Continuing to learn

The pandemic has led to high demand for educational resources and guidance to support GPs and primary care teams in delivering the best possible care for patients with COVID-19.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the College responded quickly and launched the dedicated COVID-19 Resource Hub with clinical modules to enable the identification and management of coronavirus symptoms, as well as advice on approaching difficult conversations, ethical quandaries GPs may face and guidance on changes to death certification.

Other resources have addressed the needs of specific patient groups, such as shielded patients, those with learning disabilities, and PTSD as a result of trauma experienced during the pandemic. Guidance was also developed on working in settings such as care homes, as Dr Zarina Beg well as managing ongoing services such as contraception, postnatal infant and maternal care, and cancer prevention and screening, through the outbreak and beyond. To date the hub has been visited by nearly 30,000 users.

Dr Zarina Beg, locum GP and faculty education lead for Vale of Trent, found the podcasts and videos on remote consulting helpful during the initial move to remote triage consultations. "My practice benefited from a refresher on telephone triage consultations, including the concept of a ‘verbal examination’ using specific tips to obtain physical signs, in the absence of the ability to physically see or examine the patient. The hub has provided a useful 'go to' site that I have also directed colleagues to,” she said.

The hub has provided a useful 'go to' site that I have also directed colleagues to.

The College’s entire eLearning offer has been made freely available, in part to support returning GPs and primary healthcare professionals in the response to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, College clinicians and Officers worked quickly to ensure that events could be delivered online. The first free COVID-19 webinars looked at the disease trajectory and clinical symptoms, as well as the impact of the pandemic on mental health and managing

Several Faculties - including East Anglia, Midland, South East Thames, SYNT, Thames Valley and Vale of Trent - ran virtual meetings supporting more than 200 late career and retired GPs who were considering returning to practice. These covered topics including the impact of COVID-19 on paediatrics, preparing for a second wave and new ways of working, as well as offering practical and emotional support.

Screenshots from ‘COVID-19: the patient journey from rehabilitation to recovery’ webinar

The focus of these webinars has now broadened to support many other vital topics for general practice. The popular face-to-face One Day Essentials conferences have been repurposed as One Day Essentials online conferences complemented by shorter clinical webinars - the Essentials Webinar Series. Both continue to feature leading experts. Events over the summer covered neurology, dermatology and ENT. Plenty of time is built in for questions, and participants can access the recordings and slides for six months from the broadcast date. Members receive up to one-third off the price of the online events.

Dr Anne Connolly is RCGP clinical champion for women’s health and clinical lead for the Menstrual Wellbeing Clinical Spotlight project. She previously chaired the regular face-to-face One Day Essentials event on women’s health (pictured) and has recently spoken at the Essentials Webinar on Menopause management: The how-to guide for remote consultation, chaired a webinar on managing bleeding problems remotely in primary care, and will chair the December online One Day Essentials sexual health conference.

Dr Anne Connolly speaking at an ODE event last year

Grainge photography

“Women’s health concerns are a common concern, but are often hard to explain over the phone,” she says. “Menstrual or menopausal issues are often raised when women are attending an appointment for another reason. Many problems can be dealt with via a remote consultation but require a careful history and an understanding of the risks associated with the problem to determine whether an examination, investigations or referral is required.”

Other forthcoming College webinars and online conferences include epilepsy, the cardiovascular effects of cancer treatment, mental health, ophthalmology and men’s urology. 