HEE East of England and HEE Midlands
Performers List Validation by Experience (PLVE)
Since April 2006 dentists, who are not already on the National Performers List (NPL), have had to apply for a Performer Number from the Local Area Team of NHS England. This includes dentists working as locums who are not already on the National Performers List.
Those dentists who do not have a Foundation Training (Vocational Training) Certificate, or who have not completed an appropriate period of Foundation Training as defined in the Regulations, must be assessed by NHS England in consultation with Health Education England (HEE) to decide whether the dentist can be admitted to the list. This assessment is based the applicants previous experience and training including NHS primary dental care. If you do not have the necessary experience or training, you must undertake period of work within a PLVE programme in an approved PLVE dental practice under the supervision of an approved PLVE Validation Supervisor.
At the present time Health Education England is not able to consider applications into PLVE from dentists who cannot provide clinical references relating to two recent* posts (one of which will usually be a current post) each of which lasted at least three months (continuous period) without a significant break, or where this is not possible, a full explanation as to why that is the case and the names and addresses of two alternative referees. *’Recent’ is defined as ‘working within a dentist’s full scope of practice within the previous two years’ and is based on the AoMRC Return to Practice Guidance (2017 Revision).
Who may need to undertake PLVE?
Dentists who do not have a Dental Foundation Training (Vocational Training) Certificate
Dentists who have not completed, or who are not undertaking, Dental Foundation Training
Dentists who do not qualify for exemption under para 34 (4) of the The National Health Service (Performers Lists) (England) Regulations 2013.
These Regulations state that:
A dental practitioner is exempt from the requirement to undertake foundation training if the dental practitioner is—
(a) registered as a dental practitioner by virtue of section 15(1)(b) of the Dentists Act 1984 (registration of nationals of member States who hold the appropriate European diplomas)(e) or is in any other way a person in respect of whom a Member State is prohibited by Community law from imposing such a requirement;
(b) experienced in primary care as a dental practitioner for a total of at least two years fulltime or an equivalent period part-time—
(i) in community dental service, or
(ii) in the armed forces of the Crown, or
(c) is judged, through an assessment by a post-graduate dental dean or director of postgraduate dental education to have knowledge and experience equivalent to that of a dental practitioner who has satisfactorily completed foundation training.
Entry to the National Performers List
Entry to the National Performers List is managed by NHS England via their five regional teams. The NHS England Midlands and East regional team is made up of four locality areas – the West Midlands, North Midlands, Central Midlands and the East of England. To join the National Performers list you must apply online via the Performers List service – PCSE Online. This applies to all professions. The applications are sent to and handled by Primary Care Support England (PCSE) at pcse.performerlists@nhs.net . The National Performers List website is a useful source of information and contains a postcode search tool, which allows you to easily identify the NHS England Area Team that covers the region in which you wish to work. The search results also provide contact details for NHS England. The practice within which you plan to work must have an HEE approved PLVE Validation Supervisor and be approved by HEE as a PLVE Practice. (see below)
Application to PLVE
The Performers List Validation by Experience programme is managed by Health Education England, in one of their five Regions. This information refers to Midlands and East Region, and the local administrative office is East of England. To apply to undertake PLVE you must complete an application form and send that by email to HEE; this is done once an application has been made to NHS England. To find a practice where PLVE can be undertaken, Dentists must apply directly to practices; Health Education England - East of England does not currently keep lists of vacancies. The practice and proposed Validation Supervisor will need to apply for approval to HEE at the same time, and the ability to undertake PLVE will be dependent upon approval of the VS and Practice. However, from Summer 2018 a policy change is being made and potential Validation Supervisors may apply for Approval without the need for an allocated PLVE candidate (valid for up to three years). It is hoped that this will provide a number of approved PLVE practices able to take on a PLVE applicant and ease the task for PLVE applicants of locating a suitable PLVE practice.
If you are wishing to undertake PLVE as a Validation Experience Dentist (VED) please use this link to go to the PLVE Applicant page.
If you wish to become a PLVE Validation Supervisor (VS) please use this link to go to the Validation Supervisor page.
The National PLVE Guidance document is available here.
For any queries relating to Performers List Validation by Experience please contact plve.me@hee.nhs.uk .