General Guidance & Process
At the end of the first Foundation year, F1 trainees are required to apply for full registration with the GMC.
N.B. A trainee must not undertake any F2 post or clinical duties that require full registration until their application for full registration has been processed and granted.
It is therefore important that a trainee allows ample time for the registration process to be completed, to ensure that full GMC registration is in place before the start of an F2 post.
GMC Application on-line
Applicants for full registration need to make their application via the GMC Online for Doctors facility on the GMC website.
All F1 Doctors should read the guidance on the GMC website regarding full registration.
Declaration of Fitness to Practise (FTP)
All doctors applying for registration are asked to complete a declaration of fitness to practise and final declaration, further information can be found on the GMC website.
- NHS PSW Career Resources
- Planning Your Medical Career: A Practical Guide
- NHS Medical Careers
- Career Planning Support at medicalforum.com
- Specialty Recruitment
A member of the Assessment Team or your local Foundation School Administrator will be in touch with you with regards to your ARCP date and the information required from you. You will be given no less than 6 weeks’ notice of your ARCP date.
If, for some reason, you have not received your ARCP date then please do contact the Assessment Team england.foundationassessment.eoe@nhs.net or your local Foundation School Administrator
All new FY1 doctors will be set up on the Horus e-portfolio at the beginning of the training year and will be given log in details and a username by the Postgraduate Education Centre team at their employing Trust. These details and further information about the e-portfolio are usually provided to new FY1s during shadowing week.
If you have any technical issues with Horus, it is best to contact the Service Desk team england.servicedesk.horus@nhs.net via email.
Recruitment is through the national process on ORIEL for both the two-year programmes and the standalone programmes. For definitive details and timelines please have a look at the UK Foundation programme website. It is really important to read the applicants handbook and follow the instruction. National recruitment is a large, resource heavy requirement and the dates are fixed.
For more information regarding Recruitment and how it works, we would advise looking at our recruitment page.
It is important trainees follow the correct application processes for study leave during their foundation training, this includes the activity listed in the taught programme (core and non-core) which will require local approval and, in some cases, FTPD approval. For aspirational leave (including overseas) this will require an additional level of sign-off using the HEE EoE form. Detailed guidance for FY1 and FY2 and the appropriate approval routes can be found in the study leave guidance for foundation programme document.
For further information, please see our Taught Programme and Study Leave page.
- BMJ learning has a wide range of online learning modules for members, including core procedures as well as topic management
- E-learning for health has foundation specific, induction and other suitable modules including covid 19 training
- You will have access to the safe prescribing script e-learning as this has been made an open resource
- There are online MOOC for example in genomics, education etc and with a descriptor of why this is valuable, please consider one to replace a hub, here are a few examples:
Global Health https://www.mooc-list.com/course/global-health-interdisciplinary-overview-coursera
Deanery wide processes can be found on the main site trainee resources hub.
Nation wide processes as part of UKFPO can be found on their resource bank page
Foundation Programme Review https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/doctors-training/foundation-review
All new FY1 doctors will be set up on the e-portfolio at the beginning of the training year and will be given log in details and a username by the Postgraduate Education Centre team at their employing Trust. These details and further information about the e-portfolio are usually provided to new FY1s during shadowing week.
It is the responsibility of the foundation doctor to keep their e-portfolio up to date. It will be reviewed throughout their training, and ultimately used to review evidence during the FY1/FY2 Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP).
The foundation e-portfolio helps foundation doctors to plan their learning and to demonstrate progression. It contains:
- Personal and Professional Development Plan (PDP)
- Meetings with your educational and clinical supervisor(s)
- Assessments
- Supervised learning events (SLEs)
- Reflective reports and other evidence
- Sign-off documents
The e-portfolio website address is: https://horus.hee.nhs.uk/login
Access to Horus
Incoming F1 data is uploaded to Horus via their support team. F1 doctors will then receive their welcome email directly via email, once uploaded.
If you have not received your login details to Horus by the time you start in post, please make contact with the Service Desk team on england.servicedesk.horus@nhs.net
Useful links:
To access Horus please follow this link: https://horus.hee.nhs.uk/sign-in
Hours FAQs page: https://supporthorus.hee.nhs.uk/faqs
Foundation Doctor User Guide (Horus): https://supporthorus.hee.nhs.uk/pdf-user-guides/foundation-doctors/
Technical checker (Horus): https://supporthorus.hee.nhs.uk/technical-checker/
Answers to frequently asked questions and video tutorials can be found here: https://supporthorus.hee.nhs.uk/video-tutorials/foundation-doctors/
For further information on the Foundation Programme and its e-portfolios, visit the UKFPO’s e-portfolio web page.
Ahead of planned parental leave there are a number of actions a Foundation doctor needs to take in preparation for as well as during the parental leave period and ahead of their return to training, which have been detailed below
Who needs to know about Maternity or Parental Leave?
The following people need to be informed of the expected dates of leave:
- Foundation Programmes Team england.foundationrecruitment.eoe@nhs.net
- Foundation Programme Coordinator/Admin at your employing Trust
- Human Resources/Medciall Staffing at the employing Trust. The required notice is set out in NHS Terms and Condition
How will parental leave affect pay and contracts?
Medical HR will liaise with the Foundation doctor regarding parental leave pay. The doctor should also notify their future placement that they planned to rotate to if it will be affected by their parental leave.
If the employment contract with the current employer is due to end less than 11 weeks before the start of parental leave, it may need to be extended to prevent any impact to statutory leave pay. If any Foundation doctor feels they will be in this situation they should discuss with their employer and Foundation Programme Manager at the earliest opportunity.
Once the Foundation Programme team have the confirmed dates of parental leave, the information will be shared with the Foundation Programme Director and HR Department at the employer. It is the responsibility of the Foundation doctor to give their employer appropriate formal notice of their parental leave according to the terms of their contract of employment.
How does Parental leave affect the ePortfolio, ARCP and Revalidation?
Foundation doctors should liaise with their local Foundation Programme Coordinator/Admin
about the information that should be included on their Horus ePortfolio.
All Foundation doctors must complete a Form R every 12 months. This requirement continues during parental leave. The Foundation Programme team will contact you to request the form if required.
Ahead of parental leave we encourage all Foundation doctors to ensure that all evidence in their ePortfolio is up to date.
During parental leave an ARCP will be planned, if it is due, however this will only need an up-to-date Form R which is recorded on the ARCP certificate as an N2 Outcome
If you have questions about the ARCP process, Revalidation, or Form R, please contact the Assessment Team england.foundationassessment.eoe@nhs.net
Annual Leave and Keep In Touch Days
Foundation doctors should discuss annual leave entitlement with their employer. During parental leave annual leave will accrue this accrued leave must be taken in one block at the end of parental leave. The Foundation Programme will not support the use of accrued annual leave to work less than full time after parental leave. The annual leave that is accrued while on parental leave does not count towards training time. Training time will recommence from the date the Foundation doctor physically returns to the workplace.
Keep in Touch (KIT) days allow a Foundation doctor to work during parental leave under their contract of employment without affecting SMP/MA entitlement. They can include training days and other activities that allow the employee to keep in touch with the workplace. The employer will be able to confirm if they offer this scheme and how many days the doctor is eligible to use. A Foundation doctor may be paid their basic pay for these days (less maternity pay) with prior agreement from the employer. NHSE do not provide funding for KIT days.
GMC Registration
Foundation doctors must maintain their GMC registration with a licence to practise whilst on parental leave.
Returning to Training
Foundation doctors must provide the required notice of their intended return to training dates to their employer, Foundation Programmes Team england.foundationrecruitment.eoe@nhs.net, and Foundation Programme Coordinator/Admin
at their employing Trust. They should also use this opportunity to advise of any changes to their circumstances that may affect the planning of their return to training placements. The Foundation doctor should be kept informed of their rotations with at least 12 weeks’ notice as required by the Code of Practice. Any queries or concerns about placements, should be directed to the Foundation Programme Director or Foundation Programme Manager.
We encourage all Foundation doctors to promptly attend to communications to ensure that all parental leave and return to training arrangements are in place and to also keep us updated with any changes to their plans throughout their pregnancy and parental leave.
Foundation doctors that wish to return to training Less Than Full Time should firstly review the LTFT Guidance.
It should be noted that the required period of notice for a new LTFT application or change of percentage is 16 weeks before the start of the standard rotation dates. In Foundation training these are August, December and April each year.
Supported Return to Training (SuppoRTT): Foundation doctors should access the available information on Supported Return to Training and must meet with their Educational Supervisor or Foundation Programme Director approximately 12 weeks before their intended return date, to complete a pre return to training form
General maternity guidance for rotational doctors and dentists in training
Guidance on undertaking additional work https://heeoe.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/guidance_on_undertaking_additional_work__0.pdf