Panel Membership
Progressing in a Specialty Programme: Panel Membership
The ARCP panel should consist of at least threepanel members appointed by the training committee or an equivalent group of which one must be either the Postgraduate Dean (or their deputy), the HoS or a TPD. The Chair of the Specialty Training Committee, Training Programme Directors, College/Faculty representatives (e.g. from the specialty SAC), educational supervisors and associate directors/deans are all appropriate panel members.
The panel must have input from aLay and an External Assessor who should review at least a random 10% of the outcomes and evidence supporting them and any recommendations from the panel about concerns over progress. This is necessary because the robustness of the process will be dependent on the appropriateness of their assessments. It is a means not only of ensuring that KSS Deanery’s training programmes meet minimum standards but also that excellence is accurately identified, recognised and rewarded.
The SWT will identify a sub-set of anonymised data equivalent to 10% of the total. The 10% sub set of trainees will be identified using the random selector tool on the KSS Intranet to ensure consistency.
The roles and responsibilities of the Lay and External Assessors can be summarised as follows:
The Lay Assessor may be specifically appointed by KSS Deanery, or may be an executive or non-executive member of an employing authority board or other senior non-medical member of management. They are responsible for scrutinising the process as a whole, and for ascertaining the view of panel members, and trainees where they are attending in person, on the procedures that are in place to support them.
The External Assessor will be a suitably informed representative from within the specialty but from outside the training programme or school. They will be responsible for reviewing the documentation considered by the final KSS Deanery ARCP panel and the outcome for a random 10% of trainees, plus any trainees whose performance is causing concern. The External Assessor must ensure that the ARCP process is consistent and appropriate for the specialty. There should be a sampling of ARCP processes, and the External Assessor is expected to liaise on this with lay members appointed by KSS Deanery.
The panel could also have a representative from an employing organisation in order to enable employers to be assured that the trainees they employ are robustly assessed and are safe to deliver care in their specialty. The full panel will be convened by KSS Deanery. The panel will normally be chaired by the Chair of the STC or one of the TPDs or Associate Deans/Directors. The external member of the panel need only attend as required to fulfil his/her responsibilities as outlined above and so may only be required towards the end of the process, especially in large specialties.
The SWT will maintain a centrally held database of approved individuals who may participate in ARCP panels, to include both Lay and External Assessors. All panel members must have received equality & diversity training within the last 3 years
Where there is a military trainee in a programme, it will be necessary to approach the Military Deanery to provide a representative should they wish to participate in the panel.
Where an annual academic assessment outcome is also involved, then additionally there will be two academic representatives on the outcome panel, neither of whom will have been involved in the trainee’s academic programme