What Happens at NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Medical Senior Leadership Meetings?

Have you ever wondered what really goes on in the senior leadership meetings within NES? Or even just how the senior leadership team works? Prior to starting the Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellowship (SCLF) within NES medical I must admit I had no idea, and speaking to peers this seems to be common! Over the last 8 months we have had the opportunity to attend all senior leadership meetings in NES to observe, contribute our opinions and get involved with the work of the medical directorate. I thought I would therefore aim to shed some light for newsletter readers on these meetings, including who attends them and what is discussed.

The overall purpose of the Medical Directorate is the organisation and provision of education and training of Doctors in Scotland. Along with their partners they support delivery of first-class training programmes for Scotland to ensure safe and effective care for patients both now and in the future. They ensure that training meets the regulatory requirements set by the GMC and that Doctors in Training (DiTs) have the right support to make the right progress in their ongoing education. They also provide support and training initiatives for consultants, GPs and SAS Doctors which in turn, supports them to provide high quality training.

The overall purpose of the senior leadership meetings is to ensure ongoing active governance of the medical directorate. They ensure the organisation is focussing on the right thing, considering the right evidence and responding in the best way. All of these meetings are organised and run by a fantastic support team within NES. Prior to the meetings, the agenda, previous minutes, and associated papers are all sent out to attendees.

There are four key medical directorate meetings that happen on a regular basis:

Medical Directorate Apex Group (MDAG)

A weekly senior team meeting chaired by the Executive Medical Director and attended by the Deputy Medical Director, Lead Dean Directors, and senior members of the management team. The agenda is variable depending on current issues arising in medical education and training and the matters that require final decisions or input by the senior leadership team. Examples of agenda items include:

• • Changes in leadership and governance structures within NES
  • National recruitment numbers, their allocation and specialty fill rates
  • Medical education reform and the shape of training matters
  • NES response to sexual misconduct reports.

Medical Directorate Reference Group (MDRG)

A monthly meeting chaired by the Executive Medical Director which involves the senior leadership team as for MDAG as well as wider partners in medical education including the Deans of medical education (DME’s), Specialty Training Board (STB) chairs and members of the NHS Scotland Academy. The theme of the agenda changes monthly and is regularly led by the DME’s group and STB chairs to ensure a variety of issues are discussed. Examples of recent agenda items include:

• • Medical education supervision – NES Mission statement
  • Foundation Doctors induction and shadowing arrangements
  • Study leave, travel & subsistence framework – update on ongoing work
  • NES Simulation programme
  • Specialty and Specialist (SAS) doctors update

Medical Directorate Quality and Safety Group (MDQ&S)

A monthly meeting chaired by the Deputy Medical Director which is relatively new within NES medical. It’s a governance group that aims to have oversight of the quality and safety processes and activity within the directorate. There is also a focus on human factors and patient safety. It aims to highlight any arising issues or concerning trends early and acts as an assurance to the processes in place. Regular items on the agenda include:

• • Doctors in training resignations – by region, specialty and reasons leaving
  • Inter-deanery and inter-regional transfers
  • ARCP outcomes and appeals
  • Quality; survey results, site visits and enhanced monitoring sites

Medical Directorate Management Group meeting

A monthly meeting chaired by the Associate Director discussing all the management and supporting activity within the directorate. Includes management representatives from the training programme management team, quality team, digital team, medical HR and the finance team. Agenda items include:

• • Finance update and forward planning
  • Recruitment and vacancies within the directorate
  • Equality, diversity, and inclusion activities
  • NES Website updates

I hope this has been a helpful insight into what goes within the NES medical directorate senior meetings. I am happy to answer any questions on alice.main2@nhs.scot.