September 27, 2022 - 1616 views
Last month St David’s Hospice welcomed Dr Colette Holloway to their clinical team as the first palliative care GP trainee.
Dr Holloway will spend six months with St David’s Hospice to learn and gain experience in palliative medicine and is currently based at the Llandudno hospice.
Working Monday to Friday, plus covering some weekends and evenings shifts, Dr Holloway said:
“During my first month at the Hospice, I have found it interesting learning about the diverse services that the hospice can provide; such as Inpatients, Hospice at Home, Daycare and Complementary therapies, knowledge which I can take forward and refer to as a GP.
“As part of my training, I am exposed to all aspects of the Hospice’s work. At present most of my time is spent on the Inpatient Unit where I review and treat patients daily, admit new patients, communicate with and support families and friends, and work as part of the multi-disciplinary team participating in daily and weekly staff meetings.
“I have also shadowed the Hospice at Home team and so am aware of the excellent service they provide and hope to be able to spend more time in this area during the next few months when possible.
“It has also been interesting developing my understanding of and implementing specialist palliative care. Being able to develop my knowledge of treatments and witnessing their impact on patients through improving their quality of life and alleviating symptoms has been extremely rewarding.
“This will undoubtedly be an invaluable experience once I am working as a GP in the community. My time at the Hospice will be instrumental in my future practice and I look forward to improving patient care as a result of my time spent here.”
The position is jointly funded by the BCUHB Gwynedd GP Speciality Training Scheme and St David’s Hospice.
Dr Gwyn Griffiths, Medical Director at St David’s Hospice said: “I would like to welcome Dr Colette Holloway to the Hospice.
"The Hospice is proud to support the first palliative training post for GP trainees in Wales.
""St David’s recognises that having experience in palliative medicine is an important skill for a newly qualified GP to attain. Having the experience and training at the Hospice will benefit the trainee’s career prospects and also their future patients.
There has been a keen interest in the post among the GP trainees in the area and we hope it will be a permanent position in North Wales.”
