Professional Resources
“Supporting Doctors New to NHS” workshop: This workshop provided by NHSE ENE aims to build on Trust Induction and provide supplementary information to explore some of the challenges faced by IMGs and share ways of working and available resources to help them survive and thrive in their first job in the NHS. This workshop usually runs three times a year, to book onto the next sitting of this workshop (or any of NHSE ENE’s forthcoming workshops) please click here.
Lead Employer Trust (LET): The North East Lead Employer Trust (LET) is a dedicated entity that employs all specialty, foundation, and GP doctors and dentists training in the North East and North Cumbria region of England. Commissioned by NHS England North East and North Cumbria, the LET is currently hosted by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The LET serves as a single point of contact for all employment and occupational health matters for residents in training, ensuring consistency and efficiency across the region. This model simplifies administrative processes for both residents and host organisations (Trusts), allowing residents to focus on their clinical and educational development.
In addition to employment services, the LET manages a regional shift bank, enabling residents to work flexibly across different Trusts within their specialty and level of competence. For more information or assistance, residents can visit the LET's official portal site here.
General Medical Council (GMC): The GMC is the regulatory body for doctors in the UK. The GMC provides a number of useful resources for international doctors including the “Welcome to UK Practice” course which is a free workshop designed to support doctors new to the NHS which provides practical advice and explores ethical scenarios you may encounter. The GMC has also published a piece of ethical guidance called “Good Medical Practice” which outlines what it means to be a good doctor in the UK. The GMC has also created a “Racism in the Workplace” Hub where you can find advice and guidance for dealing with and raising concerns about racism at work.
NHS Induction Programme for International Medical Graduates: NHS England, along with several other organisations, has created an e-learning module to give a national induction for international medical graduates. The module is hosted on the “e-learning for health” website where you may have also done some mandatory training. The module describes some of the challenges of moving to a new healthcare system and outline the support and resources that will be available to all overseas-trained doctors planning to take up posts in the NHS. To access the module, click here. Please note that you will need to create a login for e-learning for health to access the module.
British Medical Association (BMA): In the UK, trade union membership allows you to have a say in improving your working conditions as well as supporting you, should things go wrong at work. The unions are member-run and led, negotiating for the best terms and conditions as well as lobbying and campaigning on the issues impacting the medical profession. The BMA is the largest trade union that represents, supports and negotiates on behalf of all doctors and medical students in the UK, they also provide wellbeing services, you can find out more about this here.
More information on how the BMA can be support IMGs can be found here. The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association is an alternate trade union specifically for hospital doctors in the UK. More information about the HCSA can be found here.
Medical Defence Organisations (MDOs): Medical indemnity provides financial support for doctors facing clinical negligence claims, helping with defence costs and compensation if necessary. NHS doctors are typically covered by state indemnity, but those in private practice must arrange their own insurance. While state indemnity covers most claims, doctors may need additional support for complaints, GMC investigations, and other legal matters. All doctors must have adequate indemnity in place to practice in the UK, as required by the GMC, to cover potential damages and legal costs from claims. While in training, your programme may enrol you into an indemnity scheme as part of your Royal College membership fees.
Membership of an MDO provides doctors with 24 hours a day, seven days a week access to medico-legal advice as well as the right to request advice and legal representation. While having a private subscription is not mandatory, most doctors in the UK choose to be members of an MDO. The three most commonly subscribed to MDOs are the Medical Protection Society (MPS), the Medical Defence Union (MDU) or the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS). MDOs can also advise IMGs as to whether they need protection from clinical negligence claims, for General Medical Council referrals, disciplinary hearings, coroner’s inquests and fatal accident inquiries, as well as protection for Good Samaritan acts.
Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties: The medical Royal Colleges and faculties are professional bodies responsible for the development of, and training in one or more medical specialities. They are generally charged with setting curricula standards within their field and for supervising the training content of doctors within that speciality. The responsibility for monitoring the application of these standards in the UK rests with the General Medical Council. Most medical Royal Colleges are members of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and information about them can be found here.
Postgraduate Training Programmes: Each postgraduate medical training programme has its own structure and curriculum, use this link to get to the list of training programmes in the North East. More information on Specialty Training in the North East can be found here. More information on GP Training in the North East can be found here. The Find Your Place website also has useful guides on specialty and GP training which can be found here. This link takes you to the dentistry training programme and more information about less than full time training (LTFT) for anyone who may consider reducing their weekly working hours.
Supported Return to Training (SuppoRTT): When returning to training after a sustained period of absence, such as 3-months or more, you can access extra support with being reintroduced to the work place, bringing yourself up to pace in a more efficient and safe way. Find out more about SuppoRTT guidance here.
Structure of the NHS: The NHS is the world’s largest publicly funded health service, engaging with over 1 million patients every 36 hours. The services the NHS provides are organised into primary care and secondary care. Primary care is generally the first point of contact for patients, through general practice, general dentistry, pharmacy and other services, such as walk-in patient clinics and services and the NHS 111 telephone service. Secondary care includes emergency treatment and pre-booked elective specialist hospital care, usually following referral from one of the primary care services. More information on the structure of the NHS can be found here. You can also find out more about the NHS Safe Learning Environment Charter (SLEC) via this link.
Job roles in the NHS: Within the NHS and social care services there are many different job roles, and you will be working alongside many of these throughout your training. The NHS Careers website has detailed information on these job roles. More information can be found here.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE): NICE is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care which provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care. NICE guidelines are commonly used to guide decisions on treatment in the NHS in England. More information and access to these guidelines can be found here.
British National Formulary (BNF): The BNF is a joint publication of the British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. It provides prescribers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals with independent up-to-date information about the use of medicines and includes key information on the selection, prescribing, dispensing and administration of medicines. Access to the BNF can be found here. It is also available as an app for your smartphone.
Raising concerns: At some point during your training, you may have concerns about what is happening at work and usually these concerns are easily resolved. However, when a concern feels serious because it is about unlawful conduct, malpractice or possible dangers to the public, the environment, patients or your colleagues, it can be difficult to know what to do. NHSE ENE has created a signposting guide for Raising Concerns to inform you of the process and policies of how to raise concerns in different areas of your work and training. This signposting guide can be found here.