How often does PLT run?

It varies, with some practices holding them monthly and others less often. The scheduling is typically set by Primary Care Networks (PCN) and the Integrated Care Board (ICB), based on NHS 111 capacity to field our calls, and aligned with any local training and updates they plan to deliver.

If you want to know when the next PLT is, upcoming PLT dates for each borough are included in the monthly Penrose Scroll newsletter!

Cost of PLT

PLT is held during normal working hours, allowing all staff to participate. All staff who work during PLT sessions are expected to participate and will be paid as per their usual shift rate or salary. Staff that are not working when PLT is held are not expected to attend and will not be paid if they do choose to attend.

In addition to the usual staffing costs, Penrose Health also bears the cost of team lunch, in-house team trainings and team-building exercises.

PLT Leads

The PLT lead is responsible for leading PLT, including the practice meeting.

On most occasions, the site Reception Lead or GP Lead will act as the PLT Lead. In their absence, another person will be nominated by the Reception Lead prior to the PLT.

How is PLT time utilised?

Penrose Health maintains a standardised approach and structure to how PLTs are organised and run, focusing on team building exercises and learning activities which contribute towards continued professional development (CPD).

To ensure consistency across sites, compliance with mandatory training, and continued shared learning, PLT activities are prioritised in the following order:

1️⃣ Lunch 🍲🥪

Participation in PLTs does not mean skipping lunch! For most PLT afternoons, each practice arranges lunch for the team on site, which takes place from 12:30pm. Staff are encouraged to enjoy the group lunch during their lunch breaks, but may also choose to bring their own lunch if they wish to do so.

2️⃣ Attend your practice meeting

If you’re working during PLT hours, you must attend the site practice meeting. This provides an opportunity to share and discuss practice-specific and company-wide updates with your team.

3️⃣ Stay up-to date with your mandatory training

PLT is an opportunity to stay up-to-date with your mandatory training, whether it’s new training requirements or upcoming refresher courses.

Blue Stream Academy e-learning should be prioritised, followed by Penrose Academy.

• Blue Stream Academy → To check your e-learning status, log in to view your dashboard. Outstanding training appears in red or yellow, while upcoming training appears in orange with visible due dates.
• Penrose Academy → To review your required training, log in and check for modules listed under the 'In Progress' or 'Overdue' sections of your dashboard.

4️⃣ Attend external learning events (organised by PCN)

PCNs regularly hold external learning events, both in-person and online. These events offer valuable training that Penrose Health wants to share across our teams.

For each external learning event, the expectation is that one or two relevant members of the team per site will be nominated to attend, and then share what they've learned with the wider team. We endeavour to make sure that team members are nominated fairly, and all team members have a chance to attend external learning events. The L&D team will maintain a record of attendees to support this.

Team members with no outstanding mandatory training and no upcoming refresher training can also attend external learning events if they wish to do so. You are responsible for keeping track of your own training and planning ahead to stay up-to-date.

On occasions where the training being held by the PCN contributes towards mandatory training (e.g. safeguarding training events), all relevant members of the site team can attend.

5️⃣ Catch up on additional duties

If you’re up-to-date with your mandatory training, don't have any refresher training due, and you aren’t attending an external learning event, you can use your normal working hours before and/or after your practice meeting to catch up on any backlog of work. If you’re on top of your work, you can also use this time to stay up to date with Penrose Portal resources and updates,

PLT Communications

As the PLT day approaches, your Reception Lead will share an email reminder to all site team members to remind you of the PLT afternoon and prepare all for the practice meeting agenda. The email will include:

• PLT Date
• Lunch time
• Nominated PCN learning event attendees
• Practice meeting start time
• Practice meeting agenda
• Activities after practice meeting
• Reminder of people to inform if completed all activities

Practice Meetings

Each site holds a regular practice meeting, usually led by the Reception Lead or GP Lead. If they’re unavailable, another team member will be nominated to lead the meeting and take notes.

Practice meetings are a great chance for the team to come together and share any updates that might affect the site. This could include learning from recent events, clinical updates, operational changes or ideas to improve day-to-day activities.

A reminder email including the meeting agenda will be shared by the Reception Lead a few days before the PLT day. If there’s anything else you’d like to add to the agenda, just let the Reception Lead know by email or in person before the PLT day so it can be included.

If you’ve been given any actions in previous meetings, please come prepared to share any updates during the meeting.

After Practice Meeting Activities

If you’ve been nominated for an external learning event then see the section below on External Learning Events for more information.

If you haven’t, then its really important that you utilise the PLT time to complete any outstanding or refresher based mandatory training that you have assigned to you. You can check these on Blue Stream Academy and Penrose Academy.

If you’re fully up-to-date with your mandatory training and not attending an external learning event, you can use any remaining time during your PLT afternoon to catch up on helpful tasks that support the smooth running of the practice.

This might include completing admin, following up on paperwork or having a general tidy and reset of your workspace. You can also use this time to refresh your knowledge of important SOPs relevant to your role available to you on the Penrose Portal.

What to do after all my training and work is completed?

If you’ve completed all your training, work backlog and any other duties, you must speak with your line manager to agree how to make the most of your remaining PLT hours. Once agreed, make sure your Reception Lead or GP Lead on site, or in the absence of either, the practice meeting Lead knows how you’re using your time if they’re not already aware.

External Learning Events

Penrose Health has decided to take a measured approach to external learning events held by the PCNs, to ensure a balance between them and practice-led PLT events.

While we recognise the value of PCN learning events, full attendance by all team members is not always necessary. As noted above, practice meetings and completing outstanding mandatory training should be prioritised before attending external events.

For each external learning event, the expectation is that one or two relevant members of the team per site will be nominated to attend (see the process for nominating team members below).

To ensure the training benefits everyone, the nominated team member(s) will relay the learning back to the wider team, highlighting key takeaways, best practices, and any important updates. This allows the whole team to stay informed and up-to-date without requiring full attendance at every external session. By taking this approach, we ensure that appropriate members for the relevant learning attend the training, and that the learning is both effective and manageable alongside other PLT commitments.

How team members are nominated

A fair and consistent method will be used to select the most appropriate team member(s) to attend.

The site GP Lead and relevant Line Managers (depending on target staff group of the training) will consider the following factors when nominating a team member:

• Who is working and available on the day that PLT is being held?
• Who has all mandatory training completed (on Blue Stream Academy and Penrose Academy)?
• To which role(s) is the event relevant / of interest?
• Does the attendee agree to share key learning with the wider team?
• Who has attended external events previously / have other members of your team not had the chance to attend an external learning event yet?

Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

• Discuss the key learning points from the event with your direct report, and decide on the most appropriate meeting to deliver the information back to the teams
• Relevant to all practice staff → clinical meetings can be used for shorter updates (~15 minutes), or next PLT practice meeting can be used if a longer timeslot is needed
• Role-specific learning → use monthly team meeting
• Ensure that team members are allocated a timeslot within the relevant meeting
• Provide any necessary support to enable direct reports to effectively present their key learnings

Responsibilities:

• Care Coordinator → If notified by line manager, allocate a time slot within the clinical meeting agenda for sharing learning (~15 minutes)
• Reception Lead → If notified by line manager, allocate a time slot within the PLT practice meeting agenda for sharing learning (time dependant on learning content)

Responsibilities:

• Summarise key points from the external learning event, including relevant updates and best practices that could enhance current work
• Share insights with the wider team using whatever method is preferred, for example: a verbal summary, written notes, presentation, report, and learning materials from the event
• Provide feedback to the L&D Coordinator on the event’s usefulness, if there are any updates to share with the wider team, and if you would recommend staff attend in the future