Quality Management Agenda Items for STC Meetings
The following should be regular agenda items covered under the Quality Management section at all relevant STC meetings:
- STS and NTS survey data – this should be provided by the TPD. When looking at this data, the STC group should pay attention to outlier flags. The TPD should be able to provide an update on any issues that may have caused an outlier flag and what steps are being taken to address this. If any further information is required on the content of STS and NTS survey data or if the STC feel that further action is required, please contact the QIM for the specialty and they will be able to provide relevant support.
- The National Trainee Survey is conducted in May/June each year with the results usually being released by the GMC at the beginning of July.
- The Scottish Trainee Survey is an end of post survey. The frequency with which trainees will complete the survey is dependant on how often they change post. All trainees will complete the survey at least once during each training year (in June). Reports showing STS flags are produced annually in late June/early July. TPDs have access to data throughout the year via the STS reporting dashboard; this includes free text comments submitted by trainees (if there were at least 3 responses from trainees in the department).
- The STS dashboard sign-in page can be found here.
The following is a key on how to interpret survey results:
Scottish Training Survey (STS)
* A significant change in the mean score is indicated by these arrows rather than a change in outcome.
GMC National Training Survey (NTS)
- Visit reports
- Scotland Deanery conducts visits to sites and training programmes across Scotland as part of our commitment to the quality management of postgraduate medical education. Visits are undertaken on a 5-yearly cycle for routine (scheduled) visits where there are no indicators of concern or risk. Where data has suggested there may be concerns about training in a specific programme or site a visit may be undertaken outside of the normal cycle. This would be a triggered visit and the reasons for the visit would be included in the visit notification document, which will be shared with relevant PDs. Further information about our visits can be found here.
- A copy of the final visit report is sent to the regional TPD for that specialty and the relevant manager/ administrator in Training Management. If you have been in receipt of a QM visit then the report should be discussed at the STC until all requirements in the report are resolved. Any queries on the report should be directed to the QIM for that visit (this will be detailed at the beginning of the report).
The following should be annual agenda items covered under the Quality Management section at relevant STC meetings:
- TPD report
- The TPD report should be added as an agenda item around September each year. Ideally the STC should have had the opportunity to contribute to the TPD report content but it is recognised that timescales do not always allow for this. The completed TPD report should be provided by the TPD. The TPD should be able to provide an update on any issues that may have caused an outlier flag and what steps are being taken to address this. Refer to the key table on previous page for details on how to identify the outlier flags. If any further information is required on the content of the TPD report or if the STC feel that further action is required, please contact the QIM for the specialty and they will be able to provide relevant support.
- Quality Review Panel (QRP) output summary
- The QRP output summary should be added as an agenda item around November each year. A copy of the QRP output summary will be sent to all TPDs. The TPD should submit the QRP output summary to the relevant STC meeting to be included as a paper. The summary will provide details of the proposed visits for the training year and any requests for further information. Any queries on the QRP output summary should be directed to the QIM for the specialty.
- The annual cycle for each specialty grouping starts with a quality review panel (QRP). The QRP review all new Quality Management data. This includes information & intelligence for training in each specialty for the training year ending in July. QRPs are chaired by the Lead Dean/Director for the specialty grouping and includes members of the specialty quality management group. Membership also includes the chair of the associated STB and a DME. Occasionally TPDs participate in QRPs where it is unlikely that APGDs can bring the requisite intelligence around training in particular specialties. QRPs are tasked with:
- identifying areas of potential good practice in education and training
- identifying LEPs where there are potential signals of concern around training environments that maybe failing to meet GMC standards and where a ‘triggered visit’ may be required.
- gathering more information, typically from the TPD or from the DME, to inform the necessary response.
- The QRP output summary should be added as an agenda item around November each year. A copy of the QRP output summary will be sent to all TPDs. The TPD should submit the QRP output summary to the relevant STC meeting to be included as a paper. The summary will provide details of the proposed visits for the training year and any requests for further information. Any queries on the QRP output summary should be directed to the QIM for the specialty.
The following link will show which QIMs are aligned to which specialty: https://www.scotlanddeanery.nhs.scot/quality/quality-workstream/
This page was last updated on: 21.02.2023 at 10.40