Professional Advisory Group
Terms of Reference
Briefing Paper for Co-Chairs
Introduction
The Professional Advisory Group (PAG) is a multi-professional working group within the joint Northern
Trust/ Northern Local Commissioning Group (LCG) planning arrangements for responding to the
Regional Review, ‘Transforming Your Care’ (TYC), which includes the planning for service delivery
models as well as the adoption of new/innovative ways of working and achievement of improved
productivity across services. The PAG will work within the overall planning infrastructure as a part of
the joint Trust/LCG planning arrangements, with the overarching Group being co-chaired by the Trust
Medical Director and the Consultant in Public Health Medicine and its work will look at the whole
system across traditional primary and secondary care boundaries. Members of the overarching Group
will also include the Trust Directors of Mental Health & Disability Services, Children’s Services, Acute
Hospital Services and Primary & Community Care for Older People’s Services.
The PAG is made up of a number of clinical work streams reflecting the broad profile of services
provided across the Northern Trust area. Each work stream will be co-chaired by a Trust senior
Clinician and a Primary Care or Commissioning colleague identified through the LCG. The LCG
representatives for each work stream will be identified in the coming days, while many of the Trust
leads have been identified and agreed to take on the role.
Co-Chairs and Workstreams (as at 16 Feb 2012)
Workstream - Group Name
Emergency Medicine, Urgent Care & Minor
Injuries
Acute & General Medicine
Co-Chair
Co-Chair
(Trust)
(LCG/Prim Care)
Dr Fergal Dunn
Dr Brian Patterson
Consultant in Emergency Medicine
Dr Charles Jack
Dr Bernard McCoy
Consultant Physician
Diabetes and Endocrinology
Dr Adele Kennedy
Dr Bernard McCoy
Consultant in Community Diabetes & Endocrinology
Cardiology
Dr John Riddell
Dr Brian Dunn
Consultant Cardiologist
Gastroenterology & Nutrition
Dr Gerard Rafferty
Dr Brian Patterson
Consultant Gastroenterologist
Respiratory Medicine
Dr Julian Leggett
General Surgery
Mr Stephen Dace
Dr Jenny Gingles as
co-chair (and Dr
Brian Patterson as a
group member
Dr Terry Magowan
ENT Surgery
Consultant Surgeon
To be confirmed
Dr Windsor Murdock
Urology
Dr Paul Downey
Dr Reggie McAuley
Consultant Respiratory Physician
Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Anaesthetics, Transport & Critical Care
Consultant Urologist
To be confirmed
Dr Gregory Furness
Dr Ian Buchanan
Dr Brian Dunn
Clinical Director ATICS
Care of the Elderly & Stroke Medicine
Dr James Gilmore
Dr Windsor Murdock
Clinical Lead Care of Elderly and Stroke
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Medical Specialties
Dr Camille Harron
(Renal, Neurology, Dermatology, Rheum, Haem)
Clinical Lead Medical Specialties
Palliative Care
Dr Yvonne Duff
Dr Turlough Tracey
Dr Richard Orr
MacMillan Consultant in Palliative Medicine
Medical Diagnostics
Mental Health
Paediatrics
Professional Workforce Planning
Dr Myles Nelson
Clinical Director Medical Diagnostic Specialities
To be confirmed
Dr Ledwith
Dr Brian Dunn
Dr Reggie McAuley
Dr Barbara Savage
Clinical Director Paediatrics
To be confirmed
Co-Chairs will play an important role in engaging and deriving the views and opinions of multi
disciplinary colleagues that will collectively influence the Trust/LCG response to the regional Review
(TYC) in terms of a plan for service configuration and delivery to meet the needs of the whole of the
population of the Northern Trust area. Having developed proposals, the overarching Group will
continue to have a role to advise the TYC Programme Board on professional issues and ensuring
ongoing clinical engagement through the work stream structures.
Objectives
The task for each Group will be to advise how their patients should be treated in the future, given the
need for our local health service 

to be more efficient with money while treating patients as well or better than we do now
to provide safe, good quality hospital services despite, and taking account of, the forthcoming
very significant reduction in the medical workforce for secondary care, especially for out of
hours hospital cover
The core product of each Group will be:

Through multidisciplinary engagement (facilitated by an information pack and a standardised
questionnaire), to set out proposals for a service configuration that will meet the needs of the
whole population of the Northern area, taking account of workforce and training issues,
professional groups/royal college guidelines, interdependencies with other work streams and
the overall need to secure a safe, efficient and sustainable service model

Set out an optimum model for service delivery, or options if required, identifying any
outstanding issues that the Group identified that need to be resolved

Prepare a presentation for a Trust/LCG planning workshop (April) to consider the outputs from
the work streams

Consider the opportunity to put forward an innovative idea to test or trial that the Group
considers would have short term positive impact on service delivery
Support
Co-Chairs and groups will be supported in this process through:
- Information: on the ‘Transforming Your Care’ and the regional toolkit on opportunities for
productivity
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- Group Planning Workshops: facilitated, to which the Co-Chair will invite the members of
the workstream Group, starting the process of discussion through the use of a
questionnaire that allows all views and issues to be explored
- Project Support from the Trust Planning Department: to arrange any additional
meetings, source any additional information needed by the Group, capture information at
meetings and write up notes, contact other Group members etc.
It is planned that through this approach to make best use of the time of very busy professionals,
minimising the number of face to face meetings of the Group and maximising other communication
and networking opportunities such as use of email for sharing of materials and views.
Time Frame and Outputs
Planning Workshops and Final Presentation Event
There will be a choice of two dates for each of the two Group Planning Workshops. Group Co-Chair
will identify the date most suitable to the work stream and all work stream members will then be invited
to attend on that date. If neither dates suits the Group, alternative arrangements will be made with the
Co-Chair for another date/venue.
Description
Planning Workshop 1
Date / Day
Time
Wednesday 29 February 2012
6 pm – 8 pm
Des Allen Suite at
Ballymena Showgrounds
Planning Workshop 2
Wednesday 21st March 2012
6 pm – 8 pm
Des Allen Suite at
Ballymena Showgrounds
Presentation Event
Wednesday 18th April 2012
Full Day ~
9.30 am –
4.30 pm
Des Allen Suite at
Ballymena Showgrounds
th
Venue
Hospitality will be available at all workshops/events
Actions and Timeline
ACTION
Planning Workshop 1
Discussion/Complete Questionnaire 1
Submit completed Questionnaire 1 to Trust Planning Dept
by Friday 9th March
Planning Dept issue collated work stream Questionnaires to Co-Chairs
by Thurs 15th March
Planning Workshop 2
Discuss collated responses from all Work streams, complete Questionnaire 2
Submit completed Questionnaire 2 to Trust Planning Dept
Prepare presentation
(template will be provided) and submit to Trust Planning Dept
Presentation Event
Due Date
29th Feb 2012
21 March 2012
Friday 30th March 2012
Friday 6th April 2012
Wed 18th April 2012
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Long Term Role
While the immediate focus of the Professional Advisory Group, and associated work stream Groups, is
on supporting the Trust and LCG to set out proposals in responding to ‘Transforming Your Care’ for
the Northern Trust area, the work will also have given consideration to opportunities for working
innovatively and to test or trial new ways of working. The groups will therefore have a life time beyond
the immediate production of proposals, to considering and testing new ways of working to bring
immediate and long lasting benefits as well as a role in the implementation of the final planned model
of service delivery. As such, the Professional Advisory Group will continue to be a part of the joint
Trust/LCG planning infrastructure.
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