Croydon Health Services NHS Trust

Director of Medical Education

Dr Gita Menon

Clinical Tutor

None in Place

Foundation Training Programme Director(s)

Miss Stella Vig

Careers Tutor(s)

Dr A Kumar
Dr S Thomas
Miss S Vig

Medical Education Manager

Nisha Patel

Medical Staffing Manager

Mrs Sally Lewis

Foundation Programme Administrator(s)

Mrs Karen Bounds

Postgraduate Centre

The centre has a total of seven teaching rooms; 4 with a full range of audio visual equipment & an X-ray box, a large and small lecture theatre with similar facilities plus a microscope and visualiser along with video conferencing facilities. The Conservatory is used for teaching and meetings but has limited equipment. There is also a newly refurbished state of the art Dental skills laboratory which accommodates 14 people. A four station internet café is available in the reception area.

Accommodation

Several types of accommodation are available:
• Room only - £450 per month
• 2 Bedroom - £850 per month
• 3 Bedroom - £1,100 per month

Social activities

Summer & Christmas Ball and monthly pay day events organised by the Mess Committee. Information is advertised in the Centre and Mess with electronic information sent to all trainees.

Doctors' mess

The MESS has recently been upgraded and decorated, with new lockers and a wide screen television together with Sky TV. A full size snooker table and access to 2 PC’s, as well as showers and changing facilities are also available. Daily newspapers and breakfast refreshments are available. The MESS president is appointed on a yearly basis and they lead on the recreational activities that include a Summer and Christmas Ball.

Library facilities

Croydon Health Services Library works closely with the PGMC to support the professional development of junior doctors. The library supports clinical governance, evidence based practice and improvement in patient care. 

Core Services

• Articles p - physical, e - electronic, m - mobile
• ATHENS administration
• eBooks - online books
• pbooks - physical books
• Computing facilities
• Current Awareness Services
• Databases
• eJournals
• Evidence-based Information Consultancy
• Information
• Information Skills Training
• Interlibrary Loans
• Journals
• Photocopier - b & w and colour
• Printer
• Professional Advice
• Quiet Study and reflection Space
• Scanners
• Support for mobile technologies (m)

The library is staffed from 9am- 5pm Monday to Friday.  

Junior doctors can arrange to get 24/7 access to the physical library via their Intellikey.                                    

Croydon Health Services Library is part of a wide local and national network of libraries.

IT facilities

The Internet café in the PGMC has 4 PC’s, IT room in the library has 14 PC’s, with access to 2 PC’s in the MESS.

Other facilities (Recreational or otherwise)

Small staff gym that is accessible 24 hours a day with a small joining fee and £5 per month membership fee. This is in the process of being re-vamped and it is equipped with up-to-date training equipment that is just a year old. 

Spiritual Care – The Trust has a variety of Faith Teams and a beautiful Chapel in a quiet garden that is available for quiet contemplation. The team includes all major faith communities, with provision of Muslim prayer mats and a regular Christian Service is held each Sunday. A notice board is located in the PGMC that publicises all religious events for all denominations.

The main entrance has a small selection of shopping outlets together with an ATM and post box.

A PGMC website is available and presence of a webpage is on the Trust Internet. Details of training and courses can be obtained from here with links to all external medical agencies and other helpful sites.

Local amenities/attractions

Croydon University Hospital is the North end of Croydon and Central Croydon hosts two large shopping centres. There is a lively night life, including a number of night clubs and cinemas, and a variety of good restaurants to the south of the borough. There is a good transport system in place with trams, train services and a 24 hour bus service.

Transport links

Easy access to Central London via train is approx 15 mins, Gatwick airport has a direct line from East Croydon with a similar journey time of 15 mins, Brighton is on the same line. A short drive out brings you to Countryside and a further hour would bring you into the Sussex Downs and of course Brighton seafront.

Parking arrangements

On-site (first come first served); the cost is £25 per annum for a permit and then you need to purchase scratch cards that works out to be 80p per day. There is also off-site parking in surrounding roads.

Accolades/achievements of the trust

Awards have been received for our work on the following projects:

• An STFS award for helping doctors who are having difficulty reaching their goals.
• An excellent reprt from the Foundation School Visit.
• STeLI ‘Excellence in Education’ award for the introduction of our bite size clinical skills workshops that have been organised for lunchtime sessions. These allow access for the use of our STeLI equipment provided by the London Deanery.
• Recognition from the London Deanery for our careers development and the dedicated Careers corner that offers trainees career information together with support from the Croydon University Hospital Careers team, our own library services and London Deanery.
• A number of bids have been awarded to the Trust for its impressive state of the art Simulation Centre and the promotion of training. For the second year running the Trust has been asked to undertake the formal induction training of Foundation Training on behalf of the London Deanery. 
• A successful Leadership course, funded by the London Deanery, has been delivered for the last two years. Due to its success this is being supported by the Trust to run on an annual basis.

Any additional information

The Croydon University Hospital prides itself as a ‘Great place to train, great place to learn’.

Croydon University Hospital is a 564-bedded District General Hospital (with 45 day case beds) and a 24 hour Accident & Emergency Department. The hospital is based on a 19 acre site in Thornton Heath and the earliest buildings date from 1885. The most recent large building project was the new Jubilee Wing, opened in December 2004 housing a state of the art day case facility. The Trust also provides services at Purley War Memorial Hospital.

The hospital is a busy unit that yearly sees approximately:
• 131,000 patients through A&E
• 355,000 patients in Outpatients
• 45,000 inpatient spells
• 25,000 Day cases

The Croydon University Hospital offers excellent training opportunities with a very busy A&E department that sees an enormous variety of pathology. This is supported by a full range of teaching sessions, F1’s have protected teaching twice weekly and the F2’s programme runs one day a month. The day is set up as a scenario taking in various curriculum requirements. There are also lunch time practical skills workshops that make use of the wide variety of simulation equipment that the Trust has acquired from bids made to and granted by the London Deanery.

Induction/shadowing arrangements

F1/2 trainees are invited to attend the week prior to the August start date and the programme is set up to offer ALS training, Induction e-learning and shadowing with the outgoing F1 trainees. This has been very well evaluated. 

Educational and clinical supervision

Each trainee is notified of their Educational Supervisor prior to starting at the Trust. For the first placement the ES also undertakes the role of Clinical Supervisor. When the trainee rotates to the next placement they receive details of who their Clinical Supervisor is, 8 weeks prior to rotating. These are handpicked, based on the achievements of the Supervisors the previous year.

Teaching programme

There is a well-supported teaching programme with protected hour slots twice a week for Foundation Year 1s and full study days for Foundation Year 2s. All trainees are expected to be trainers and assessors for the years below and therefore the assessment of competencies is achievable as well as the development of a rounded portfolio. Although the learning in the Foundation Years is trainee led, we are not afraid to give you a helping nudge in the right direction to ensure that you complete the year successfully.

A range of courses take place on site including:

• ALS;
• APLS;
• ATLS;
• BEST;
• TTT; 
• TAIP;
• BOATS; and
• Core Medical Skills for Foundation Trainees.

Foundation Trainees are given the opportunity to become involved with the' Foundation Programme for Teaching Medical Students', which, in the past, has been very well received by the target student groups from King's and St George's. 

Tasters

Croydon University Hospital and the PGMC encourage taster weeks and participation in career development workshops to ensure you have the facts before making future career choices.

Simulation

Croydon's award winning simulation centre is one of London's best equipped, including separate Adult and Paediatric simulation rooms. CUH is also the UK's busiest ALS Training Centre and is a fantastic place to develop skills and team working.

Foundation doctor forums

F1 Representatives are appointed to represent the group, this is a peer process. The named trainees will be invited to the Faculty meetings that take place 4 times a year. 

The Chief Executive has a monthly junior doctor feedback meeting and each quarter the BMA are invited to attend.  The F1 reps are encouraged to join Management meetings and have access via the PA to the Director of Operations.

Early Feedback meetings are set up with trainees at around the 3 month marker and again at 6 and 9 months.

Any additional information

We have now supported five years of Foundation Trainees through the Foundation Years to become competitive for entry into the core training programme of their choice.

We try and ensure Foundation involvment in every aspect of the hospital environment and host a successful Junior Doctors feedback Forum where your voices are heard and evoke change. The Foundation representatives sit on the Faculty Board and allow your views to improve the Programme. The most recent FY1s are involved in a service improvement program to ensure training and service needs are met despite EWTD.

We have set up trainee led Teaching, Patient safety, Leadership and Service Improvement Committees. These have led to many presentations, posters and papers allowing trainees to evidence their skills. This year will also launch a Charity Committee.       

The Foundation Programme Directors, Stella Vig and Kathryn Channing are hands on and with Karen Bounds, will ensure that your portfolios are full of your reflections of your experiences at CUH.

We hope that you will enjoy your year with us and encourage you to approach current FY1s for their experiences of a learning environment.

We look forward to meeting you!