Revalidation for postgraduate doctors in training in East Midlands region

*NOTE: The designated body for our region changed on 1/4/2023 to NHSE Education East Midlands* 

The Professional Regulation and Progression Team (formerly the Assessments & Revalidation Team) at NHS England Education in the East Midlands (formerly known as Health Education England in the East Midlands) handle all of the practical administration of postgraduate doctors in training (PGDiT) revalidation on behalf of the Postgraduate Dean, Dr Jonathan Corne. NHSE Education East Midlands is a 'Designated Body' (DB) for revalidation and the Postgraduate Dean is the 'Responsible Officer' (RO). The RO ultimately decides the submission NHSE Education East Midlands will make to the GMC about your revalidation when your revalidation submission deadline comes around, depending on evidence of your fitness to practise gathered over the training programme.

SHOULD NHSE EDUCATION EAST MIDLANDS BE MY DESIGNATED BODY (‘DB’)?

Only doctors with a full (rather than provisional) GMC Licence to Practise require a DB. We are the DB for all fully licenced doctors in Foundation, Core and Higher specialty training programmes in the East Midlands. This applies to both primary and secondary care doctors.

NHSE Education East Midlands is the Designated Body for:

• Foundation Year 2 doctors in the North (‘Trent’) or South (‘LNR’) Foundation Schools in the East Midlands;
• Core PGDiT in East Midlands Core training programmes, i.e. who hold a Deanery Reference Number (DRN) ending with ‘EM’;
• Higher Specialty PGDiT in East Midlands specialty training programmes, i.e. who hold a National Training Number (‘NTN’) beginning with ‘EMD’.
• Any doctors falling into any of the three categories above who are on an Out of Programme (‘OOP’) arrangement in another region of the UK or in another country.

We are NOT the Designated Body for:

• Foundation Year 1 doctors (unless already fully registered).
• Doctors on Out of Programme (‘OOP’) in the East Midlands who hold an NTN or DRN with a Deanery or HEE local team in another region of the UK.
• Doctors or practitioners who do not hold a GMC Licence to Practise for medicine (such as some Public Health practitioners and dentists).
• Locum Appointments to Service (LASs), Trust Grade or Staff Grade doctors.
• Medical Training Initiative (MTI) doctors.
• Pre-GP/specialty doctors.

 

WHEN SHOULD I BE REVALIDATED?

All PGDiT in the East Midlands region such as yourself who hold a full licence to practise will have a revalidation submission made for them (a) just before the date at which their revalidation submission deadline is currently set if this is before the end of your training, and (b) at the end of higher training programmes regardless of when the submission deadline date is currently set.

Submission happens when you come 'under notice' for revalidation. When you are 120 days away from your revalidation submission deadline, you should receive an email from the GMC telling you that you are under notice. This message states which Designated Body the GMC has on file for you (contact England.revalidation.em@nhs.net if your DB is not listed as 'NHSE Education East Midlands'). The GMC’s message also explains that you need to be engaging with your DB’s appraisal and revalidation requirements.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MY CURRENT REVALIDATION SUBMISSION DEADLINE?

You can find your Revalidation Submission Deadline and view/edit your current Designated Body on your GMC Online account under the ‘My Revalidation’ section.

WHAT EVIDENCE DO I HAVE TO PROVIDE?

1) Evidence of educational progression on your Portfolio.

This is the evidence that all PGDiT need to gather over the course of each training year and record on their portfolio to inform their ARCP assessment at the end of each training year. The evidence required is outlined in the curriculum for your specialty provided by the Royal College or equivalent body. If you are unsure of what is required, you should speak with your Educational Supervisor in the first instance, or your Training Programme Director in the second instance.

2)  A few weeks prior to each of your ARCPs (Annual Reviews of Competence Progression), the Professional Regulation and Progression Team in the East Midlands will contact you by email to request that you complete a 'Form R Part B' (revalidation self-declaration form). This is submitted via our online trainee portal, TIS Self-Service: https://trainee.tis.nhs.uk. We will send you further instructions on how to access the portal when we let you know you need to submit your Form R Part B. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU REGULARLY CHECK THE EMAIL ADDRESS THAT YOU HAVE REGISTERED WITH US.

These pieces of evidence, along with information we gather directly from your employers, are used by the ARCP panel towards the end of each training year to inform (a) your educational outcome and (b) a fitness to practise comment. This happens each year, and the accumulated evidence is used by the RO (the Postgraduate Dean) when your revalidation submission deadline comes around to make her recommendation to the GMC about your revalidation.

So as long as you have returned your Form R Part B when requested and are keeping your ePortfolio up to date with the evidence required for your curriculum throughout the year, then there is generally nothing else that is required of you.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I MOVE GEOGRAPHICALLY OR MOVE OUT OF TRAINING?

•  If you were to undertake an OOP (Out of Programme) arrangement whilst in the training programme for research (OOPR), experience (OOPE), training (OOPT) or a career break (OOPC), or you take maternity/paternity leave, you will still hold your DRN or NTN with NHSE Education East Midlands and 'NHSE Education East Midlands' will still remain your Designated Body for revalidation. You should always keep a regular eye on your emails even if you are not in direct clinical work for a time, as stated in your Training Agreement.
• If you were to move to another region during your training programme (IDT or Inter-Deanery Transfer), this process will be continued by that region's Deanery/HEE local team. (If this happens, please ensure that you log on to your GMC Connect account, go to ‘My Revalidation’, and change your Designated Body for revalidation from 'NHSE Education East Midlands' to your new Deanery/HEE local team/Designated Body.)
• If you were to leave your training programme and go into non-training employment, your revalidation will be undertaken by your new Designated Body, which will usually be the Hospital Trust/Employer where you take up work. Once again, please ensure in this case that you log on to your GMC Connect account and change your Designated Body for Revalidation once you have started work there.
• If you were to leave your training programme and do not go into employment, the GMC will instruct you in what you need to do as you approach your revalidation date. Once again, ensure in this case that you log on to your GMC Connect account and change your Designated Body. There is an option that allows you to identify that you do not have a Designated Body at present.

 

WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?

The three most important things to remember, whether you go on a career break in the UK or overseas, or remain in standard training, are:

1. to keep a regular eye on your emails and keep your Designated Body updated with any changes to your contact information;
2. to meet your Educational Supervisor periodically during each training year (not just a rush at the end!); and
3. to keep your ePortfolio updated with curricular evidence consistently through the year (again, not just a rush at the end!).

It is not perceived well by ARCP panels when PGDiT have crammed evidence gathering and supervisory meetings in at the end of the year. This could reflect poorly on your professionalism and organisational skills.

WHO DO I CONTACT IF MY QUESTIONS AREN’T ANSWERED ABOVE?

If your questions are not answered in the information above, the first organisation you should contact is your Designated Body (i.e. NHSE Education East Midlands) rather than the GMC. Your Designated Body will have a better understanding of the specific circumstances and scenarios that apply to you as a PGDiT.

Please call or email the Professional Regulation and Progression on 0116 312 0690 or at England.Revalidation.EM@nhs.net with any questions or concerns about your revalidation.

NHSE Education East Midlands is a part of NHS England. The PGDiT directorate was formerly known as the East Midlands Healthcare Workforce Deanery and Health Education England in the East Midlands.