Educators changing their place of work
Moving within the East of England
Recognition as a multiprofessional educator is specific to the person concerned and is not necessarily linked to the learning organisation, they are working in. So, if an approved educator changed the practice in which they worked, their approval status would move with them to their new practice.
However, if that new practice was not recognised as a learning organisation, the practice would need to seek recognition as a learning organisation before learners could be based there. Individual educators should ensure that the primary care school and local training hub are informed of their new contact details, especially if that educator now works in a different specialty area.
Moving into a different deanery area
East of England accepts the GP educator recognition decisions made by other areas in the UK, both within England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A recognised multiprofessional educator moving into our region would need to make themselves known to the local training programme and to the local Training Hub and would then fit into our ongoing quality monitoring.
We would hope that the GP educator recognitions made within our area would similarly be accepted by other areas although cannot guarantee this. We would suggest contacting both the local training programme and the regional office to clarify what their processes are.
What happens if there is a significant change to the learning organisation in which educators work?
When completing the self-declaration as part of ongoing quality monitoring this should be declared. If the change happens outside of the self-declaration period, the placement manager will need to contact the local Training Hub to discuss the impact of this on learner placement. Such changes include new premises and practice mergers.
Please see the guidance on merged and federated practices.
Conflicts of interest
Alternative arrangements for interviews, visits or assessments should be made when the member concerned works:
- for the learning organisation being assessed or did so within the last year
- in the same learning organisation as the educator being assessed or did so within the last year
- in the same super-partnership or primary care network, or did so within the last year
The only exception to this might be where the organisation is divided into sub-groups which are managed separately, and the member concerned works in a different sub-group.
Local sensibilities should always be taken into account and, where necessary, advice taken from the associate dean, associate dean lead for quality or head of school.
Time intervals, fallow periods, sick and maternity leave
Interval after CCT when eligible to be recognised as a GP educator.
For tier 2 educators – applications can be considered 1 year after CCT.
For tier 3 educators – when working in an established training practice, applications for recognition as a new GP educator can be considered after 2 years. When working in a non-training practice, the interval should be 3 years.
Fallow periods
A fallow period is a planned, temporary break where an approved GP educator or training practice does not to take on a GP trainee.
Fallow periods which have been actively chosen by the educator and/or learning organisation of up to 12 months need to be agreed with the local training programme and Training Hub and should not usually have any impact on the educator’s ongoing recognition.
The self-declaration period will remain the same, unless the absence happens within a year of the educator’s initial recognition. In this case, the 2-year self-declaration will be deferred by up to a year to allow the educator sufficient time to gather the evidence for ongoing recognition.
If the fallow period has been for more than 1 year, once the GP educator/learning organisation is ready to resume active training, the educator/learning organisation should inform the local Training Hub and arrange a meeting with the Training Hub quality lead.
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss any changes that have occurred during the fallow period and to ensure that the educator/learning organisation is ready to return to training. Assuming this meeting is successful, the educator/learning organisation can start working with learners again.
The self-declaration period will remain the same to act as a further check. If the Training Hub quality lead has concerns though, a face-to-face interview will be arranged with the appropriate associate dean and training programme director. The educator/learning organisation will need to complete an application form.
Application processes vary across the region, and each area has its own designated contact for application forms. Details of the relevant contacts can be found below:
- BLMK – blmkicb.blmk.traininghubqualityteam@nhs.net
- C&P – cpth.qualityteam@nhs.net
- HWE – hweicbenh.thqualityteam@nhs.net
- MSE – Mseicb-bb.primarycareworkforce@nhs.net
- SNEE & N&W – training.hub@snee.nhs.uk
Where a fallow period has occurred due to a lack of learners being placed at the organisation, and the educator has continued to attend local trainer group meetings as well as appropriate regional educator meetings, there will not be any impact on the educator’s or learning organisation’s recognition.
The length of the fallow period may also need to be taken into account when instituting the above procedures. GP training changes often and if the fallow period is excessive, it may be deemed necessary that the educator will need to undergo further training and re-apply for their respective tier. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Educator maternity leave
The same process would apply as for fallow periods. If the absence is for more than 1 year, you will need to contact the local Training Hub. They will facilitate an interview with one of the training programme director. to determine that the educator has kept up to date and is ready to return to training.
Frequently asked questions
If you are interested in teaching Anglia Ruskin University Medical Students, please see further information on the Anglia Ruskin University webpage or contact Deepak Kumar.
Yes. We greatly appreciate and benefit from the wealth of knowledge that people who have experience with learners bring with them. However, the GP school-specific training videos are still required for this group because resident doctors in general practice have their own specific needs which are not the same as other groups of learners.
If you trained as an out of hours supervisor (tier 2a) in the NHS England tiered system from 2018 onwards, then you do not need to complete the material you’ve already completed. You can complete intermediate packs to become an associate trainer (tier 2b), or Intermediate and advanced packs to become a GP trainer (tier 3). The online webinar will be unchanged, so you only need to attend the part of that morning that you haven’t already completed.
If you trained as an out of hours supervisor before the new tiered educator system in 2018 was introduced, then you will need to complete all elements for the tier of GP educator you wish to become as if you were a new starter. This is because so many of the elements of training have fundamentally changed in that time and so have the challenges in supporting our learners.
The feedback that we’ve had from delegates so far is that they’ve found this additional learning valuable, and that any additional time taken is probably saved in knowing how to most efficiently and effectively help the group of learners that they’re trying to support.
Yes! We welcome applications from both full and part time aspiring educators.
New Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP) was introduced in 2007 and so this is unlikely to be an issue for most new educators. However, those qualifying prior to this may not have MRCGP. Tier 2 educators are encouraged to hold MRCGP, although this is not essential. All tier 3 educators will need to have MRCGP. The RCGP now offers "membership for all" which enables anyone that is post certificate of completion of training and has undergone at least one successful revalidation cycle to attain membership.
Further information may be found on the RCGP website.
Quality oversight, assurance, changes, appeals and conflicts
The quality oversight panel is a monthly meeting of the senior GP educator team involving the GP dean, the heads of school and the GP associate deans. The primary care school presents the panel with a list of the educators and learning organisations that have received provisional recognition/ongoing recognition during the preceding month.
The panel will discuss any potential issues before confirming the outcome. After the meeting, the training hub will then email each applicant a copy of their outcome form and update their records. The primary care school will update the GMC register.
To ensure consistency of application of the quality monitoring process 10% of all assessments will be reviewed centrally by NHS England East of England.
Additionally, the Training Hubs meet on a regular basis to discuss quality monitoring processes.
In these circumstances, the educator or learning environment should raise a formal appeal in writing (via email will be sufficient) within one month of notification of outcome to their local Training Hub providing the rationale for their appeal with any accompanying evidence as appropriate.
The Training Hub will collate the appeal communication and forward to the NHS England primary care quality team who will convene an extraordinary quality and oversight panel that will consist of associate deans not involved in the original decision.