New posts created to help trainee GPs

Trainee GPs are getting exposure to the full range of community health services through a range of new posts.
Jane Weatherstone, Northumbria Healthcare’s director of primary care education and development.Jane Weatherstone, Northumbria Healthcare’s director of primary care education and development.
Jane Weatherstone, Northumbria Healthcare’s director of primary care education and development.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust which runs hospitals in Northumberland and North Tyneside, has GPs working across the system.

Trainee GPs have to spend a significant period of their training in hospital settings, and the Trust has a close working relationship with the Northumbria GP Training Programme, run by Health Education England (HEE) across the North East.

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In a further boost to the partnership, Northumbria Healthcare is now launching a series of brand-new community-facing trainee posts across a range of disciplines.

It is one of the first trusts in the North East to offer this type of opportunities for trainees, and officials are hoping that most if not all of the posts will be taken up by the cohort starting in August this year.

The new community posts will be in a range of services, with one or more in sexual and public health, two in CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), up to four in community posts based out of Hexham General Hospital, one in palliative care, one in gynaecology and one in orthopaedics.

Jane Weatherstone, Northumbria Healthcare’s director of primary care education and development, said: “These new posts are a real feather in our cap and it’s due to the unique setup within our Trust and the amount of community services that we provide for residents.

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“This scheme also has tangible benefits for patients in the area, as going forward, there will be GPs who have inside knowledge of all of the services that are available, while already having those personal links to be able to develop really successful partnerships.”

Justin Burdon, the primary care dean for HEE in the North East and North Cumbria, said: “I am delighted that Northumbria Healthcare and the Postgraduate School of Primary Care at HEE across the North East and North Cumbria have been able to work together to establish these posts.

“They are exactly the sort of posts that are needed to develop the GPs of the future: GPs with a sound knowledge of medicine, an awareness of the health needs of our population and with close links to the community and wider health services.”