.  Having the small group break outs still allowed some open discussion 

Lastly the supervisors were asked if they had any other comments about the sessions: 

  • Really concerned that mental health/ managing own wellbeing has been put as another item the trainee has to achieve with no underpinning training in this area or resources. So if the trainee is struggling in this area, are they now failing? More structure, information and specific training needed here please.
  • Try to limit any meeting to 1 hour!
  • The telephone consultations   section could have done with more structure e.g. the difference between triage and consultation.  The RCGP book is a good guide, also info on 14 fish and red Whale and an article last year I think on telephone triage
  • Thank you for organising and persevering through these times!
  • Lovely morning

Conclusions

It is clear from the supervisor feedback that these sessions are useful and valuable for the majority. For future sessions the foundation school will need to consider whether it is possible to run the sessions face to face which a higher proportion of supervisors preferred or whether the sessions would continue online. 

If the sessions were to continue online the school would need to take the feedback into consideration and look at changing the following:

  • Increasing the time of the breakout sessions to allow for more conversation
  • Nominating a chair for each breakout session to complete introductions and ensure the time was spent discussing the topic to feedback
  • The length of the session as a whole- could it be shorter? – would need to make sure the session is long enough to align with the supervisors training requirements 

The foundation school will reflect on the feedback received and will be in touch will all F2 supervisors in GP later in the year to communicate plans for future events.