Trainee junior doctors celebrate after scooping £50k national grant

Dr. Andrew Ustianowski, Consultant in Infectious Diseases at North Manchester General Hospital, with junior medic Dr Celia Hogan

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been awarded a grant of £50,000 from Medical Education England (MEE) to fund a new Better Training, Better Care project for junior doctors. 

The unique pilot will provide trainee junior doctors with networked mobile handheld devices, allowing them to record a brief summary of the issues and any follow-up or reviews that may be needed after each patient interaction and treatment.

The aim is to encourage junior doctors to document their interactions with patients more effectively and to develop their skills as new medics as well as improving patient care. It will also help reduce the length of time patients have to stay in hospital, ensuring they are treated and discharged as quickly as possible.

Initially, the project will be aimed at the Foundation Year 2 and Specialist Trainee 2 grade trainee doctors within the Infectious Diseases and within General Medicine at North Manchester General Hospital.

The pilot scheme will begin in early autumn and the scheme will start in November.

The Trust currently employs 419 trainee junior doctors across its four hospital sites at Rochdale Infirmary, The Royal Oldham Hospita, lNorth Manchester General Hospital, and Fairfield General Hospital in Bury .

The Trust presented their project to a panel of 11 experts at the MEE which is an independent public body that supports medical education and training in England.

The application process was fiercely competitive and the project was against 96 other strong applicant Trust from across the country.

Medical Education England (MEE) was impressed by the Trust’s ‘fresh and unique’ concept and awarded a grant of £50,000. The MEE Board funded just 16 projects in total across the country. The Trust successfully achieved two of the funded projects. 

Dr. Andrew Ustianowski, Consultant in Infectious Diseases at North Manchester General Hospital, welcomed the grant. He said: “Presently training has to be largely generic. But this pilot will ensure that our trainee doctors increase their reflection after each patient interaction and then direct their own education and learning”.

Christina Kenny, Director of Medical Education at the Trust, added: “This is excellent news. The funding allows us to pilot these ideas which we hope will really support
our junior doctors; increasing the effectiveness of medical education at the same time as improving patient care.”

The Trust believes that this new project will be an asset to the training of new junior doctors. If successful, the pilot scheme will be applied across other departments throughout the Trust’s four hospitals. The Trust also hopes it will be a valuable training resource for hospitals not only in Greater Manchester but also across England and Wales.