Home
Learning from each other, sharing resources
The System promotes new initiatives and examples of good practice that can benefit everyone working in health and social care in south west London.
• Training for care home staff supporting people with dementia
• New Professional Doctorate (Health and Social Care)
• Monthly seminars are platform for social care debate
• Help finding the evidence you need
• Clinical Research Facility
• Promoting the role of physician assistants
• Learn how to research
Training for care home staff supporting people with dementia
A training course that aims to help care home staff better support residents with dementia has been developed by teams in Wandsworth Adult Social Services Department working in collaboration with Nightingale, a large independent care home in Clapham, and the Alzheimer’s Society. Nightingale offers care to 200 older members of the Jewish community and is currently building a brand new dementia care unit.
The new course is called Person Centred Care for People with Dementia and was piloted and evaluated during 2010 by Wandsworth Social Services’ Learning and Development Team, working with the Dementia Unit manager at Nightingale House. Wandsworth Social Services’ Transformation, Quality and Reviewing team was also involved in the project.
For more information about Person Centred Care for People with Dementia, contact Iris Jackson in the Transformation, Quality and Reviewing Team at Wandsworth Adult Social Services, IJackson@wandsworth.gov.uk
New Professional Doctorate (Health and Social Care)
A new programme aimed at professionals working in health and social care was launched in April 2011 by South West London Academic Network’s Interprofessional Institute. The programme aims to provide health and social care professionals with leadership and research skills.
Monthly seminars are platform for social care debate
The School of Social Work (in the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, Kingston University and St George’s, University of London) Thursday Evening Seminars are open to students, social care professionals, teachers, managers and researchers. The monthly events are held during term time and feature speakers either addressing a current topic or reporting research results.
Visit our Events page for dates and details of the seminars or visit http://www.healthcare.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/ for more details.
Help finding the evidence you need
Any health or social care professional working for any NHS organisation in south west London can ask experts to find the evidence they need to help them make a decision or improve their practice through ‘CARES’. The Clinical Research and Enquiry Service was set up and is run by librarians at St George’s, University of London. The service is available online and urgent requests can be made by telephone.
The service’s inbox is checked twice a day and the CARES team will get back with search results within five to 10 working days, unless the request is urgent, in which case they will try to reply within 24 hours.
Find out more by visiting www.cares.sgul.ac.uk, by ringing 020 8725 5466, or by picking up a paper request form available in the library at St George’s.
Clinical Research Facility
Any research team or student can make use of the Clinical Research Facility (CRF) on the St George’s site in Tooting. The CRF offers five treatment rooms dedicated to research that emphasise patient safety and comfort, as well as specialist on-site or nearby equipment. Clinical, laboratory and administrative staff are available to support a variety of studies focusing on different specialities, including publicly-funded and commercially-sponsored projects.
The CRF is keen to support as many studies as possible, including those being undertaken by students, and operates on a cost-recovery basis. To find out more, email crf@sgul.ac.uk
Promoting the role of physician assistants
‘Physician assistant’ (PA) is a new profession within the NHS, though PAs have been commonplace in the USA for about 40 years. Their role is to take medical histories, perform examinations, make diagnoses, order tests and interpret results, often working with patients who are seeking advice for more routine problems.
The two-year Physician Assistant Studies Postgraduate Diploma course at St George’s, University of London, is among only a handful of training scheme for Pas in this country. The first physician assistants trained by St George’s graduated in 2010 and the SW London System has encouraged the creation of new PA posts within south west London to work alongside doctors in hospitals, GP surgeries and community-based services.
Find out more about the Physician Assistant Studies Postgraduate Diploma
Learn how to research
A one-year full time Masters in Research Clinical Practice (MResCP) combines practical and academic study and aims to prepare professionals for leadership and management in clinical research, and help them develop skills to generate research questions and interpret research results.
The course, run by The Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences (Kingston University and St George’s, University of London), is suitable for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals with at least one year’s clinical experience and an honours degree in a health or social-care related subject.
The Faculty provides 10 funded studentships for NHS staff seconded to the course.
Find out more about the Masters in Research Clinical Practice
