Information for patients
What is a training practice?
Training Practices are involved in medical education. They may be involved in the supervision of trainees from different professions (e.g. doctors, nurses, pharmacists) and may support these trainees at different stages in their training.
What makes a training practice special?
Training practices must commit to high standards of clinical care. They are inspected regularly not only by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who inspect every practice but also by Health Education England (HEE) who ensure that training practices and their approved trainers are providing an appropriate teaching environment.
Training practices benefit from training because they have continuous exposure to bright, enthusiastic and motivated trainees who bring with them fresh perspectives and ideas. They also have a strong ethos of learning and development ensuring up-to-date clinical practice and an emphasis on team-working.
Our patients report high levels of satisfaction in consultation with our trainees and will often ask to see them specifically.
What types of trainee are at Goring & Woodcote and how might I meet them?
Goring and Woodcote regularly trains groups of medical students from Oxford University Medical School. They are taught in small groups and their teaching is based around patients who might have interesting diagnoses and/or clinical signs. Patients involved in medical student teaching are invited specifically for this purpose well in advance of the teaching session. If you are invited to be involved in our medical student teaching then it is absolutely your choice whether or not you would like to take part.
The main type of trainee you are likely to meet in our Goring and Woodcote sites are our GP Registrars. These are fully qualified doctors who have had at least two years of post-qualification experience prior to joining us, often much more. They have chosen to specialise in general practice and will spend between 6 and 12 months working in our practice while they undertake their professional exams.
Registrars can see patients and prescribe for them independently; you will usually notice no difference when consulting with them than you would with one of our fully qualified GPs. They may have slightly longer consultations to begin with and they may have another GP sitting in with them when they are being assessed.
You may be asked to have your consultation with our registrar recorded for their communication skills examination. Your permission will be sought before the recording takes place and you are under no obligation to say yes. Recordings will be kept securely and seen/listened to only by the trainer(s) involved in supporting that registrar and the examiner(s) assessing the consultation. The recordings are destroyed after use.
During their placement with us it is important that our registrars get feedback from patients so you may be asked to complete a questionnaire after your consultation – this feedback is anonymous.
How do I know that the trainee I see is being adequately supervised?
All of our GP registrars will have an approved trainer within the practice who oversees their education whilst they are with us.
They monitor their progress during their placement and ensure trainees are working safely. Every trainee has a named supervising doctor for each clinical session in the practice and covering them on home visits. They spend time debriefing the trainee at the end of each session but may also be called upon to give a second opinion whilst you are in the room if there is any diagnostic uncertainty.
Information for prospective trainees
Calling all prospective GP Registrars. Why not come and join our team?
Would you like to experience traditional general practice? Do you want to work in a supportive, friendly team at the heart of a close-knit village community? Do you value patient-centred care and continuity with the opportunity to really get to know your patients? If so you we would love you to be part of our team.
Goring & Woodcote Medical Practice is a highly respected training practice, situated on the Oxfordshire/Berkshire border and operating out of two surgeries, three miles apart. We currently have 10,500 patients and dispense from both sites.
Good reasons to train with us:
- You will be joining a well-established training practice, having been involved in training both GP registrars and medical students for many years.
- We have three experienced trainers. One who is the Associate dean for Reading and Newbury VTS) and two are also experienced CSA/RCA examiners.
- Our team and trainers received excellent feedback on our most recent training assessment visit by HETV and continue to receive hugely positive feedback from our trainees.
- We are a friendly, welcoming Practice achieving high QOF scores and offering excellent standards of clinical care.
- We meet for coffee every morning
- Our trainees have well-equipped rooms on both sites and we supply doctor’s bags for your home visits.
- We pride ourselves on a team approach to learning with regular multidisciplinary team meetings, practice meetings and educational lunch-time sessions run for all clinical staff by local specialists. We hold regular reviews of significant events, palliative care and patient feedback as well as being involved in research.
- Our Practice population includes a diverse mix of elderly and families. We have four care homes in our area enabling you to get involved in coordinating care planning and end of life care in the community.
- You will be able to experience telephone triage, e-consults, remote telephone consultation, home visiting, chronic disease clinics, minor ops, dermoscopy, joint injections, womesn health including smears and contraception (including coil and implant fitting), and, of course, face to face consultations.
- We are a paperless Practice using the EMIS system.
Our trainers
- Dr Andrew Goode is an experienced trainer, CSA examiner, appraiser and Associate Dean for the Reading and Newbury VTS scheme.
- Dr Simon Morris has also been training for many years. He is a CSA examiner and coordinates the teaching of Oxford medical students who visit the Practice regularly.
- Dr Simon Pettitt is an experienced trainer, he is also a tutor in General Practice coordinating and hosting medical students from Oxford University
Our trainees
We have up to six GP Registrars training with us at any one time. They are an integral part of the team and involved in all our educational events and multidisciplinary meetings. Three of our Partners – Dr Simon Pettitt, Dr Ed Capo-Bianco and Dr Jessica Reed were trainees before joining the team on a permanent basis. There can’t be a higher recommendation for training with us than that!
Training in Goring and Woodcote
There is a wealth of expertise and knowledge available within our Practice team and we ensure that trainees have access to this during their induction programme, by working at both practice sites and by having some of their regular tutorials with clinicians other than their trainer. We offer flexible educational time to enable you to follow your own learning needs and ‘personalise’ your training.
We support our learners throughout their time with us. You will have a named supervising doctor and protected ‘debrief’ time with them for each clinical session. Our doctors meet daily for coffee, an opportunity to informally chat through cases. Each individual trainee is challenged to enable them to meet the demands of the MRCGP but also achieve the skills they will need as independent practitioners.
What do we get out of it? The whole Practice team is totally committed to training. We enjoy working with our GP Registrars and learn a tremendous amount from them. Our aim is to offer our patients the very highest possible standard of clinical care, applying the principles of compassion, continuity and accessibility, and we work hard to ensure we create an environment for both our patients and our staff that is friendly and supportive. As a trainee with your own wealth of experience we welcome your insights into the way we work and how we might continue to develop on into the future.
Feedback we have received recently:
Dr Steph White 2021
‘Goring & Woodcote is a wonderful training practice. I have worked there as an ST3 LTFT trainee. All of the staff are supportive from the receptionists and admin team to the HCAs and nurses. I have worked alongside all of the doctors on the team and everyone is friendly and approachable whilst encouraging you to be autonomous in preparation for post CCT. The practice population is varied, with a significant elderly population. This provides great opportunities for managing multiple comorbidities alongside complex social situations. As an ST3 I have been involved in telephone triage and home visits as well as managing my own docman (admin) and results which I feel has prepared me well for the future. There are also a lot of GP trainers at the practice so everyone is up to speed with the e-portfolio and assessments required. I would highly recommend the placement.’
Dr Rosy Halfyard 2021
‘Great team to work with either site – very friendly , supportive Practice with ample opportunities. My trainer in particular has been my pillar of support- very friendly and approachable always, he has always been a source of encouragement for me. Very close support in the form of debriefs, case-discussion, advice is always available. The Practice team as a whole are a fantastic bunch of people, very helpful and professional. This is the best ever place I have worked in this country.’
Dr Samik Dasgupta 2021
‘I absolutely love working at GWMP. The really good points are the friendly atmosphere and support from all clinical and non-clinical staff: we have a working break mid-morning and many staff members eat in the staff room which means there is a lovely team feel. Supervisors have ‘catch up’ sessions and specific times to debrief too, which means that as a registrar you always feel like there is time for them to discuss queries with you and you’re always supported. It is really good to work across two sites with different patient demographics and demands, as well as different colleagues. The number of GPs also means you get a real variety of debriefs and specialist topics to discuss or target in tutorials. We have a number of in-house clinics like diabetic clinics, asthma reviews and even memory clinic – which are also options for learning and tutorials. I’d highly recommend the practice for any registrar.’