Setting Standards: Post Approvals Process

Post and programme ApprovalKSS Deanery is responsible for the quality management of training in trusts which sit within their SHA/Deanery boundary. There are agreed processes which need to be followed to ensure any new post is approved by KSS Deanery and fits within the agreed “maximum training capacity”, the relevant Royal College or Intercollegiate Board, and the GMC.  This guidance extends also to cover posts which sit within a joint KSS/London programme and is available here. This ensures that trainees are appointed to prospectively approved posts for training.

For medical training initiative (MTI) posts or equivalent

KSS Deanery approves posts when they can be put into a managed training programme. This requires specialty school approval and relevant Royal College specialty advisory committee approval. LEPs must follow the Gold Guide requirements on recruitment and any additional requirements outlined by the relevant Royal College. The trainees must be fully managed by the specialty school and the local systems of GEAR.

KSS Deanery agrees that - whenever any specialty school has significant difficulties filling specialty training posts on a regular basis - properly approved training posts can be used for MTI initiatives. Some LEPs may wish to use current trust funded posts which do not have educational approval for MTI use. It is not required that such posts are educationally approved by GMC as such posts are not part of a managed programme, but KSS Deanery offers a process of ‘local deanery experiential educational approval’ for up to two years on any one occasion. Where such posts are used for MTI doctors, it must be made quite clear to the doctor that these are KSS Deanery approved posts for experiential training and are not national GMC approved posts. KSS Deanery still requires that any such trainee must have a named Educational Supervisor who has completed the Qualified Educational Supervisor Programme (QESP), must be routinely discussed by the specialty Local Faculty Group (LFG), and the LEP must agree to provide them with a document confirming the competencies achieved at the end of their experiential programme. Automatic approval lapses after two years, and the LEP must re-apply for further KSS Deanery approval for the post and additionally for the trainee.  The MTI scheme covers the trainee and not the post.

Any such posts must be filled using the Royal College-led MTI process. Consult the relevant Royal College website for its latest position on MTI. Any variation to this must be agreed by the Royal College and KSS Deanery. The LEP must complete an application cover sheet and an Approval Form B, available from the KSS Deanery SWT. The application must be sent to the Head of Specialty Workforce for processing.

The relevant Head of School (HoS), with advice as required from other members of the STC, will decide whether or not KSS Deanery approval for experiential education can be granted. The HoS will confirm that this approval will not affect the education of other trainees in the department. Renewal will only occur after the LEP has provided evidence of the outcome of any MTI trainees employed in the first two years, including as evidence a letter confirming competencies achieved, and relevant extracts from LFG minutes. LEPs must also supply KSS Deanery with the relevant documentation listed in the relevant Sponsorship form.