Welcome to the East of England Foundation Programme!
Thank you for looking at our web pages. Hopefully the information is clear, and you can find answers for any of your queries that are locally based!
For national FAQ, the UKFPO Rough Guide and Curriculum should answer most of your questions. You can also refer to the GMC website for guidance on registration, the UKFPO website or in their FAQ section for information on national policy and the medical careers website for careers advice. If you have questions that are specific to your personal situation and which are not answered on this page, they may be in our trainee hub pages, or then you should ask your FTPD in the first instance.
We tend to use 'deanery' and HEE EoE slightly interchangeably. These pages are specific to HEE EoE and our two foundation schools: Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire (EBH) and the East Anglia Foundation Schools (EAFS).
Meet the team!
East of England Foundation School Director:
Dr Helen Barker
EBH Foundation School
Deputy Foundation School Director:
Dr Ritwik Banerjee
This new Foundation School was established in 2017 to manage repatriated programmes in Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. It is led by the Deputy Director Ritwik Banerjee (above). Eight acute NHS Trusts have worked to construct new programmes with support from HEEoE. The programmes were reconfigured at the inception of the school to make sure that they met all curricular requirements with no de-stabilisation of training during the transition process.
The trusts in the EBH foundation school are:
- Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Bedford Hospital
- Luton & Dunstable University Hospital
- East and North Hertfordshire NHS Foundation Trust
- Lister Hospital
- The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (Harlow)
- West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust
- Watford Hospital
- Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- Basildon Hospital
- Broomfield Hospital
- Southend University Hospital
- East London NHS Foundation Trust (Psychiatry)
- Hertfordshire Partnership University Foundation Trust (Psychiatry)
- Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (Psychiatry)
One year on, the school has developed a good programme of Education Academic Foundation Training with the Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Hertfordshire to encourage trainees who are inclined to develop skills like teaching (including simulation) and leadership. We are keen to develop skills like ethics and medical management in future years.
The ethos of the school is to prepare junior doctors who are ready to provide high quality patient care and has a positive outlook on professional development. We take pride in creating a programme guided and improved by trainee feedback.
Click here for the EBHFS hospital contact list. (Please note that due to merging hospitals, Colchester is now advertised in EAFS, and Bedford in EBHFS)
Please visit this our microsite for EBHFS which includes trainee testimonials and further information on our excellent Trusts.
East Anglia Foundation School
Deputy Foundation School Director:
Dr Helen Barker
EAFS is also led by Dr Helen Barker (above) whilst awaiting the appointment of a new Deputy Director responsible for the East Anglian Foundation School, which has ten Trusts under its remit. The longstanding rotations have been proven to meet the curricular requirements of Foundation; however, we are always looking to improve these and have followed the recommendations of the Improving Junior Doctors' Working Life documents and made alterations to many rotations for the 2018 recruitment.
The trusts in the EAFS foundation school are:
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Addenbrooke's Hospital
- Northwest Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
- Peterborough City Hospital
- Hinchingbrooke Hospital
- Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust
- James Paget University NHS Foundation Trust (Great Yarmouth)
- Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- The Queen Elizabeth, Kings Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust
- East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- Colchester Hospital
- Ipswich Hospital
- West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
- Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (Psychiatry)
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (Psychiatry)
This year we have recruited for our new educational academic programme, with 4 trainees at Ipswich and 4 at Kings Lynn undertaking a PGCert with the University of East Anglia (UEA).
Helen has been instrumental in our Welcome to the UK package for overseas doctors who start their first UK post with us, working with our specially appointed FTPD in this area Dr Makker in Watford. She worked in conjunction with the simulation leads to enable us to fund virtual reality simulation for foundation, which will start in 2019
Click here for the EAFS hospital contact list. (Please note that due to merging hospitals, Colchester is now advertised in EAFS and Bedford in EBHFS)
HEE EoE is headed up by our Dean, Professor Bill Irish, supported by the Deputy and Reporting Deans.
The Deputy particularly supporting Foundation, is Dr Helen Johnson, the previous Foundation School Director.
Dr Helen Johnson
As the Deputy Dean for the multiprofessional foundation schools, I hope that you have a great experience within the EoE
As our core values, we focus on training our doctors for their future within the NHS, providing rotations that are balanced and mapped against the curriculum. Our busy hospitals provide you with a broad experience as well as making sure that you have the opportunity to look at sub-specialities. We pay special attention to our teaching and training, with communication and personal skills training as well as a high class simulation training programme. We are also very keen to provide personal pastoral support, whether this be the opportunity for less than full time training, our mentoring and support programmes our just an ear when things seem difficult.
We aim to improve our foundation experience year on year, listening to your voices and being responsive to them.
One of my passions in foundation is around making foundation inclusive. We are strong supporters of those requiring to be LTFT or have a need for more considered rotations. In this I have been proud to sit on the GMC working part for the welcomed and valued guidance. We have trialed this with our local medical schools, aiming that doctors requiring workplace adjustments should have this support discussion earlier at medical school and meet and liaise with us, such that they are not disadvantaged. I am sitting on a similar committee with the foundation review.
I am working with HEE EoE to develop a connected approach between educational theory and practice, and also increasing the footprint of educational posts within foundation. We now have 4 educational fellows of ST3 and above. I am always happy for our foundation doctors to get involved.
I also work with the Head of school for pharmacy Foundation and the FTPD for PA so that we can have some joint learning and teaching opportunities. We work as a team, and there are many areas where we can learn as a team as well, and explore our similarities as well as acknowledge differences in a multiprofessional partnership.
Foundation Faculty
We liaise with the national group, other schools and supports within the deanery, the foundation training programme directors and medical education managers to set policy and guidance for foundation. We are part of various national groups looking to set the shape of training and best practice. We support trainees with difficulties, oversee recruitment and assessment, quality assurance and the education and training within trusts, and look to provide innovation and improve the benefit of training in foundation for you. We make the call on difficult decisions.
We have a number of team members from administration, recruitment, assessment, programmes and faculty support who work tirelessly to help keep the backbone function of Foundation, as well as the other schools, running smoothly. Their contacts are below. The Programme Management Team answer all the queries around rotations and programmes, and should be notified of sickness, maternity and all LTFT, TOFP and IFST requests. The Assessment Team answer all the queries around ARCP, and the Faculty Support Team are involved with the Hub Events, wider programme issues and trainee representatives.
Below is a photo of our recruitment and programmes lead celebrating in July, having filled all the posts!
The wider team
We have a wider 'core central foundation team' which includes our simulation FTPD Dr Charleen Liu, the HEE Simulation Associate Dean Dr Georgia Winnett, our GP liaison Dr P Wright, our Associate Dean for careers and out of programme and support Dr Francesca Crawley, the overseas FTPD Dr R Makker and the Hub FTPD Dr Zilley Khan. They have areas of expertise that we draw on to improve and support your foundation experience.
Then, the interface between the deanery and you is your local trust education team. This is led in foundation by your FTPD and the Medical Education Manager [MEM]. They organise local teaching and training, review their local rotations and troubleshoot for you, as well as liaise with your Education and Clinical Supervisors. We meet them at central teaching, training and business meetings, as well as when we drop in on trusts. They look at our ideas and aspirations and help hone them into workable advances for you.
What do we do?
We have three key themes we focus on each year:
- The first of our three key themes for foundation training in the East of England is Excellence in Education. We are aspiring to create a focussed, delivered educational programme of 60 mandatory hours per year for each trainee that covers the curriculum and is also inspiring. Look at our education page to find out more.
- We wish for trustworthy training rotations for our foundation doctors. We review the GMC survey and information we get from our Foundation training programme directors [ FTPD] , visits and trainee reps to provide suitable balanced rotations and provide quality training. Our hospitals can sometimes be hard pressed, and in those instances we work with them to provide solutions that maintain training and education. We aren't perfect, but we are aspiring to be better. Sometimes the best, and most innovative, solutions come from trainees themselves and we can help you with implementation. Our FTPD in each trust are there for your assistance.
- Our final strand is in personalising support. Becoming a doctor can be tough, and we want to do everything we can to help this go smoothly. We have an F2 to F1 mentorship programme, to support that step from medical student to doctor; resilience training workshops, careers and professional workshops. We are supportive of those requiring Less than Full Time Training [LTFTT] and if required time out of training or Inter-Foundation school transfers. We also have an excellent professional support unit for those that need a little more. The deanery trainee wellbeing hub describes many of the opportunities for you. We are looking to see what else would be helpful and useful. All ideas are considered! Either talk to your foundation representatives or FTPD about taking forwards good ideas.
Trainee Representatives
Trainee representation is a key element in the development and monitoring of the Foundation Programme and representatives play a valuable role in providing feedback and helping shape new initiatives. We have trainee reps from across the schools and from both academic and standard training programmes. Please talk to them, feedback and give ideas through them. They are given advance access to guidelines in draft to consider the trainee view.
As a trainee representative, you are mandated to attend FDAB - the Foundation Doctors Advisory Board - which develops policies and feeds back nationally, as well as local meetings with the FSD.
EAFS Trainee Representatives:
Name |
Role | Trust | ||
Riccardo Masina | F1 Representative |
NWAFT (Hinchingbrooke site) |
riccardomasina.bo@gmail.com | |
Daphne Chia | F1 Representative | NWAFT (Peterborough site) | daphne.chia1@nhs.net | |
Boluwatife Ayantunde | F1 Inclusivity & Diversity Representative | QEHKL | boluayantunde@outlook.com | |
Richard Odle | F1 Academic Representative | NNUH | richardodle24@googlemail.com | |
Tanya Ta | F2 - Academic Representative | NNUH | tanya.ta@nnuh.nhs.uk | |
Chie Katsura | F2 Representative | Mid Essex | chie.katsura@nhs.net | |
Daniel Fernando | F2 Representative | NWAFT (Peterborough site) | daniel.fernando.dif@gmail.com | |
Shirley Yadhu | F2 Inclusivity & Diversity | NWAFT (Peterborough site) |
|
EBH Trainee Representatives:
Name |
Role
|
Trust | |
Hadar Ben-Arzi | F1 Representative | West Herts | hadarbn@hotmail.com |
Karanjeet Singh Sagoo | F1 Representative | Bedford | ksagoo22@gmail.com |
Ankit Sinha | F1 Inclusivity & DiversityRepresentative | E&N Herts | Ankit.sinha1@nhs.net |
Areeb Mian | F1 Academic Representative | Bedford | areeb.mian@hotmail.com |
Ben Schapira | F2 Representative | West Herts | ben.schapira@hotmail.com |
Albert Koomsom | F2 Representative | PAH | albert.koomson2@nhs.net |
Omowumi Daniella Ashaju |
F2 Inclusivity & Diversity Representative | Mid Essex | odashaju@doctors.org.uk |
Mae-Yen Tan | F2 Academic Representative | Addenbrookes | Mae.tan@nhs.net |
Please see the Trainee Representative Role document for further information. Applications for the 2020-21 training year are now closed.
These are the generic mailboxes used by our administrative teams.
· Foundation Recruitment: recruitment.eoe@hee.nhs.uk
· Foundation assessment/sign off: assessment.eoe@hee.nhs.uk
· Professional Support and Well-being Service (PSW): PSW.eoe@hee.nhs.uk
· Foundation programmes and information : edit.eoe@hee.nhs.uk
· Foundation School Faculty - educatorsfaculty.eoe@hee.nhs.uk
· Mentoring queries: mentoring.eoe@hee.nhs.uk
Various documents to support improving work/life balance as a junior doctor. Are these implemented in your trust? Could they make a difference?
https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/1884/NHS-8-high-impacts-A4v5Bm_with_stickynotes_5_7dglFbL.pdf