Elm Lane and Chapeltown Surgeries
104 Elm Lane
Sheffield S5 7TW
and
11 Ecclesfield Road
Chapeltown S35 1TD
Telephone: 08451 242624
Fax: 0114 257 1260
Partners
Dr Des Keating, Dr Val Swales and Dr Claire Pinches
Trainers
Dr Des Keating and Dr Val Swales
Training
The practice has been training and teaching since the last century. All members of the primary health care team are involved in and are committed to training. Two of the three partners are approved trainers and we have both a full time and a part time registrar. The training that you have will be based on your own personal educational needs and based on a continual assessment and feedback process. Registrars in the practice are involved in all aspects of our work and are invited to and expected to attend and contribute to our regular team, clinical and business meetings. We have protected tutorial time, joint surgeries and opportunity after each surgery to discuss problems with either your trainer or one of the other partners.
Induction Period
This will usually be approximately 2 weeks during which we will introduce you to everyone in the team and the way that we work. Time is normally spent with members of the team i.e. district nurse, practice nurse, health visitor, midwife, etc. You will spend time with each of the partners during surgery and on visits. You will gradually start consulting and when we agree you are ready you will begin consulting on your own. At the end of this period we will jointly formulate and educational plan. This, of course, is usually subject to extensive modification!
Timetable
Full time involves at least 8 sessions in the practice per week (9 sessions where there is no VTS session). During one of these we usually timetable a joint surgery with a trainer. The weekly half day used to compensate for the 1 in 4 on call but since we now use the GP Collaborative for on call, this time is for study and tutorial preparation.
Part time is a pro-rata number of surgeries each week with a similar joint surgery.
The VTS takes place on Thursday afternoons and we expect you to attend - if not attending then this will be your half-day.
Preparations for tutorials and other study will be necessary.
Depending on your needs you may be involved in clinics at different times.
Consulting
We have registrar consulting rooms at both sites.
Early in your training year we expect that you will need 15 or even 20 minutes per consultation. We usually book patients at 10 minute intervals and aim for you to consult at this rate too, before you leave.
There are computers in each room with access to the NHS net at Elm Lane. With some basic training the system is straightforward to use. We use the EMIS GV and are very 'paper'light'. We have 2 video cameras and players and use these regularly to analyse and learn about consultations and consultations skills. Regular discussion of problem cases and also cases picked at random is very useful.
Sumative Assessment and MRCGP
We are keen that you take the MRCGP if you wish - we have had a lot of experience in helping our Registrars pass the exam.
We usually plan to accomplish as many as possible of the elements of summative assessment as early as possible.
The Team
Partners
Des Keating - took over the practice in 1985. Has been a trainer since August 1995. Interests include chest medicine, GP finance, diabetes and research.
Val Swales - joined Des in 1987. Has been training since 1992. Interests include cardiovascular disease, hypertension, gynaecology and women's health, padiatrics, personnel management and golf.
Claire Pinches - joined the practice in 1992. Works 3/4 time. Although not an approved trainer, Claire is very involved with our GPRs. Interests include women's health, audit, clinical governance, neurology and mental health.
Administrative Staff
Margaret Turner is the practice manager. We have 6 part time receptionists and 2 secretaries.
Clinical Staff
We have a nurse practitioner, a practice nurse, a health care assistant, attached district nurses, health visitor, CPNs and midwives. We have a counsellor who works 2 sessions per week. We have regular physio sessions provided by senior physios from NGH.
The Practice
List size is 5000+ with 3000ish at Elm Lane and 2000ish at Chapeltown approx. (The number of doctors may seem a lot for this size of practice but it does allow flexibility and protected teaching time).
Elm Lane Surgery is in the centre of a small owner-occupied estate, with large council estates close by. There is a wide mix of social classes, including some deprived areas, no high rise developments and a predominantly indigenous population. The age/sex ratio is fairly typical for the city.
Chapeltown Surgery is in the centre of Chapeltown which is to the North East of Sheffield about 3 miles from Elm Lane. The social mix is slightly different with more social class A B and C1 and predominantly owner occupying.
On Call
This has been transformed since the Sheffield GP Collaborative was formed. The partners do regular sessions each month. We expect you to attend with us and to gain sufficient experience to gain the appropriate levels of competency. This equates to around 10 sessions in 6 months. We share a minimal amount of on-call for the practice.
STRENGTHS
We are a small, warm and friendly team.
Our practice manager will act as your mother if you let her!
Most of us have worked together for many years and actually enjoy what we do and how we do it. We even like each other!
We have regular clinical team and practice meetings and usually communicate effectively.
We arrange regular, if infrequent, social events.
We have an established journal club and monthly significant event meetings.
We are welcoming and try to make new registrars feel part of the team.
We aim to be sensitive and flexible with regard to GPRs' needs.
Our greatest strength is our patients who are usually pleasant and often very appreciate of what we do.
WEAKNESSES
We can't think of any weaknesses - we think we're great!!