One month on since starting at Health E1.............

As expected I have lots to learn about working with patients with substance misuse problems and homelessness, but already some areas are becoming a bit more familiar and thus less stressful.  Thankfully, whatever a patient's background they do all still have the same types of physical and psychological illnesses so at least I am an more familiar territory there! Much of the work involves dealing with the chaos and complexity of individual's lives as well as the health issues that arise.

Some of the more unexpected challenges have been getting used to how the practice uses EMIS - I had assumed that this would be one area I would not have to think about but no, Health E1 use EMIS differently!  They use it in its 'problem-focused' format so I have had to get used to using it slightly differently, not too much of a challenge but still something else that is not familiar.  Other little things like how notes are summarised is also different; but templates are still the same and they do need my skills to change templates so good to be useful there.

I spent most of my first 2 weeks out and about visiting the hostels and other agencies involved in the care and support of the homeless population in East London; I walked many miles from Hackney to Bethnal Green, to Shoreditch and down towards Docklands but at least I now know where places are in relation to each and to Health E1.  The support and infrastructure to meet the needs of people who are homeless and with substance misuse problems is amazing, there is a whole level of agency working that traditional general practice has little or no knowledge that exists and certainly does not need to engage with normally.  It has certainly been a fascinating learning journey so far.

Wasting no time, the practice was keen that I get onto the RCGP Substance Misuse Course Part 1 as soon as possible - I am now registered for the face -to-face session at the end of January and need to be getting on with the 2 on-line modules as well (something else that needs to fit in alongside the PhD.......).  The plan is then to complete the final Part 2 later in the year, probably July.

Moving back into my clinical comfort zone, I met with key people at the Diabetes Centre at Mile End Hospital last week with the aim of liaising and trying to improve the care of our patients with diabetes and to also continue with my own special interest in Type 2 diabetes in particular.  Great news is that I have been invited to represent primary care on the Diabetes NSF Group which meets monthly, so I look forward to joining them at next month's meeting.  I have also met with the Lead Nurse from the Whitechapel WIC who will also be a great resource and support in my new role within Tower Hamlets PCT, the PCT has suggested he would be ideal to provide me with my clinical supervision - I was really impressed that the PCT should be so proactive about arranging clinical supervision for me.

The past month has also seen me complete the mandatory 2-day PCT Induction Course - a huge amount of stuff was covered, almost too much in the time available and most was of a very good quality; interestingly the most interactive of all sessions was the one regarding NHS Pensions - everyone was most interested in what they could expect to get from their NHS Pension.

So all in all, the past month has been amazingly busy and very interesting, I am learning fast and it is good to be part of the team at Health E1; they are a great team who are very focused on providing quality patient care in sometimes very difficult circumstances.  I am grateful that they have all made me feel so welcome.