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Employing a Registar
Advice on issues relating to the employment of GP Registrars	Download a copy of this page

Contents

GP Registrar Personal File
Appointment Procedure
GP Trainee Appointment Form
GP Registrar Salary
Primary Medical Performers List
Contract of Employment
Criminal Records Check
Occupational Health Screening
Immigration Status and Work Permits
Part Time Training
PCT Support Service Agencies Contact Details
Occupational Health Screening Contact Details

GP Registrar Personal File

Practices should contact the Recruitment Administrator as soon as they are notified of a confirmed placement in order that a copy of the GP registrar's personal file can be sent to them.  The file will include a copy of the application form, references and all documentation received in respect of the recruitment process.

Appointment Procedure

To complete the recruitment process, you should write to the trainee making a formal offer of employment, subject to satisfactory occupational health screening and criminal conviction check. The letter must also:

1. advise of the arrangements for obtaining occupational health screening
2. request acceptance of the offer and the date on which the trainee expects to take up the position.
3. remind registrars who require an extension to their work permit that it is their responsibility to organise this with the practice and they must provide the application form to you at least one month before their current status is due to expire.
4. request completion of the GP Trainee Appointment form and the GPTA1 form, if applicable. Before sending in the form, attach copies of the requested documents, the practice manager should sign to say they have seen orignals.
5. advise registrars to contact the PCT support services agency in order to ensure inclusion on the medical performers list.
6. provide the contact details for the person undertaking criminal record bureau checks for your PCT area. (Link to CRB check contact list)

Please note that any queries (eg. visits by the trainee) must be resolved before your offer of employment is made.  Once an offer is made, it cannot be withdrawn unless their are exceptional reasons (for example, new knowledge of pending disciplinary action).  The Deanery must be informed  and provided with detailed reasons in writing before you take this step.

GP Trainee Appointment Form

Whenever your practice accepts a GP registrar, the GP registrar and GP trainer should jointly complete a GP Trainee Appointment Form.  A new form is required even if the GP registrar has previously undertaken a period of training at your practice and is now returning to undertake a further period of training.

Completion of this form is required in order that:

• The Deanery can authorise the appropriate agency to reimburse payments to your practice in respect of the GP registrar's salary and expenses and the GP trainer's grant.
• The support services agency can calculate the GP registrar's starting salary and inform the practice accordingly.

We recommend that wherever possible the form is returned to the Deanery two to three months prior to the commencement of the attachment.  We would also ask you to draw to the attention of your GP registrar the documentation that should be submitted with the form (as detailed on the form).  Failure to submit this documentation will unfortunately result in a delay in reimbursement. To avoid delay please weigh the envelope before posting to:

Hilary Foster

Deanery Recruitment and Assessment Unit

East of England SHA

Victoria House

Captial Park

Fulbourn

Cambridge

CB21 5XB

If the doctor's last medical post was undertaken in a non-NHS organisation then they should also complete form GPTA1

See Downloads for copies of the relevant forms. If you have any queries regarding the completion of the GP Trainee Appointment form, please contact Hilary Foster or Tracey Thorby
We always acknowledge in writing the receipt of the GP Trainee Appointment Form - acknowledgement will be sent to the GP trainer together with the educational and trainer agreements. If you have not received written confirmation within ten working days of submitting the form, please contact Hilary Foster or Tracey Thorby

Details of the PCT Support Services Agencies are provided at the end of this document.

GP Registrar Salary

The Registrar's salary is calculated by the PCT Support Services Agency. The Deanery is unable to give advice to GP Registrar's or practice regarding the expected level of salary. The PCT Support Services Agency will only be able to make an assessment upon receipt of a fully completed GP Trainee Appointment form together with any required supporting documentation, in particular the most recent payslip.

The salary is determined according to previous seniority within the NHS and in some cases it is possible for overseas experience to be recognised. Further information is available in the Directions to Strategic Health Authorities which is available here

There is an appeals mechanism for GP registrars who disagree with the level of salary determined by the PCT Support Agency.  The appropriate agency will provide full details should an appeal be necessary.

Primary Medical Performers List

The Primary Medical Performers List replaced the Supplementary (and certain other lists) on 1 April 2004.  GP registrars need to be registered on the Medical Performers List in order to undertake their general practice based training.

The Deanery shares information obtained in the recruitment process with the PCT Support Service Agencies.  Further information about the Primary Medical Performers Lists is available from the Department of Health website

The agency will normally write directly to the GP registrar to obtain any forms or information required to undertake the process.  You may wish to remind your GP registrar of the importance of completing this process as soon as possible and indeed in the event that no information has been received from the agency the GP registrar should make contact as a matter of urgency if they are not already on the list. 

The performers list regulations allow a GP Registrar, as long as he/she has first applied to join a PCT's list, to perform primary medical services despite not being included in the list.  This easement lasts until either the PCT gives the registrar the decision on the application, or for two months beginning with the date the training begins (whichever is earlier).  The GMS Contract Regulations 12 make equivalent provision by permitting training practices to employ GP registrars without confirming that their names appear in the performer list until the end of the first two months of the training period.  PCTs are asked, nevertheless, to give priority to the processing of primary medical performers list applications from GP registrars.

Criminal Records Check

From the August 2006 recruitment round onwards the primary care trust will obtain CRB checks for all doctors entering general practices as part of GP training. This will occur at the stage when they undertake checks to admit the doctor to the Medical Performers List. We would recommend that you inform the registrars that they must ensure that they have a criminal records check carried out. Contact details for the relevant person who will carry out the check on behalf of the practice are listed below.

Occupational Health Screening

Doctors appointed to a vocational training scheme will be subject to occupational health screening as part of the hospital trust pre-employment checks.  For doctors returning to general practice following completion of their hospital training, and for those who undertake all of their general practice training at the end of their scheme, trainers should arrange for their GP registrar to undergo occupational health screening  as part of their pre-employment checks. 
Self construct GP registrars will always need to be screened.  In scheme areas where it is usual for the GP registrar to undertake two consecutive six month periods of training with different trainers it will not be necessary for the second trainer to undertake further screening when the doctor moves to the new training practice.  However, if the periods of training are not consecutive screening should be undertaken.  The same rationale should be applied in respect of doctors whose general practice based training is extended beyond the usual twelve month period (examples of situations where this may occur include doctors appointed for specific skills training and those undertaking a period of remedial training).
Doctors undertaking other forms of general practice based training eg overseas doctor accelerated route, refresher/returner training should also be screened.

Screening can be undertaken by your local hospital trust occupational health department.  The level of screening should be equivalent to that undertaken by the trust for a SHO.  The cost of screening can be re-claimed from the support services agency from which you receive payments in respect of GP registrars.  Please forward invoices directly to the agency, unfortunately it is not possible to reimburse the costs directly from the Deanery.  Screening should not be undertaken by a partner within the training practice.  For doctors who are currently undertaking a training post in another area it would be perfectly acceptable for the screening to be undertaken at their local hospital trust.

There are other circumstances where it might be appropriate to refer a GP registrar for screening during the course of their period of training.  If such circumstances should arise, your patch director will be pleased to advise.  The procedures for referral and reimbursement of costs are as for new GP registrars.

GP Registrar Job Description - Please download the GP Registrar job description and forward to Occupational Health.

Immigration Status and Work Permits

On 7th March 2006 the Department of health announced changes to the immigration rules for postgraduate doctors and dentists which came in to effect on 3rd April 2006. The changes mean that all doctors and dentists who work in the UK from outside the European Union need to meet the requirements of an employment category. In the majority of cases overseas doctors will require a work permit.  Please note that permit free training has now ceased.

Work permits are the responsibility of the employer. Therefore if you are employing an overseas doctor who requires a work permit and this is the first or only post of their general practice training programme then the employing practice is required to apply for a work permit.  Those doctors requiring a work permit are NOT PERMITTED to start in practice until they have a valid work permit. Therefore it is essential that you ask the registrar if they require a work permit at any point of their training so that you can apply in good time. Detailed information on applying for work permits can be found at www.workingintheuk.gov.uk

Applications for training posts should be made under Tier 2 of the work permit rules. You need to complete form WP1 which is available at www.workingintheuk.gov.uk to download and complete, or to fill in on–line. You can also obtain a printed copy by calling 08705 210224 (9am – 5pm Monday to Friday)

The current (April 2006) cost of a work permit is £153. The employing practice is responsible for this fee.  Applications must be made at least one month before the doctor’s current leave expires. In 90% of cases applications take 15 working days to process.

Further information about the immigration rules for postgraduate doctors is available from www.nhsemployers.org/workforce/workforce-718.cfm

Part-time Training

If a GP registrar wishes to undertake their training on a part time basis the proposed arrangements should be agreed with the practice and scheme course organisers and the Deanery must be informed. . If the prolonged period of training will overlap with another GP registrar who is already scheduled to come to the practice at a later date, and the practice is unable to accommodate both GP registrars (or approval for more than one GP registrar cannot be granted by the patch director), arrangements may need to be made for the part time GP registrar to transfer to an alternative practice at the appropriate time in order to complete their training. Again, course organisers should be consulted regarding such matters and the Deanery must be informed.
 
The Deanery is happy to assist upon request with calculating periods of training, completion dates and advising on other issues that may arise regarding part time training.
 
The minimum percentage of full time a doctor may work is 50% (previously 60%). Saturday mornings (if applicable) should be undertaken at the appropriate percentage of that normally undertaken by a full time GP registrar at the practice. Out of hours work is in addition and should be undertaken in accordance with the COGPED guidelines available from this website.  Please note that a doctor undertaking the entirety of their general practice based training on a part time basis must complete at least one week of full time training. This should be undertaken at a time which is mutually agreed by the practice and GP registrar. The payments support agency should be notified in order that they can make the appropriate adjustment to the GP registrar's salary to cover the period of full time work.
 
The amount of time devoted to teaching and educational events should be in accordance with the following guidelines (extracted from the Criteria for the Selection and Re-approval of General Practice Trainers and Practices).

First applications (initial granting) for permit free training are made directly to the Home Office.

Training Grant

The current regulations only permit the payment of one trainer's grant per GP trainer regardless of the number of GP registrars registered with that GP trainer.  Please notify us now if an existing GP registrar needs to be registered with another GP trainer in your practice.    Please refer to the guide Claiming a Training Grant directly from the Deanery for information on claiming a grant where more than one GP registrar is registered with a GP trainer.

Associate Trainers

IIf an associate trainer will be involved with the training please refer to the document Guidance for GP Trainers and Associate Trainers in relation to GP registrar Training.  GP registrars will need to be registered with a fully approved GP trainer with a few minor exceptions with are described in the guidance document.

Primary Care Trust Support Service Agencies Contact Details

Occupational Health Screening Contact Details

The Rules! - The NHS Regulations 1977 (2005 amendment)

GP Registrar Contract

GP Trainee Appointment form

Form GPTA1

If you have comments or queries about the content of this page please contact Dr Arthur Hibble