Welcome to Southwest Socrates
Southwest Socrates is an independent organisation run by three GP Educationalists. We have over 12 years experience providing and advising on GP education in the South West. We liaise closely with GPs in the localities that make up the region, as well as with PCTs, to enable us to offer an education programme that meets the learning needs of local GP populations. We have no links or affiliation to any pharmaceutical companies.

Which areas do we serve?
We currently put on events in the Bristol, Taunton and Torbay areas.

What distinguishes us from other education providers?
We believe that GP education needs to be both wholly relevant to the work that you do, and that you want to learn skills that you can apply immediately in your practice. Additionally, we understand that everyone learns most effectively when they are actively engaged in the process, are challenged, and have fun. Our education programme is carefully planned to reflect this ethos and also to allow for valuable networking time with colleagues. For details of recent and forthcoming events, please have a look at Events and Previously. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions in planning our future programme.

Who can attend?
While our programme is driven by the learning needs of GPs, some of our events are also relevant to practice nurses, practice managers, GP Registrars and others working in Primary Care. Do contact us through this website if you would like advice about the relevance of a particular event to your own personal needs.

What do events cost?
We don’t involve pharmaceutical companies in sponsoring our education programme, but remain committed to being competitively priced. We negotiate actively with hotels and conference centres so that our education days can take place in comfortable and well resourced venues without the associated high costs to participants. Typically, whole day events cost between £65 and £95, and half days £35 - £55.