The Lead Employer for General Practice trainees in the east of England is St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. GP trainees will be employed for the duration of their General Practice training by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. This will give trainees consistent terms and conditions for their employment, although trainees will need to comply with the work place policies in each post that they work.

The Lead Employer will handle any employment issues and provide a contract of employment to cover the duration of GP training. Each trainee will receive an offer of employment from the Trust before starting their first post and  should receive a contract of employment within eight weeks of their start date. All absences including sick leave, maternity leave etc must be reported to St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as their employer. This is a trainees' responsibility as otherwise it may lead to them being paid incorrectly.

The offer of employment is separate from the allocation of a place on a training programme which they will receive from NHSE. The contract of employment sets out the main terms and conditions of service including pay, annual leave, notice periods and the details of the out of hours work that you will be expected to carry out.

St Helens and Knowsley NHS Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will contact trainees in regard to completing pre-employment checks, occupational health information, the Disclosure & Barring Service (previously CRB), relevant commencement of employment forms, bank details and immigration status.