Welcome to the December 2011 Edition

Holiday Message from North Coast GP Training

CEO John carefully selecting at last weeks staff Christmas "Grinching"

Here we are again at the tail end of another successful training year at North Coast GP Training and there is a lot to be thankful for as the Christmas holiday nears.  At the start of the year we welcomed 34 new GP registrars to our program which was a big increase over the previous year.

Above my desk hangs a picture of all of our new registrars taken at the February Foundations of General Practice workshop.  Whenever I look at it I can hardly believe how many young and talented doctors are coming to our region to train, work and live.  We are very lucky to have them.  What’s more, is that they’ve all made it through their first year intact and from all reports they are thriving in general practice.  In 2011 we had over 100 registrars working in 49 accredited training practices across our region.  We’ve come a long way since our first intake of 11 registrars in 2003.

This year also saw an expansion of the Prevocational GP Placements Program from two to seven training posts.  There’s no doubt we’ve experienced growing pains throughout the year, but with the commitment and persistence of those seven practices we have laid the foundations for a stronger and better program in years to come.  Already we are seeing the junior doctors who experienced 10 weeks of general practice through the PGPPP program come back to us as registrars.  Four will be joining us next year.

Our GP Procedural Training program had another great year with eight posts filled in Anaesthetics, Emergency and Obstetrics.  Interest in the program for 2012 is through the roof with 15 posts confirmed and funded for next year.  Our Overseas Trained Doctor Support for Fellowship program also continues to thrive with over forty doctors benefiting from the supports offered by the program during the year.

So, as we get ready to kick off the festive season we have a lot to celebrate.  Over 160 doctors are training in our various programs and together they are making a significant and important contribution to the general practice workforce in our region. 

On behalf of the team and the board at NCGPT I would like to thank each and every one of you for entrusting your training to us.  We are working hard every day to ensure that you receive the best possible education, training and personal support while you are on our programs.

I would also like to say a special thank you to all of our GP supervisors and practice managers for your ongoing support and commitment during the year.  You are all part of the NCGPT team and we know we couldn’t run our programs without you.  You are fantastic!  Thank you.

As we prepare to close the books on 2011, our Christmas wish for the entire NCGPT family is that you enjoy this special time of the year with your families and close friends in good cheer and in good health.  We hope that you enjoy the break, have some fun, laugh a lot and above all get to relax a little bit.  You all work incredibly hard, so you deserve it.

From NCGPT, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

John Langill
CEO

SLO Update with John Vaughan

Supervisor Liaison Officer John Vaughan

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our hard working supervisors out there in NCGPT land. The changes continue to rain down upon us with the advent of the North Coast Medicare Local  set to begin in the new year. What impact this will have on our day to day practise is hard to gauge but there is no doubt that private general practise remains and will remain the most efficient and effective method of providing quality primary care to our population. Not only do we need to re -emphasise this point to our leaders in the Medicare Local but also to our up and coming young GP's in training in our practises.

It has been my privilege to meet many more of the supervisors working in our RTP over the last 12 months. It is inspiring to hear of the wonderful work you are all doing in educating the next generation of GP's.

I look forward to catching up with many of you in 2012 and wish you all a restful and relaxing festive break.

John Vaughan SLO

RLO Update with Nina Robertson

RLO Nina Robertson with Paddy McLisky and Jody Reinbott earlier in the year.

Merry Christmas to all!  The year has flown by . For my fellow cohort of GPT2, it's been an absolute pleasure spending time with you all throughout the year.  What a fine bunch of people you all are!  Thanks to the wonderful medical educators and administrative staff at NCGPT. 

There was a lovely sense of "coming home" that I felt on starting training this year, and that was largely due to all at NCGPT. Special mention to John Langill, for your calm leadership, and thanks to Chris Ahern and Sue Sladden for your unstinting support. 

2012  is shaping up to be another big year, with lots of fresh recruits and more locally based education due to growing numbers. Personally, I'm looking forward to part-time training which will allow me to focus more on my RLO role. 

Good luck to all doing exams next year and congratulations to those of you about to "fellow" and venture out into the wide world.

Nina Robertson RLO

RSO Update with Sue Sladden

A few of the crowd who gathered for the recent Brunswick lunch. L to R,  Vicki Liu, Zewlan Moor, Jessie Atkins, Manolis Proheraris and Veronica Rogers and son.

Well another year is almost over……I think the older I get the quicker the years go by.

I hope you have enjoyed your current term and are excited about your new term next month. For those of you who are completing their time with NCGPT, I will be sad to see you go….. don’t forget though, you still will need to come through NCGPT to obtain a provider number to work until your fellowship is approved by RACGP, this process can take up to 6 – 8 weeks from the end of the current term. So unless you want a holiday until the paperwork is done….get your forms in.

We had lovely weather on Sunday for the Northern area lunch at the Brunswick Pub. We also had an awesome meal. Miraculously Nina managed to take everyone’s lunch orders and not miss a single person and all of the meals came out at once….Obviously her waitressing days held her in good stead.

It was lovely also to see so many partners and kids come along and enjoy the day. I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year

See you all in 2012!

Sue

NCGPT Staff Conference

Ballina staff, Medical Educators and RLOs all attended the event.

Most of the NCGPT staff from across the region converged on the Mantra at Salt in Kingscliff in early December for a day of planning and also to explore some of the latest in educational technologies and how these resources may enhance our role as a training provider.

The use of ipads , smart phones and social media is an area many educational institutions and other RTPs are seriously investigating, especially those with students dispersed across wide areas. NCGPT has always prided itself on its face to face training and strong personal support and this will continue in the future. What we hope to achieve with some of these technologies is to bring us all a little closer together so our interactions are more frequent, more targeted and more beneficial to all involved.

Keep tuned................

Staff change at NCGPT

New Receptionist and Administration Officer Jo Sayer

A few months back our ever smiling receptionist and admin officer Katherine Tucker headed off with her partner to seek their fortunes in the mines of Western Australia. Katherine has been replaced by the very efficient Jo Sayer, Jo introduce yourself…….

My family and I moved to Ballina 6 years ago from Auckland, New Zealand to be nearer to family, and wow, they sure chose a great area to live!  I started work as a travel agent and after 11 years, progressed into the IT side of the travel industry.  I was fortunate that this job allowed me to travel throughout New Zealand to train and support various travel outlets. 

When I arrived here in Ballina, I had an administration/IT job in Lennox Head and then moved on to be part of the administration team for the Ballina Bypass Project.  As construction was coming to an end in 2011, I thought it was time to try something new, and that is how I landed here with NCGPT.  I am the voice you hear when you call the office, so don’t hassle my accent!

Jo Sayer

NCGPT Strategic Planning Day

Part of the planning team at the workshop. L to R, ME Hilton Koppe, RLO Kirsten Patterson, CEO John Langill and Board Members, Tim Francis, Nick De Marco, John Moran and David Gregory.

As part of NCGPTs commitment to its ongoing improvement as a Regional Training provider and its corporate governance practices, a Stategic Planning day was recently held in Sydney. The full day workshop was attended by NCGPT Board Members, the Supervisor Liaison Officer, a Registrar Liaison Officer, senior NCGPT staff and senior Medical Educators.

The objective of the workshop was to discuss and evaluate the last 3 year Strategic Plan (2009 – 2011) and to then develop the 2012 – 2014 Plan. The workshop was facilitated by Professor Geoffrey Kiel from Effective Governance.

The majority of the day was spent reviewing NCGPTs performance over the last three years, specifically in relation to the existing 6 NCGPT Core Strategies and how these relate to contemporary issues in GP Training. The team refined some of the old strategies and introducing some entirely new ones. Over the next few months these strategies will be further fleshed out and objectives and KPIs put in place to facilitate the implementation of the new Strategic Plan.

It was pleasing to note during the analysis and evaluation of NCGPTs performance as an RTP over the last planning period, that the vast majority of objectives and targets had been achieved.

2011 AAPM Conference

The NCGPT table at the APPM dinner. Back, L to R: Caroline Hooper (NCGPT), Carmen Nichols (Bellingen Healing Centre), Leanne Ward (Toormina Medical Centre), Sue Tempone (Coffs Medical Centre), Carol Middlebrook (Camden Haven Medical Centre/Westside Medical Centre), Rhonda O’Dell (NCGPT), Stacey Kelly (Westside Medical Centre). Front:Lyn Hipwell (Randwick Cardiology), Narelle Floyd (Randwick Cardiology), Mandy Chapman (Queen Street Clinic), Jennah Saville (NCGPT).

In October Jennah, Rhonda and Caroline from the NCGPT Ballina office, along with 7 of our Practice Managers, attended the Australian Association of Practice Managers( AAPM) conference in Perth.  

Following on from the official opening, Dr Sally Cockburn (aka Dr Feelgood) opened proceedings with a light-hearted overview of her medical career.  Whilst the remainder of the conference covered industry-specific topics such as Tax Structures, Medical Information Security, eHealth, administrative changes to Medicare, tips on managing a healthy practice, etc there was also a strong focus on personal development sessions which were well received by most conference delegates.  

The 2012 conference is being held in Brisbane in October, so keep your eye out for that one!

Caroline Hooper

NCGPT Office Manager

Christmas Break

The NCGPT office will be closed from 1pm Friday December 23rd until 3rd January.

Best wishes for the festive season.