Professional Support Unit

Welcome to the Professional Support Unit (PSU) page of the Wessex Deanery.

From time to time doctors run into difficulties during their training including for example: exam failures, problems progressing towards the required standard for their level of training, or health issues. The Wessex Deanery is pleased to provide access to designated support for those trainees who continue to struggle despite local support. This usually involves the allocation of a case manager with access, as required, to expertise in helping them to get back on track. This support often has a beneficial effect on the situations we become involved with. Trainees, who engage with this support, when needed, demonstrate a professional commitment to their own practice. The PSU is predominantly supportive and developmental and is therefore separate from deanery regulatory processes like the ARCP/RITA; a summary of PSU input may, however, go to the ARCP Panel if appropriate and only after it has been agreed with the trainee.

The PSU is led by Dr Rosie Lusznat with Dr Judy Curson and Dr Richard Mann. Administrative support is provided by Julie Worthington. The team works with a number of case managers and a group of experts known collectively as the Virtual Support Group who can help address specific issues.

The rest of these web pages provide most of the information you should need to help you understand our work. If you have any questions or comments to make about the information provided here please contact: Julie Worthington (julie.worthington@wessexdeanery.nhs.uk)