Postgraduate Department General Practice Education & Training 2nd Floor, Stewart House 32 Russell Square London WC1B 5DN T: +44 (0)20 7866 3175 F: +44 (0)20 7866 3277 www.londondeanery.ac.uk September 2011 To: Associate Directors Programme Directors GP Trainers GP Trainees Dear Colleagues This communication from the London Deanery Out of Hours committee is to update you on the current requirements for Out of Hours training for specialist trainees Session requirement In line with recent COGPED guidance, one session per month of OOH experience is required for specialist trainees to enable the trainee to meet all the required competencies. For most trainees, who do 12 months of general practice in ST3 and 6 months in ST1 or 2, this equates to 18 sessions in 18 months. Any trainee doing more (or less) than 18 months in general practice should do OOH sessions on a pro rata basis. Non traditional sessions In some areas, those in ST1 or 2 in particular have been doing sessions which are not traditional OOH sessions. It has been agreed that up to three non traditional OOH sessions such as doing one OOH session with ambulance service, or one session with OOH palliative care team may be included in the 18 OOH sessions. The guidelines for undertaking sessions in OOH Walk in Centres in ST1 and 2 are to be found in section 4.2 of the OOH guidelines. Induction sessions Induction sessions which do not include patient contact should take place during the working week, and should not be counted as an OOH session. Overnight shifts To extend experience during training, one (and only one) double overnight session of 8 hours can be counted as 2 sessions. Where a double session is being claimed, this needs to be made very clear on the ePortfolio. Maximum number of OOH sessions not completed at the time of the final ESR Two OOH sessions can be booked but not completed at the time of the final panel review in ST3. They must be completed by the end of the placement. London Deanery is accountable to NHS London, the strategic health authority for London OOH sessions and ITPs Normally ITTP posts will require 6 GP OOH sessions. Anomalies relating to old job plans and OOH are being identified by the directors (John Spicer for South, Sanjiv Ahluwalia for North) and clarifications will be made. If you have an ITTP post on your scheme which requires the post holder to do traditional on call sessions, you should ensure that this has been discussed and the OOH commitment agreed with the relevant director. The session should be recorded in the OOH log in the usual way, with a note of the specific circumstances. ARCP Panel If a panel identifies an apparent anomaly with OOH in ST1 or 2, a note will be made for the trainee to check with the ePortfolio team. This is to avoid a problem arising in ST3 where there is a risk of certification being delayed. No assumption is being made. OOH Guideline The most up to date version of the London Deanery Guidelines for OOH is always available on the deanery web site (link) Introduction to Teaching OOH for Primary Care (ITTOOH) It is recognised that in some areas capacity is an issue. Please encourage suitable colleagues who do OOH shifts to consider doing the deanery course, and being approved as OOH supervisors. Details are on the deanery web site and the contact is Becki Roberts. Clarification If there are issues which cannot be clarified by discussion with the relevant programme director or associate director, members of the out of hours committee can be contracted via their deanery email. The committee meets regularly and they and the directors are aware that in this period of change, there may be issues which need further clarification. Kind regards The London Deanery GP OOH Committee Anwar Khan Associate Director representing North East London (Chair) Surendra Deo Associate Director representing North Central London Imtiaz Gulamali Associate Director representing North West London Rebecca Torry Associate Director representing South London Bob Clarke Associate Director Faculty Development (Education Advisor)