North West School of Surgery - Information and Resources for Surgical Resident Doctors

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North West School of Surgery

Information and Resources for
Surgical Resident Doctors

For information about individual specialties within the North West School of Surgery, please click on the links in the menu on the right hand side (or towards the bottom of the page if viewing this page on a mobile device).

Enhancing Supervision for Resident Doctors

Standards in Supervision

Enhancing Supervision for Resident Doctors – Handbook

Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP)

Please see the School of Surgery ARCP pages for further information.

Best Practice

PDF icon BMJ and HEE - Best Practice for Junior Doctors flyer

Bullying and Harassment

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh: Anti-Bullying and Undermining Campaign - including an online e-module. This emodule guides you through the facts, identifies the problem and suggests ways of managing our own behaviour in order to change the surgical culture. CPD accredited. RCSEd online account holders can access the emodule by logging in with your RCSEd account here. Non-RCSEd online account holders will first need to register to create an online RCSEd account here. Once you have registered, you can then log in to complete the emodule with your new RCSEd account here.

The Lead Employer's Respect and Dignity at Work policy can be downloaded from Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust's Lead Employer 'Policies and Forms' page (formerly St Helens and Knowsley Teahcing Hospitals NHS Trust).

Care of Private (non-NHS) Patients and Working in non-NHS Settings

NHS England Guidance on the involvement of postgraduate medical, dental and pharmacy trainees in the care of private (non-NHS) patients and working in non-NHS settings

CCT, CESR and the Combined Programme - Pathways to entry on the GMC's Specialist Register

CCT, CESR and the Combined Programme - A guide to the routes of entry on the GMC’s specialist register for doctors starting specialty training in NHS England North West

Please also see information on the JCST website and the GMC website.

Checklist for Supervisor Meetings with Resident Doctors

Example of a checklist for Educational and Clinical Supervisors when meeting with resident doctors

Clinical Supervision of Resident Doctors at Out-Patient Clinics

COPMeD: Resident Doctors and clinical supervision at out-patient clinics

Data Protection and Data Security

An e-learning module on 'Data Security Awareness' can be accessed through NHS England's e-learning for Healthcare website.

The Lead Employer's Code of Confidentiality policy can be downloaded from Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust's 'Our policies and procedures' page and there is also a social media policy which can be found on Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust's Lead Employer 'Policies and Forms' page. (Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust were formerly known as St Helens and Knowsley Teahcing Hospitals NHS Trust).

E-Portfolio (ISCP)

The e-portfolio for surgical specialities is ISCP (Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Programme). All postgraduate doctors in surgical training are expected to engage with the ISCP portfolio to provide evidence of their progress in training which will be assessed at Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP). A fee is payable to the Joint Committee on Surgical Training (JCST) for access to ISCP and evidence cannot be added if the fee has not been paid.

There is a help section on ISCP, or if you have any other problems, you should contact the ISCP help desk via email: helpdesk@iscp.ac.uk or phone: 020 7869 6299

Early Certification / Early Completion of Training / Early Completion of a Training Phase

Updated 29 Aug 2024

4.11 There will be occasions when a postgraduate doctor in trining progresses more rapidly than the expected rate of progress and in such cases, the award of an Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP) Outcome 6 can be brought forwards. However, this can only occur if:

the individual has gained all the relevant capabilities required in the curriculum

the individual has completed all the necessary examinations and assessments

4.12 The early achievement of CCT needs to be planned via the ARCP process and would not normally be advanced by more than one year, the final opportunity to bring forwards the CCT date would normally be at the penultimate ARCP.

The Gold Guide 10th Edition - Section 4: Progressing as a specialty postgraduate doctor in training or foundation doctor

The North West School of Surgery have introduced an 'Early completion of training request' process in August 2024. This includes requesting an early CCT and early completion of a phase of training.

As this is new guidance, there will be a phased approach at least for the first year, and so the rules around requesting before the penultimate ARCP will not apply, but we ask for as much notice as possible, with a minimum of 4-months notice so that requests can be considered and processed intime to comply with employment notice periods (see 'Resigning from a Training Programme' section below) and so that a final ARCP can be arranged.

North West School of Surgery Early Completion of a Training Programme Guidance

North West School of Surgery - Early Completion of Training Programme Request Form

JCST's Early Certification Principles

JCST's 'Requesting change to provisional certification date' flowchart

Enhancing Resident Doctors’ Working Lives

Enhancing Junior Doctors’ Working Lives - a progress report 2018

HEE and EJDWL 2018 presentation by Dr Alistair Thomson

eSurgery - e-learning resource for Surgeons

eSurgery is a free e-learning resource supporting surgical resident doctors in their early years of surgical training. It is a collaboration between NHS England's e-Learning for Healthcare programme and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. It is a free e-learning resource for NHS employees and anyone delivering NHS commissioned care.

e-Learning for Healthcare - eSurgery

Excess Mileage Expenses

Added 13 May 2024

NHS England will provide recompense for excess mileage expenses (payable at the reserve/PTR rate) incurred as a result of rotation when their home to place of work is more than 17 miles each way. Resident doctors appointed to single-site training programmes are not eligible to claim excess mileage as they are expected to live within a reasonable commute (less than 20 miles) of the place of work.

Excess mileage claims are managed by the Lead Employer on behalf of NHS England North West.

The policy and detials on how to claim can be found on the Lead Employer website.

GMC Survey

In 2025 the GMC survey will be available to complete from Tuesday 18 March to Tuesday 29 April 2025.

Gold Guide

The Gold Guide is a Reference Guide for Postgraduate Specialty Training in the UK and is applicable to all resident doctors in training taking up appointments in specialty training which commenced on or after 1 August 2007. The tenth edition published in August 2024 replaces all previous editions of the Gold Guide with immediate effect and can be downloaded from the COPMeD website.

Induction Toolkit

BMJ and HEE - Junior Doctor Induction Toolkit

JCST Quality Indicators

Learning Agreements and Multi Consultant Reports

In all programmes, surgical resident doctors in the north west should complete two, six-month Learning Agreements on ISCP each year*. All parts of both the Learning Agreements (Objective setting, Mid-Point Meeting, and Final Meeting and AES Report) for the year must be signed off by the doctor and their AES before the ARCP Assessment Panel.

LTFT resident doctors must still complete the same number of Learning Agreement meetings and MCRs per six-calendar month placement, as a full time doctor.

The Multi Consultant Report (MCR) must be fully completed before the Learning Agreement meetings can be signed off. Due to the two-week lock out for the MCR, resident doctors will need to adequately plan when the various parts of the Learning Agreement and MCR are signed off.

Learning Agreement (LA) and Multi Consultant Report (MCR) timeline

*Except resident doctors doing four-month placements, in which case they should do three - one for each four month block. For four-month placements, the Mid-Point MCR can be skipped.

Less Than Full Time Training

NHS England North West's full LTFT guidance and application process can be found on the LTFT pages of this website and you can contact the LTFT via england.ltft.nw@nhs.net

COPMED - Principles for supporting programme management of LTFT resident doctors in training

Letters to Patients

Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Guidance - “Please, write to me”: Writing outpatient clinic letters to patients

Locum Policy

Guidance for resident doctors and trainers on undertaking additional work whilst in a postgraduate medical education training programme

Out of Programme (OOP)

The Out of Programme (OOP) application form and information on the OOP process for NHS England North West can be found on the Out of Programme pages of our website.

Once your OOP application form has been signed by you, your AES and your TPD, please send the form and the supporting information to the NHS England North West School of Surgery Admin Team who will seek approval from the Associate Postgraduate Dean.

Please be aware you will also need to apply to the JCST for them to approve your OOP, details of what they require can be found on the OOP pages of the JCST website.

If your post requires GMC approval, this will be applied for by the NHS England North West admin team once your application has been approved by the Associate Postgraduate Dean and the JCST.

Cancellation or Curtailment of OOP

If you want to cancel your OOP after it has been approved, or if you want to shorten your OOP, please complete the "OOP Cancellation and Curtailment form" available on the Out of Programme pages of our website.

Extending your OOP

If you would like to extend your OOP, you should complete the main OOP application form for the extension period (the extension start date should be the day after the currently approved OOP end date) and you should submit documentation explaining the reason you want your extension. Please note that an Educational Supervisors signature is not required for an OOP extension application.

Period of Grace

A six-month Period of Grace (sometimes referred to as POG) is available to all resident doctors on a higher training programme (ST3+) or run-through training programme. Resident doctors in Core Surgical Training do not have access to a period of grace.

From August 2020 the way in which NHS England North West manages Period of Grace changed to be in line with NHS England's National policy. Resident doctors in run-through or higher training programmes with a CCT date after 1 February 2021 must give six-months notice of whether they would like their Period of Grace. Resident doctors will be contacted approximately seven months before their CCT date to complete a Period of Grace Request form. If no form is received, it will be assumed that the Period of Grace is not required and their employment will finish on their CCT date. If a doctor who indicated they would like a Period of Grace subsequently changes their mind, they will need to give the standard three months notice of resignation.

The Period of Grace policy can be found on the policies and procedures page of this website.

Please see the Resignation section below for further details on resigning.

Personal Development Plans (PDP)

"Professional development plans for surgeons" by Mr Vijay Bhalaik

Reflective Practice

You must ensure that all reflections in the portfolio, and used as evidence for appraisal and revalidation, must have any personal information that can identify individuals (including patient identifiers) or organisations removed prior to loading.

Improving feedback and reflection to improve learning, A practical guide for resident doctors and trainers

Recording of reflective practice - letter from Academy of Medical Royal Colleges

Recording of reflective practice - Academy of Medical Royal Colleges - Guidance for entering information on e-portfolios

Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and COPMeD Reflective Practice Toolkit

GMC - Reflective practice guidance

Resigning from a Training Programme

Upon resigning from a training post, the following notice of resignation is required from a doctor in postgraduate training:

Type	Notice Period
Core Training (CT)	1 month
Specialty Training (ST) - including run-through resident doctors at grades ST1 or ST2	3 months

Resident doctors resigning from their training programme must advise the Lead Employer of their resignation by emailing lead.employer@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk within the above timescales.

Where a doctor wants to leave the training programme before completion of the required notice period, they must complete an Early Resignation Form and obtain approval from the Host Trust they will be based at on the date of leaving.

Please visit the Lead Employer's Online Forms page on their website and complete the Early Resignation Form.

If you have any queries about resigning, please contact the Lead Employer Team at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (formerly St Helens and Knowsley Teahcing Hospitals NHS Trust).

Returning to Work/Training

Please visit the North West School of Surgery SuppoRTT page and NHS England North West's Supported Return to Training page.

Revalidation

Please see the NHS England - North West Revalidation pages for information.

The Revalidation team can be contacted by email on england.revalidation.nw@nhs.net

Run-through Training

Guidance for North West School of Surgery resident doctors on run-through training programmes

Study Leave

Please see the NHS England - North West Study Leave pages for guidance, application forms etc.

The Study Leave team can be contacted by email on england.studyleave.nw@nhs.net

Support for Doctors

Support for doctors - Academy of Medical Royal Colleges

Support for Doctors with Mental Health or Addiction Concerns

NHS Practitioner Health is a free and confidential NHS service for doctors and dentists with issues relating to a mental health concern or addiction problem, especially where these may affect their work.

The service is open to any medical or dental practitioners in England, who are GMC or GDC registered, or those looking to return to clinical practice.

NHS Practitioner Health Leaflet

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday 8am-2pm

Telephone: 0300 030 3300

Email: prac.health@nhs.net

Website: www.practitionerhealth.nhs.uk