Information for Trainees
Dear potential trainee. Welcome to our website.
We hope this information will help you in your choice of training practice, but there is really no substitute for having a look. If you like what you see here, we would be very happy to meet you and show you around our surgery in person. To arrange a visit, please contact;
Mrs Anne Whitehouse tel: 02476 718160
email: anne.whitehouse@nhs.net
Dr Daniele Thornton tel: 02476674123
Dr Robert Jones tel: 02476674123
We have been a training practice since 2004 and we take great pride in our role in helping to educate doctors for the future. We teach with an enthusiastic and friendly style which is personalised as much as possible to the individual needs of the learner, and have had very positive feedback from our previous trainees.
Three of our partners are qualified trainers with 2 partners – Dr Rob Jones and Dr Daniele Thornton sharing the main responsibility for educational and clinical supervision. However, all the partners are involved in teaching and mentoring which offers a broader range of teaching styles and clinical skills.
Location/ Directions
Allesley Park Medical Centre is situated on the corner of Whitaker Rd and Winsford Avenue in Allesley Park on the western edge of Coventry.
From the A45 ring road, turn into Broad Lane heading towards the city centre. Turn left at the next set of traffic lights into Wildcroft Rd. Continue along the road, which later becomes Winsford Avenue, and at the T-junction you will see the surgery on the left.
From central Coventry, take the inner ring road and exit on the A4114 Holyhead Rd signposted Allesley. Continue past Morrisons and Four Pounds Avenue, then turn left at the next traffic lights onto Grayswood Avenue. At the end of the road turn right then first left into Winsford Avenue. Go past the row of shops to the next junction and you will see the surgery ahead of you.
If using satellite navigation, the postal address is 2, Whitaker Rd, Coventry CV5 9JE.
Practice Demographics
The main branch of the surgery serves mainly Allesley Park, Whoberley and Mount Nod but extends into Chapelfields, Earlsdon, Allesley Village and towards Eastern Green.
The patients are mainly from middle and working class families, giving a good insight into many common General Practice problems. We also cover Eric Williams House – a home for the elderly mentally ill and also Allesley Hall Nursing Home – a residential care home for patients with severe nursing needs and the terminally ill.
The branch surgery is at Warwick University Health Centre. Patients at this site are shared with the Broomfield Park practice and comprise mainly students and staff at the University.
There are approximately 15 500 patients in total with nearly 8 000 patients registered at each site.
Meet the partners and staff
from right to left - Dr Gavin Shields, Dr Matthew Butler, Kevin Arnold (practice manager), Dr Daniele Thornton, Dr Robert Jones
Buildings and facilities
We moved into phase one of our new building in June 2011 which is a large, brand new purpose-built surgery within a community centre which also houses a library. Phase two is due for completion in 2012 and will enlarge our premises and also provide a Lloyds pharmacy on site.
A typical GP room
Brief overview of training at Allesley Park
Since our move into new premises, we are now able to accommodate up to three full time equivalent trainees.
Our trainees start with an induction programme which allows the opportunity to meet and sit in with as many key staff and doctors as possible, including members of the extended practice team.
Timetables are prepared weekly and a mentor is attached to each trainee for every surgery in case of problems or queries.
We aim to provide an average of 3 hours of protected teaching time per week. We ensure that trainees are able to attend protected learning half days and Thursday afternoon VTS training in addition to separate study leave arrangements. The tutorial programme is personalised as far as possible to the needs of the individual and also covers mandatory assessments for the RCGP portfolio.
There is opportunity to work at both sites, but the main bulk of the work is at the Allesley Park main branch due to the demographics of the practice population.
The practice does not cover its own out of hours, but does offer extended hours. The practice undertakes to ensure that European working time directives are not breached if trainees are working a night shift with the deputising service to obtain their out of hours experience.
Services offered
We are a PMS practice with four and a half full time equivalent partners, one salaried partner and two Nurse practitioners in addition to a team of practice nurses and a health care assistant across the two sites.
Attached staff includes Midwife, Health visitor, onsite Physiotherapist, counsellor and high intensity IAPT therapists, alcohol counselling and phlebotomy.
We are paper light and use the EMIS LV practice software system with a plan to move to EMIS Web in the near future.
Testimonials
These are some of the comments made by our previous trainees;
‘Very friendly and supportive team of doctors, nurses, receptionists and admin staff.’
‘Plenty of doctors available for advice if needed.’
‘Useful tutorials and opportunity to video.’
‘A reasonable population mix giving differing presentations’ (T.R. 2010)
‘Well supported training environment.’
‘Not overburdened with workload.’
‘Opportunity to develop confidence in complex cases’
‘Regular tutorial time scheduled in clinical time’ (R.M. 2010)
We hope you will feel inspired to come and join us and look forward to meeting you.
Dr Danny Thornton (Trainer) Dr Rob Jones (Trainer)