Chamber and committees

I have asked Caroline Lamb, Chief Executive Officer of NHS Education for Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has a key role in co-ordinating recruitment to and overseeing the quality of postgraduate Medical training for both GPs and hospital specialists. The training curricula are written by Medical Royal Colleges and approved by the General Medical Council – who will consider advice from a wide range of stakeholders – including NES. These curricula are subject to regular review and updating, and the training is delivered by territorial NHS Boards in clinical placement settings, also approved by the GMC.

Beyond that quality management role, NES is involved in delivering and commissioning on-going continuous professional development in training and education in a number of areas for a range of staff groups.All qualified healthcare practitioners have a professional obligation to undertake continuous professional development to meet identified learning and professional development needs, and the Medical Royal Colleges and NHS Education for Scotland provide a selection of courses and learning resources to support their further development.

ME/CFS is one of many health conditions that involves both physical and psychological aspects. There is good evidence that using a ‘bio psychosocial’ model to both understand and treat all health conditions, irrespective of cause, is highly beneficial in both improving psychological and physical health outcomes and enabling health professionals to deliver holistic care without perpetuating a mind/body dualism. To that end, NES has been involved with stakeholders to develop a range of interventions for staff working with children and adults with a range of health conditions including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis and ME/CFS.