An overdose of training

Several useful training courses arose together in the last 2-3 weeks, hence my postings have gone down because I have been too busy. Here is a digest of what went on.
4th of November - the RCGP launched its' methadone guidance in London. The meeting and guidance confirmed that my practice is within the new guidance, rather than adding much in the way of the new information, so was useful for that.
3rd of November - this was the twice yearly meeting of my local RCGP Action Learning Set. We networked and discussed recent changes in policy direction. Non medical prescribing was touched on - I think that there were differences of opinion about how appropriate this was in the field of drug dependence and in the wider field of medicine. Interestingly, I think the most negative views came from the one non medic in the room! We discussed the way that the criminal justice system has developed drug treatment schemes and how various different patient groups might access services through these schemes. A colleague produced a flow chart which really filled in my understanding of this area. Finally we had an interesting case presentation about a young person with an alcohol problem. We discussed how difficult it was to access formal inpatient alcohol treatment services for young people and the risks of mixing them up with inpatient drug treatment services.
October 17th (RCGP) and November 5th (NKPCT) saw me attend 2 seperate events on "GP Appraisal". I really felt the need to "up my game" with appraisals after a recent appraisal just felt flat, so that was my motivation for attending the training. The RCGP event was an advanced appraisal training event and the NKPCT event was aimed at improving Personal Development Plans. The RCGP event went reasonably well, although there was a mix of experience appraisers, some who had never appraised and some like myself with a few appraisals under my belt. What I learnt was that it was important for me to review my appraisal technique before each appraisal, as it was easy to forget the process especially if there was a month or two passed since my last appraisal. To this end I have produced a simple 2 page reminder document to enable me to quickly revise before I appraise. The NKPCT event was much more focussed on Form 4 and the PDP. It reminded me of the value of looking at Form 4 in the light of the evidence that the appraisee has submitted in his/her written material and in the interview. I think I will be able to use this to develop more focussed PDP's in the future.