Consultant Appointment Panel Skills

Workshop for Senior Trainees

Conference of Health Education England North West

School of Psychiatry

16 February 2017

Dr Shanu Datta FRCPsych, MRCGP, DRCOG, MSc.

Consultant Psychiatrist for Older People

John Starkey

Lead Governor - Pennine Care NHS FT

Overview

• The Idea

• The Delivery

• The Event

• The Outputs

• The Future

The Idea

• Over 10 years as Royal College Assessor

• Observation of real life interview panels

• Candidates challenged by format of Panels

• ‘Competent’ candidates felt unable to ‘do justice’

• Experience of Assessment Centres vs traditional panel

style interview

• Lack of affordable options to learn and rehearse critical

skills necessary for success

The Delivery • Strong emphasis on medical collaboration with senior

managers

• Numbers of attendees limited to 12-15 maximum to

maintain quality

• Panel members drawn from actual interviewing senior staff

• Marketing and communication to ST5-6 trainees 12-18

months of CCT via School website

• Direct contact with TPDs

• Candidates invited to complete and submit NHS Jobs

application form prior to interview

The Event • Morning session by carefully chosen speakers covering topics

such CEO and MD views of positive attributes of Consultants;

‘journey’ of recently appointed Consultant; practical tips on

interview techniques

• Confidentiality and ‘safe’ place in which to make mistakes

• After lunch, ‘candidate’ takes turn in hot seat in front of panel and

other attendees

• Each candidate has 15 minutes to answer two successive

questions and then receive immediate verbal feedback

• Question format and ‘style’ closely resembles actual panel

• De-brief at afternoon end

The Outputs

• Each attendee receives written critique of the strength of

their application form

• All attendees share in the learning from the individual

verbal feedback given in turn

• Strongly positive feedback from trainees about content and

delivery, especially the mock panel

• ‘Real feel’ of the format outweighs inherently anxiogenic

nature of the panel style.

• Strongly positive about the co-delivery of teaching by

doctors & senior managers

“The day was a real eye opener for me…I can say now that I need to learn a lot. I did not answer the questions well and I

was not able to sell what I had in my basket.”

“Mock Interview exercise was very useful and feedback given was very helpful…this has given me a good insight into type of

questions that can be asked…overall a fun and productive day!”

“It was really useful to watch other people being interviewed…from this I

was able to hear 30-40 interview questions and consider how to appropriately answer these…”

“I found all of the day really useful and the mix of didactic teaching

alongside practical experience helped me to understand the interview

process”

“I appreciated the interest of Senior Managers, and non-clinical staff in the

session….they asked questions that I was not used to answering.”

“The workshop highlighted that I need

to develop my knowledge on finance,

trust structures, governance, systems and the relevance of

outside bodies ”

The Future

• Key learning for trainees in presentational skills – language, non-verbal

communication – how do we teach these?

• Trainees find questions about NHS structure, finance, Foundation Trusts,

commissioning, tendering especially challenging – Trust is drafting

‘business skills’ half day training - how do we teach these more widely?

• Differing views about who to offer the event to – trainees in first half of

Higher Training or second?

• Meeting overhead costs – trainees willing to up to pay £50 for the event

• Presently standalone event and lack of coordination with other agencies

• Capacity vs demand vs quality : scope for collaboration with other

organisations to extend reach

John Starkey

Lead Governor: Council of Governors Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

My Perspective

• How did I get involved?

• Thoughts on the workshop

• What do I bring?

• Why do it?

• The future

How Did I Get Involved?

• Governor Weekly Bulletin

• Apprehensive

• Unprepared

• What is it for?

Thoughts on the Workshop

• Senior leadership commitment, year on year

• Fast moving

• Good facilitation essential

• Great opportunity for candidates

• Challenging for me as well as the candidates

• Think on my feet

• Very real – candidate emotions

What Do I Bring?

• 25½ years in Financial Services

• Carer perspective

• Broad NHS knowledge through comprehensive Governor

development and education

• Experience of other Interview panels

• Challenge

• Independent view

• Previous non-NHS interview experience

• I’m good value

Why Do It?

• Support the Trust to provide a better service to patients

• Patient / Carer voice

• Attendance demonstrates Pennine Care’s commitment to

development and training in your profession

• Any attendee will remember the experience in a

constructive way

• Contributes to my personal mental wellbeing

The Future?

• More of the same please?

• Keep it fresh and current

• Service User and Carer Forum

• Recruitment panel training from the Trust

• Governor involvement on “real” appointment panel