Great News!

syringedriver.blogspot.com has now switched to an alternative site.

This new site allows us to provide for you the educational content which we have been promising, podcasts in the future, as well as allowing you to join the mailing list so updates will be delivered directly to your inbox!
If you are technically minded you can even subscribe to the RSS feed which will update you constantly on whats happening.

Importantly the address is easier to remember

http://www.syringedriver.co.uk

Workshop- Adult and Peer responses to Child Bereavement

This workshop, aimed at professionals and volunteers who work with children in an educational or medical setting, is looking at recent findings suggesting adults decisions and responses help or hinder children in the period leading up to and following the death of a close attachment figure.

This course is being held at Priscilla Bacon Lodge on the 17th November at a cost of £60.

More details can be obtained from www.childbereavement.org.uk or by emailing training@childbereavement.org.uk.

Palliative Care Conference- Dundee

The RCGP Scotland and NHS Tayside's Conference titled " A voyage of discovery -Theraputic relationships in palliative care" kicks off on Friday 21st September in Dundee.

Speakers include:

Prof Sam Ahmedzai
Prof R Downie
Dr Sinead Donnelly ( Irish Consultant in Palliative Medicine)
Alan Gow (Macmillan Cancer Support Development Co-ordinator)
Dr R Leckridge ( a specialist in homeopathic medicine)
Dr Fiona Randall

Cost is £100 for the day and more details can be obtained from i.thompson@nhs.net or tel 01382 527928

18th Palliative Care Conference

This event which always attracts excellent feedback, is this year happening at the John Innes Centre in Norwich.
It will be chaired by Jackie Saunders who is the head of education at the St Nicholas Hospice in Bury St. Edmunds.

Speakers include:

Dr Ian Beck( Palliative Care Consultant from Cardiff) on Management of Nausea and Vomiting.
Dr Max Watson( Palliative Care Consultant from Northern Ireland) on Nutrition in Palliative Care.
Dr Tony Calland ( the chair of the BMA's ethics committee) on Withdrawing treatment.
Dr Steve Allen ( a Pain Management Consultant from Reading) on Neuropathic pain
Terry Magee ( Director of Education at St Helena Hospice, Colchester) on Palliative care in those with mental health disorders.

Places are available at £50 per delegate and more information and an application form can be obtained from the Hospital Macmillan Secretary's at the N and N
Replies need to be in by the 2nd November.

Clubs and Conferences

This months educational offerings include;

Journal Club- 20th September from 14-1500 in the PBL Physios room
"How and why do GP's access specialist palliative care services"

Conference Feedback-27th September from 1300-1700
Feedback from the conferences that the specialist team have been on in the last 6 months.

Preparations are ongoing for the locality educational events with the specialist team so watch this space!

Clubs and Conferences

Education events this month include the usual

Journal club on the 20th September at 14-1500 in the PBL Physio room. The subject this month is "How and why do GP's use Specialist Palliative Care services?"

On the 27th September a whole afternoon- 1300-1700 is given over to Conference Feedback from various conferences that the specilaist team have been on in the last 6 months.

Preparations are ongoing for the locality specific specialist teaching sessions-watch this space.

Grand Round

We are pleased to announce that on the 17th September Dr Julie Wootton will be presenting the Grand Round on Palliative Care.
This will be held, as usual, at the Benjamin Gooch Lecture Theatre in the NAIME at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
It commences at 12:45 but there is lunch prior to this from 12:00!

Further educational events for September are to follow.

Questions Questions

Thanks to all of you who completed the questionnaires, the feedback they gave us is very useful in shaping where we need to concentrate our efforts!

If you returned a questionnaire you will soon be receiving another letter related to GP education.
Please take the time to fill in the tick box and return it to us if possible.

Overwhelmingly your responses, to the questionnaire, suggested that you would like more teaching around specialist palliative care from the team at PBL. We have therefore been working closely with them, to look at providing some education, focused on your specific needs, in a location near you.

This is likely to consist of a series of either lunchtime or evening meetings, with topics chosen by you.

Watch this space for more news as we have it.

If you didn't receive a questionnaire or didn't have a chance to respond, and would like a chance to put forward your ideas for subject areas, then please contact us in the usual way.

Surveys

We have a small technical glitch with the survey!
Please feel free to contact us in the usual way and hopefully the survey should return soon.

Surveys

Thanks to all you who contributed to last months surveys.

This month we are looking at what can be done to improve the provision of specialist palliative care services in the community.

What do you think would improve the care of your patients at home?
What measures would make you happier about managing them in their own home rather than them needing addmission to either a specialist unit such as PBL or via A and E?
Where is palliative care in the community falling down?

Collegues I talk to suggest that we need more careers, possibly ring fenced for palliative care patients, or do we need to alter the way we use the specialist doctors from PBL.

What ever you think please fill in our survey and contact us in the usual way.

dplume@nhs.net


This is your chance to voice your opinion, dont miss out!

August Education

This months tutorial is by Dr Suzanne Hogg on Bisphosphonates.
It will be held between 1400 and 1500 on Thursday the 9th August at the Rowan Centre, PBL.

Other educational events in August include:

2nd Journal Club presented by Dr Jon Valentine.
9th Journal club presented by Dr Lucy Oliver
23rd Journal Club presented by the new SPR
30th Journal Club presented by the new SHO

Please phone for more details and to check locations

Check back at the end of the month for more educational activities.

Please contact us if you would like to organise some educational activity with the specialist palliative care team for the coming months.

Surveys

This site is meant for you!

We value your feedback so please feel free to contact us if there are things which you wish to query or items on this site which you feel we have omitted.

REMINDER

There is still time to complete the survey at the bottom of this page!

Educational Resources

Discussion with my GP colleagues has suggested that you would like more education from the specialist palliative care team. In response to this we will be posting links to educational resources on a monthly basis.
We hope to be able to post the presentations which have been given in the preceding month or so by the specialist palliative care team.

Below would be July's Offering if this area wasn't still under construction!

Breathlessness in 10'ish minutes By Dr David Plume

Survey

Dont forget to fill in the survey at the bottom of this page, we want to know your experiences of implementing GSF/LCP/PPC, and what we can do to help you.

July Education

This month there is a plethora of palliative care educational activities available.

Journal Club Thusdays 1300-1400 at the Rowan Centre Meeting Room
5th July
12th July
26th July

Monthly Tutorials 1400-1500 Rowan Meeting Room
12th July Tutorial on methadone.

Please phone for more details and to check locations

Check back at the end of the month for more educational activities.

Please remember that we can help you to look at possible educational events in your area with the specialist palliative care team, you only need to phone us!

Welcome

This is the first post on the new Central Norfolk Macmillan GP Facilitation Blog- or "How I came to love the syringe driver" for short!

My name is David Plume and I am the new (relatively!) Macmillan GP Facilitator for Primary Care.

I worked extensively in oncology and palliative care as a trainee and after my VTS I worked as a GPwSI splitting my time between primary care and palliative care in Colchester.
I moved to Norfolk in 2004 to work initially for the PCT and then as a partner at Attleborough Surgeries.
More recently I have split my time between palliative care and working as a GP in and around Norfolk.

I work closely with Elizabeth Stallwood, a very experienced specialist palliative care nurse with a wide range of community and hospital experience accross the NHS and private organisations.
She has been working with a number of you for the last year or so on end of life care especially the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) and its implementation in the community.

We have joined forces to look at the implementation of the LCP, GSF (Gold Standards Framework) PPC (Prefered place of care) and other palliative care initiatives across central Norfolk.

We are based at PBL and will be visiting practices across central Norfolk in the next few months to attend GSF meetings and to discuss what we can do to help with the often daunting task of organising optimal end of life care.

We hope to use this blog for a number of purposes including information and communication from the team, notification of upcoming educational events in palliative care, resource for teaching materials produced by the specialist palliative care team and general learning and communication resources.