One of the benefits of Advice & Guidance in the NHS is the opportunity to learn. If a clinician can speak with or message a specialist for advice about a specific patient case they are unsure of, they will likely feel more confident to deal with similar cases themselves the next time they are presented with one.
Calls and messages also enable specialists to inform clinicians about local care pathways, ‘signposting’ where to send patients rather than sending them to A&E. This leads to more efficiencies in the system, with patients being sent to the right place first time.
The learnings gained from discussing cases are not just limited to clinical experience, though. Speaking with peers over the telephone allows clinicians to improve their framing of questions and answers efficiently and effectively, something that GPs in single-handed practices get little chance to work on.
Our CPD accreditation means that learning time is recorded for Primary Care clinicians in most areas using Consultant Connect. Credits are automatically collected, and to date, over 50,000 CPD credits have been earned by Primary Care clinicians using Consultant Connect.
Clinicians start earning CPD credits when calls or messages meet the criteria.
Our system automatically does the criteria calculation for clinicians.
Credits are earned when clinicians:
1) Call Advice & Guidance lines using the Consultant Connect App or Desktop Calling feature on Consultant Connect in your browser.
2) Use Photo Messaging via the Consultant Connect App or browser to contact specialists for Advice & Guidance.
We know that gathering evidence for CPD can be onerous, so we have made it super easy. CPD statements are created showing the credits earned, and these can be viewed via the Consultant Connect App or in your browser. Statements are then automatically emailed to clinicians, who can file them away, ready for when they need to use them.
In addition to CPD credits, it’s worth noting that all clinicians have access to their call recordings via Consultant Connect in your browser. This means they can listen back for training purposes if needed.
Feedback from clinicians has been positive:
‘The icing on the cake for me is the ability to download your CPD information following your use of Consultant Connect, which shows how useful it can be as an educational tool as well as a practical tool for clinical information.’
-Dr Amit Rajiput, GP Partner in Birmingham and Solihull
‘An absolute revelation which will increase its use amongst my colleagues.’
-Dr Aaliya Goyal, GP in Birmingham and Solihull
If you’d like to find out more about our CPD scheme or the Consultant Connect App, please call us on 01865 261467 or email hello@consultantconnect.org.uk
