Policy for Specialty Registrars in Public Health in the South West who wish to undertake a placement as part of their Public Health training

SOUTH WEST PUBLIC HEALTH TRAINING PROGRAMME 

Policy for Specialty Registrars in Public Health in the South West who wish to undertake a placement as part of their Public Health training 

Timing of placements 

StRs will normally only be able to undertake placements outside of their local authority training locations from Year 4 of training onwards and must have completed all Faculty of Public Health exams and signed off all learning outcomes in Phase 1.  StRs will be expected to have 2 local authority training locations in their five years of training. 

Recruitment of placements 

All national placements are advertised, usually on the Faculty of Public Health website.  Other placements must also be advertised, whether internally in the South West or in other organisations.  This is to ensure that we are being equal and inclusive to all StRs with the opportunities available and to avoid an individual arrangement being put in place for an individual StR. 

All placements that are within the South West must be advertised on the South West placement template (Appendix 1), once the template is completed this must be submitted to the Training Programme team for circulation to Specialty Registrars.  This process must include a StR putting in an expression of interest for a particular placement and a mini-selection process taking place. 

If a StR is offered a placement opportunity they must gain approval from the Training Programme before accepting this placement. 

Supervision  

Supervision for a placement must be undertaken by a supervisor whether that be Educational or Activity supervision who is an accredited supervisor on either the South West accredited supervisor list and has attended South West supervisor training or from another Public Health training programme nationally and holds accreditation with them.  This can be confirmed either by the supervisor providing evidence to the Training Programme team or by the Training Programme team contacting their Training Programme to verify this. No placement can commence until this has been confirmed. 

Placement in final year of training 

The final year of training is intended to prepare a StR for a Consultant post and to sign off all KA10 learning outcomes which provide StRs with the competence to be a Consultant when they complete their training.  Whilst placements are allowed during the final year of training the Training Programme needs to ensure that such a placement is going to lead to something longer term.  The Training Programme would want to be clear that the team, where the placement is being undertaken, will provide valuable experience for the StR that equips them to pursue a Consultant career or there is some possibility of a more longer-term opportunity in that team.  The Training Programme likes to create opportunities for Acting Up as a Consultant for StRs particularly in their final six months of training and this may prove difficult if a StR is undertaking a placement that proves not able to provide this opportunity.  It is important that an Educational Supervisor is experienced in supervising end stage StRs and signing off KA10 learning outcomes. 

Out of Programme 

A placement becomes an out of programme experience if the placement is based in a training location that is not on the GMC approved list of training locations in the South West.  This would also be the case if the StR takes up the placement for the whole of their working time on the programme and has Educational Supervision by somebody that is not a South West accredited supervisor.  See the Out of Programme policy for more details on the approval process. 

Split placements 

A split placement is where the StR takes up a placement for only part of their working time ie. 3 days per week of a full-time post and retains their Educational Supervisor and their placement supervisor just provides Activity Supervision as long as they are an accredited supervisor. This is available following a discussion with the Training Programme team if StRs wish to undertake a placement in this way. 

Financial support  

The South West Public Health training programme is keen to support StRs financially to provide opportunities to take up placements whereby the geography and nature of these placements takes them away from their place of normal residency and incurs costs which are often difficult for them to bear themselves ie. national placements.  StRs will only be able to claim for expenses in relation to one National placement in their five years of training.  A previous policy outlines the financial support available, but this policy will now be integrated into this placement policy. 

Specialty Registrars will be able to claim the below costs in an exceptional situation when taking up such placements:-  

StRs are able to claim temporary accommodation OR travel to and from the South West as and when required. 

If any other expenses are required, this will be agreed on an individual basis. 

These expenses and the method of claiming must be approved by the Training Programme prior to commencing the placement.   Specialty Registrars are required to look for ways of keeping the cost to a minimum at all times ie. advance rail fare/split tickets etc.  

This will allow the Training Programme to support Specialty Registrars with these costs particularly in relation to travel and accommodation when they are still having to support residence in the South West where their Public Health training and Educational Supervision remains and often family remain. 

This policy should aim to allow Specialty Registrars in Public Health to take advantage of all opportunities, if they wish to do so, and provide an equal opportunity for all to take up such posts irrelevant of their circumstances outside of the training programme. 

Appendix 1 

SPECIALTY REGISTRAR PROJECT/PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITY

Please complete this template and submit to the South West Public Health Training Programme team for Head of School approval england.publichealth.sw@nhs.net

POST TITLE

ORGANISATION PROVIDING PLACEMENT

 PLACEMENT LOCATION

 PLACEMENT DURATION

START DATE

 HAS THIS POST/PLACEMENT RECEIVED GMC APPROVAL

 SUPERVISORS

 BACKGROUND

LEARNING OUTCOMES

 ESSENTIAL

Appendix 2: Process Flow Chart