Medisec hosted their annual ‘Best Practice’ Conference on Saturday, 13 October 2018, in the Conrad Hotel in Dublin. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Perils in Practice: the Practicalities’ and Medisec was delighted to welcome over 150 General Practitioners and guests from across the country.
The conference was opened and chaired by Ruth Shipsey, Medisec CEO and Dr John O’Brien, President of the ICGP gave a warm welcome address.
The agenda for the day included national and international speakers and the topics were of interest to GPs across the country who are committed to reducing their levels of exposure to risk in general practice.
The morning began with Dr Ray Walley, a GP in Finglas, providing a tutorial on managing difficult patients. Dr Walley gave invaluable insight on the GP experience in both Ireland and in the UK and outlined some of the difficulties that GPs are currently facing. He gave a number of useful tips and tricks for dealing with aggressive patient behaviour. This can be a very difficult area for many GPs and all were grateful for the sage advice given.
Dr Walley was followed by Ms Alison Kelleher, a solicitor and partner in Comyn Kelleher Tobin Solicitors. Ms Kelleher spoke eloquently on critical incident management. She outlined the steps that General Practitioners should take when things go wrong and she also gave an overview of the recent Bawa Garba case in the UK and the implications that this case has for reflective medicine and open disclosure.
Next to the podium was Mr Jack Nagle; Mr Nagle is CEO of Alpha Primary Care, a company that provides support to GPs and healthcare providers by advising on security and regulatory requirements in practice. Mr Nagle gave down to earth advice on how small changes in practice systems and environments can go a long way to enhance safety.
Dr O’Brien, Dr Walley, Ms Kelleher and Mr Nagle then engaged in a Q&A session with Ms Shipsey and with the audience before breaking for some well-deserved treats and coffee served by the Medisec barista.
Keynote speaker, doctor, author and comedian, Dr Adam Kay then took to the stage and entertained the audience with some amusing and heartfelt stories from his best-selling memoir “This is Going to Hurt”, which recounts his time as a junior doctor.
Members of the Medisec legal and clinical advisory team then sat down for a fire-side style chat with the audience and provided practical advice on how to manage complex doctor-patient interactions. Solicitors Niall Rooney and Aisling Malone provided advice on topics ranging from sexually active underage patients to capacity and fitness to drive, while GP Dr Mary Davin-Power dealt with clinical areas such as benzodiazepines, confidentiality and transcribing prescriptions.
The day concluded with a networking lunch. All proceeds from the day went to Médecins Sans Frontières.
Medisec wish to thank all their speakers and attendees for contributing to a very successful and thought provoking conference.
Conference Photos