Junior doctors are being urged to help drive the implementation of personalised care across the NHS after the launch of new quality-assured eLearning training to help them hone their leadership skills in this key area, which was identified as a priority in the NHS Long Term Plan.
The Personalised Care Institute’s (PCI) latest bespoke training, developed by medical experts and underpinned by the standards set in its curriculum, aims to educate Junior Doctors about the principles of personalised care and its relevance to their practice. It also explores how they can implement change and transform the way in which care is delivered, so it is always centred around every individual.
Leading Personalised Care as a Junior Doctor is a free 30-minute e-learning course, via the PCI’s training hub. It was authored by Hannah Wright, Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM) National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow; Anna Street, Geriatrics trainee and Leadership Fellow at Health Education East of England; Catherine Wilton, Deputy Director Personalised Care (Leadership development) at NHS England/Improvement and Liam Loftus, GP Trainee and Leadership Fellow at Health Education East of England.
Co-author, Anna Street, said: “Junior doctors aren’t just going to be leaders in the future – they’re already leading in their current roles. We need to support them to hone their leadership skills and know how best to apply them to help them protect and improve the NHS by making personalised care a key part of their practice.
“I hope the junior doctors who do this module will realise they already have a lot of the skills they need for leadership in personalised care. It’s not a new set of skills to learn or something really difficult, it’s remembering to adjust what we already do to make it even better.
“Personalised care to me means doing the right thing for that person – not the right thing for someone else with the same condition. It means supporting them to make their own choices and in managing their own condition, because they know more about their life than any healthcare professional could.”
The PCI is helping health and care professionals to change the lives of patients by empowering them to have more control over how their care is planned. It is backed by NHS England and Improvement and is supported by more than 40 health organisations including royal colleges, key professional associations and patient groups. The PCI sets the standards for evidence-based personalised care training, provides an accreditation framework for training providers and commissioners; and is a central learning hub for health and care professional learners.
The PCI’s Leading Personalised Care as a Junior Doctor training explains how a personalised care approach relates to overcoming current challenges in healthcare – such as health inequalities and the impact of COVID-19 – and gives learners the opportunity to reflect on their contribution and commitment to personalised care. It also shares examples of how to lead change in the workplace and is designed to help Junior Doctors to inspire more clinicians to adopt this approach.
Andy Riley, Head of the PCI, said: “This course recognises and highlights that Junior Doctors are in the perfect position to apply the principles of personalised care and build on their skills to help drive change and put more patients at the centre of their own care.
“Evidence shows that delivering personalised care has a range of health benefits, such as improved adherence to treatment and quicker recovery times. We, along with our partners, are focused on embedding the principles of personalised care across the country to help enhance the lives of patients and improve experiences for healthcare professionals via high-quality training.”
The PCI is the national organisation which sets the standards for evidence-based personalised care training. Since its launch, the PCI has created the first ever Personalised Care Curriculum, developed and launched several learning modules within its flexible eLearning platform and has accredited 38 externally delivered training courses. The eLearning includes three core modules suitable for all healthcare professionals covering core skills, shared decision making and personalised care and support planning.
For more information about the PCI’s training, visit www.personalisedcareinstitute.org.uk