Palliative medicine training in the South West has been ranked the highest in England for “overall satisfaction” in the latest General Medical Council (GMC) report.
The annual survey, undertaken by the GMC on behalf of Health Education England, covers all postgraduate medical trainees in the UK. Peninsula Postgraduate Medical Education (PPME), the training body that covers the South West region, was ranked highest in palliative medicine training for criteria including quality of teaching, clinical supervision and the experience provided.
Palliative medicine training is only provided at three sites in Devon and Cornwall, with Hospiscare being one of these.
Hospiscare, the local hospice charity for Exeter, Mid and East Devon, cares for adults with a range of terminal illnesses, as well as providing support for their friends and families.
Peninsula trainees receive specialist training in palliative medicine at the charity’s Exeter hospice, which has a twelve-bed ward, as well as at the charity’s three day hospice centres and in patients’ own homes. With consultant supervision, trainees are an important part of the team providing care to patients and families referred to Hospiscare, while developing their own expertise to become palliative medicine consultants in the future. Dr Jenny Hayes, a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Hospiscare says:
“We are delighted with this result as it demonstrates that the training we provide is recognised as some of the best in England. It’s a credit to the whole organisation who help to support and enable the trainees to have this fantastic learning experience at Hospiscare.”
Over the past five years, Peninsula has ranked within the top half of Deaneries in England, demonstrating a consistently high level of performance in palliative medical training in the South West region.
