Physician Associates

Amy Tullin, Chief  Physician Associate, Emergency Department,  
Email: amy.tullin@nhs.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katie Key, Lead Physician Associate, Emergency Department, Email: Katie.key1@nhs.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Pauline Swift, Consultant Nephrologist, Renal Services
Associate Medical Director for Education, Research and Development and Innovation
Email: pauline.swift1@nhs.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martina Yanga, Medical Education Manager
Email: martina.yanga@nhs.net

Local Faculty Group meetings

The Chief PA chairs three local faculty group (LFG) meetings per year for all Trust PAs.  Currently these meetings are taking place virtually via MS Teams.  This meeting reports into the Medical Education Committee (MEC).  The LFG gives all PA attendees an opportunity to discuss and monitor the clinical, personal and professional development of all PAs working within the trust.  This will involve monitoring that appraisals are taking place, appropriate pastoral support is available, assessment of competence, representation of PAs at key stakeholder trust meetings and more.  All PAs are warmly invited to the next LFG meeting. The meeting date will be published soon.

Trust policies and guidelines

The Trust's policies and guidelines are available via the Trust intranet Victor.  The specific policy related to PAs is the Physician Associate Governance Policy Document ESH/POL/62221 policy.

 

 

All PAs need to complete 50 hours of CPD per year (25 hours external and 25 internal). The Chief PA and Lead PAs jointly organise regular funded CPD events for all Trust PAs to help them to meet this 50 hour target. 

 

Physician Associate Joint Trust Teaching

  Physician Associate joint trust teaching takes place every Monday via MS Teams from 2pm - 3pm.  The link will be emailed on a weekly basis.

The aim of the session is to provide teaching on both general and specialist topics specifically for physician associates working at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust (ESTH) and St George’s Hospitals.  For further details please contact amy.tullin@nhs.net.

 

Specialty and Associate Specialist (SAS) doctors and Locally Employed Doctors (LEDs) training events

Physician Associates are welcome to attend relevant SAS and LED Doctors events.  Please see the SAS and LED Doctors website - training sessions (only available on the Victor Trust Intranet) at: http://www.victor.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk/sas-doctors-and-leds

 

Health Education England Physician Associate – Education day

Please see the following poster for details of the Health Education England (HEE) and  London Physician Associate Ambassor (PAA) supported and NHS Trust hosted PA education days:  HEE Physician Associate – Education Days 

 

London Affiliation of Physician Associates (LAPA) Continuing Professional Development opportunities

LAPA helps London based PAs with their external CPD hours by hosting monthly teach-in sessions on a variety of topics as well as yearly conferences. All teach-in events are certified for one Faculty of Physician Associates (FPA) external CPD point if watched live. All CPD events are recorded so they can be enjoyed again at a later date.  Visit the LAPA CPD pages to view past and upcoming events: https://www.londonphysicianassociate.co.uk/cpd2 

 

Kent, Surrey and Sussex School of Physician Associates (KSS) School of Physician Associates

Visit the KSS School of Physician Associates news and events page for the latest news and events relevant to PAs, universities and employers in Kent, Surrey and Sussex: https://kssschoolofpas.org/news-events/.

 

Royal College of Physicians (RCP): Faculty of Physician Associates

Visit the RCP: Faculty of Physician Associates continuing professional development website for the latest news and RCP events that are available to all members of the Faculty of Physician Associates and the RCP: https://www.fparcp.co.uk/professional-development/cpd.

 

Virtual grand rounds and hospital lectures

Please see the Postgraduate Medical Centre website for information about the weekly virtual grand rounds and virtual hospital lectures.  

 

 

 

 

 

Simulation Training

Please visit the Elena Power Simulation Centre website pages for more information about simulation courses.

 

Statutory and mandatory training

From Monday 8 March 2021 the Trust has started using MyESR to view and ensure compliance of all  Statutory and Mandatory training.  To find out how to access, complete and further information about your statutory and mandatory training please visit the Trust's Statutory and mandatory training (only available on the Victor Trust Intranet): http://www.victor.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk/statutory-and-mandatory-training.  

 

Trust training manual and the Trust training calendar and booking system

The current trust training manual is available to download here. It contains information about statutory and mandatory training, health and safety, personal development management development, policy Training, clinical staff training and more.  Some of the courses in the training manual require you to book your place using the Trust's booking system.  The calendar and the booking system are available here.

 

Library educational resources training

Please see the training pages of the Epsom and St Helier Library and Information Services for more information about electronic resources training including UpToDate and BMJ Best Practice, healthcare databases training, critical appraisal training, IT skills pathway training and more.

Library and Information Services 

All physician associates have access to a well resourced library and information services.  For more information please visit the library and information services pages at: https://www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk/lis.  All resources with accompanying information can be found on the electronic resources pages here: https://www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk/electronic-resources.

Specific resources that may be of interest to physician associates are shown in the table below.

Logos of specific Physician Associate resources

BMJ Learning

BMJ OnExamination

BMJ Best Practice

 

Contact Potenza or Marisa at: esth.hirsonlibrary@nhs.net for more information or visit the library web pages.

ESTH PA Newsletter

The latest edition of the PA Newsletter is available here:  PA Newsletter Issue 2 Oct 2021

 

We currently host Physician Associate (PA) students from St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.  A Physician Associate Student Handbook has been produced for all PA students to ensure you have an educational and enjoyable placement at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust.  It contains all the necessary information including faculty contact list, eating facilities, getting to the two main hospital sites, departmental placement information, the PA buddy-up scheme, library services and more.

You can download the most recent copy of the handbook here: Physician Associate Handbook final.pdf 1MB

Freedom To Speak Up

The Trust encourages and supports all staff to raise concerns about any matter relating to patient care, patient safety or work concerns, in a confidential and safe manner.  Visit the Speaking Up and Raising Concerns pages for more information.

Visit the Trust's health and wellbeing pages  to support your health and wellbeing both at home and at work.

The Epsom and St Helier Charity, working with the health and wellbeing team, have secured a loan of two sleep pods from the company Restworks. These space-age looking pods are designed as a bed with a hooded privacy visor, and with the option to play pre-programmed music or a relaxation guide, were built specifically for power naps. This means that during a half hour break, you are welcome to take a break and can rejuvenate your mind and body in the midst of a busy shift, or before heading home.  Contact Martina Yanga (Medical Education Manager) at martina.yanga@nhs.net or use the Postgraduate Medical Centre electronic booking system to book your place!

 

Useful websites

Royal College of Physicians: Faculty of Physician Associates: The Faculty of Physician Associates provides professional support to physician associates across the UK. Members of the faculty are part of a professional membership body campaigning for progress and change in the profession, advising government, and taking part in national debates on medical, clinical and public health issues. The FPA reviews and sets standards for:

• the education and training of physician associates
• physician associate national certification and recertification examinations.

London Affiliation of Physician Associates (LAPA): LAPA is a network in London which supports PAs, PA students and employers. LAPA's committee consists of experienced PAs, PA Ambassadors and student representatives. LAPA provides a range of educational and networking events as well as training sessions for supervisors of PAs.

 

Kent Surrey and Sussex School of Physician Associates: KSS School of Physician Associates is a collaborative project which supports the development of Physician Associates across Kent, Surrey and Sussex in the UK.  The school’s partners are Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Kent and University of Surrey. The school is sponsored by Health Education England working across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.