Professional Support & Wellbeing (PSW)
The Professional Support & Wellbeing Unit (PSW) has been established to provide advice to training programmes and support for doctors and dentists in training working across the North East and North Cumbria experiencing difficulty which is affecting their ability to train. Consultants, other locally employed doctors or dentists should be managed through their employer structures. Please see our supporting documents and policies regarding the PSWU below:
Referral to Education Support Form
Educational Support Coaching Information
Process for Accessing PSW Coaching Support
Doctors and Dentists (in training) with differing needs guidance
SOP PSW Neurodiversity Support Referral
The core principles of the PSW are:
To support Postgraduate Doctors to maximise their professional progression by providing them with the right support and right strategies at the right time to assist them to succeed in their training
To provide advice to educational leads
To promote early identification of Postgraduate Doctors requiring additional support to progress in their training
To develop a network of experienced individuals who can deal with specific issues and identify alternative resources
To ensure a responsible use of funding and resources
To support Postgraduate Doctors during the process of leaving a training programme in the rare event that support and remediation are unsuccessful
To facilitate equal access to educational support
The Professional Support & Wellbeing Service consists of two main elements:
1. Occupational Health including specialist psychotherapy services
The occupational health service is available to doctors and dentists in training employed by the Lead Employer Trust (LET). Further information is available here: https://www.nenc-leademployertrust.nhs.uk/occupational-health
2. Educational Support Service
This service is available to all doctors and dentists in training who meet the referral threshold. The service provides access to confidential coaching, advice and education support in a wide range of areas including; confidence and decision making, personal effectiveness including prioritisation and delegation and communication skills.
To enable the Education Support Service to provide the most appropriate support for the Postgraduate Doctor or Dentist, working alongside the School support structures, referral forms must be completed in liaison with the Postgraduate Doctor or Dentist. This is to ensure a mutual understanding of the reasons for the referral, actions already in place and support requested.
There is no self-referral process but Postgraduate Doctors or Dentists may choose to access confidential coaching outside the Educational Support service via Coachnet
PSW Request Referral Flowchart
PSW Neurodiversity Support Referral Flowchart
