UPDATE - Issue 39 - Winter 2010
Nationwide Master Classes go from strength to strength
The Prostate UK Master Classes on prostate disease are free training seminars for healthcare professionals. In 2009, we trained more than 700 clinicians throughout the UK ranging from GPs to practice nurses and urology nurses. During the year, we evaluated the training we were providing to see if we could improve it in any way. Although the day is free to attend, it is only through sponsorship and donations that we are able to run them so we are keen to show the best value for money.
Kate Holmes, Prostate Nurse Specialist, delivers a session at a Master Class
Through feedback forms and talking to attendees we were able to build a picture of the effectiveness of the events and decided to revise the programme slightly to give a more rounded view of the issues that surround prostate disease. As well as the in-depth introduction to the prostate and sections on prostatitis, BPH and prostate cancer we now run a section dealing with the emotional and psychological impact. This includes presentations from expert psychologists and sex therapists as well as a closer look at the role of the practice nurse. Perhaps the most widely commented on development, has been the greater empahsis we now place on the patient’s perspective through patient stories. This gives the clinicians the chance to see the issues from a different point of view and ask questions that help them understand their own patients’ needs.
As the reach of the Master Classes has expanded, visiting Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff for the first times, so has the roster of speakers we call upon to deliver the training. By using speakers local to each location alongside our own speakers, we are able to offer Master Class attendees an unrivalled mix of knowledge. There can often be local issues surrounding treatment known only to those immersed in them on a day-to-day basis and we have found that having a local voice on hand can help to add something useful to the debate.
The question and answer sessions following the presentations allow the speakers to offer advice on specific cases or give comment on topical stories. Delegates also receive a complete pack containing information leaflets on the three main prostate diseases that can be given to patients as well as information about the charity and further ways we can support them.
So does all this work? The introduction of online surveys to all delegates since April suggests that it is. 91% of respondants, when asked if they would adapt the way they treat or advise their patients following the Master Class, said they would almost certainly or would be very likely to. We hope to continue and build on this in 2010.