The GP retainer scheme: report of a national survey.

The current context of organisational change and new working patterns, together with the high cost of medical training, mean it is of vital importance that the NHS retains its trained workforce. The GP retainer scheme supports doctors who for reasons of personal circumstance are restricted in their ability to compete for employment in medicine, and aims to facilitate the retention of their skills and confidence. This national study evaluates the experiences and views of current and past GP retainers and provides a rigorous assessment of the retainer scheme. It is a mixed method study: an online questionnaire was completed by 318 current and ex-retainers across the UK; follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with 30 respondents. The study finds that the GP retainer scheme is effective in retaining GPs through times of transition and provides evidence to support the continuing funding of the scheme across the UK. The scheme is beneficial for doctors who also have a role in caring for young children and is also highly valued by a minority of GP retainers who are using it to return to work after illness, or to practice in a more limited role, due to chronic illness or disability. This study found variations in the implementation of the educational entitlement which is fundamental to the scheme. A minority of retainers experienced problems with the implementation of the scheme and recommendations are made for improvements.

Learning together, working together: an evaluation of experiences of a pilot programme for partnership between unions and management in the health service.

This article describes an innovative initiative to support partnership working between trade unions and management in three National Health Service Trusts, by means of shared participation in a series of learning and development days. Although there is existing evidence, within the literature on partnership, of the benefits of partnership working for employees and employers, there is little discussion of processes by which effective partnership is developed. More specifically, there is no current academic literature on the role of education in enabling improved partnership working between trade unions and managers. The findings of the evaluation suggest that the pilot provided a successful learning experience as well as a number of pointers for improving future developments of this nature. The recommendations include embedding of partnership work within existing staff development processes.

How 'blended' is blended learning?: students' perceptions of issues around the integration of online and face-to-face learning in a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) health care context.

PURPOSE: This paper explores students' perceptions of blended learning modules delivered in a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) health care context in the UK. 'Blended learning' is the term used to describe a hybrid model of learning where traditional face-to-face teaching approaches and newer electronic learning activities and resources are utilised together. METHOD: A new model of CPD for health care practitioners based on a blended learning approach was developed at a university in the south west of England. As part of the evaluation of the new modules, a qualitative study was conducted, in which 17 students who had experienced the modules were interviewed by telephone. RESULTS: Three main themes emerged from the interviews relating to the 'blended' nature of the blended learning modules. These were i) issues around the opportunities for discussion of online materials face-to-face; ii) issues of what material should be online versus face-to-face and iii) balancing online and face-to-face components. CONCLUSION: Teaching staff engaged in the development of blended learning courses need to pay particular attention to the ways in which they develop and integrate online and face-to-face materials. More attention needs to be paid to allowing opportunity for students to come together to create a 'community of inquiry'.

Time spent studying on a pre-registration nursing programme module: an exploratory study and implications for regulation.

European Union (EU) regulations require that university programmes are of specified duration. Additional EU regulations apply specifically to university based nurse education, enacted in the UK by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). However, little is known about how much time student nurses spend on their studies. In this exploratory study, students undertaking a single module in the pre-registration diploma programme at an English university were asked to keep a log of learning activity for the duration of the module. Twenty-six students completed the log. These students achieved higher grades and attended more lectures than the average for the module. The mean study time was 128.4 h against a regulatory assumption that the module should take 200 h. More than half of the 26 students undertook paid work during the module run, though this work was not associated with poorer performance. Problems in regulation for course duration are discussed and it is suggested that undertaking a 4600 h course in 3 years is problematic. More research is required so that patterns of study can be better understood and student centred programmes meeting regulatory requirements developed.

Researching student absence: methodological challenges and ethical issues.

This article describes the challenges encountered in a research project aiming to explore non-attendance from the perspective of absent students. These students are nursing students in a Faculty of Health and Social Care, but the issues raised here are of wider interest. Although attendance at the sessions monitored for this project is stated to be compulsory, there is typically a non-attendance rate of around 20%. Previous studies within the Faculty have reported positively on students' views of the sessions, but have relied on data collected from students present in the university and attending the sessions. We felt it was important to correct this imbalance with the views of those students who do not attend. We hoped to access the views of students not present in the university by means of telephone interviews, carried out by a researcher independent from the course management. This article explores a number of ethical and methodological issues which arose from the research, focusing on the difficulties in gaining informed consent from students who do not attend, and the challenges in moving beyond surface responses to questions on reasons for non-attendance.

Help is just a text away: the use of short message service texting to provide an additional means of support for health care students during practice placements.

This article discusses the findings from a pilot study using short message service (SMS) texting to provide an additional means of support for health care students in practice placements. Pre-registration students were recruited students from 2nd year cohorts in Adult Nursing, Children's Nursing, Occupational Therapy, and Radiography to pilot the use of SMS texting with their private mobile phones from their work-based learning placements. The pilot was evaluated using an online questionnaire for students with follow-up telephone interviews, and face-to-face interviews with the four tutors. Data on the use of the service by students was also collated. Although the students made less use of the service than was anticipated, both staff and students were positive about the potential of this type of communication in providing an additional form of support for students in placements.

Race equality education: implications of an audit of student learning.

Racial harassment continues to be a feature of the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS). It has serious consequences for those at the receiving end and impacts negatively on attempts by the NHS to retain and recruit a diverse workforce. The prevalence and persistence of racist views and behaviours amongst NHS staff raises questions concerning the preparation and education of practitioners. In 2004 the Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of the West of England, Bristol, piloted a training workshop to prepare students on a pre-qualifying adult nursing programme to prevent, recognise and effectively manage incidences of racial harassment in the workplace. Students found the training workshop useful to their learning. They felt more aware of racial harassment issues in the NHS and the specific actions they can take in the prevention and management of these. The findings support introduction of the training workshop as an integral component of the preparation of all students on the Faculty's pre-qualifying nursing programmes.