Working Across the Midlands
Foundation Programme Welcome Pack 2025
Contents
Introduction.
Structure of NHS Midlands Foundation Programme.
Transfer of Information between Trusts.
Removal and Travel Expenses – Local Guidance.
Less than Full-Time (LTFT) Training.
Professional Support and Wellbeing.
Appendix A – Information for International Medical Graduates.
Primary Medical Qualification.
Appendix B – Withdrawing from Programme.
Appendix C – Deferrals and Delayed Starts.
Introduction
Welcome to NHS England working across the Midlands (NHS-M). We cover both the East and West Midlands Deaneries.
Training programmes in the East Midlands cover a geographically and culturally diverse part of the UK, including Leicester, Northampton, Kettering in LNR and Nottingham, Derby, Burton, Mansfield, Chesterfield and Lincolnshire in Trent. All our training programmes offer an exceptionally varied training experience.
The Foundation Programme in the East Midlands is two a year linked scheme, where geographically close facilities give stability while training, and a high quality programme offers broad experience in a range of different areas and locations.
Training programmes in the West Midlands cover an equally diverse part of the UK, including Birmingham, the Black Country, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. All our training programmes offer an exceptionally varied training experience.
The Foundation Programme in the West Midlands was one of the first to be established in the UK, and has maintained its strong drive of innovation and excellence.
There are five Foundation Schools in the Midlands.
|
Foundation School |
Foundation School Director |
|
Trent |
Dr Charlie Mackaness |
|
Leicester, Northamptonshire & Rutland (LNR) |
Dr Rachel Parry |
|
West Midlands Central |
Dr Julian Chilvers |
|
West Midlands North |
Dr Chipo Ndlovu |
|
West Midlands South |
Dr Murthy Narasimha |
Our local medical schools are; Leicester, Nottingham and Lincoln in the East of the region and Keele, Warwick, Aston and Birmingham in the West.
They work in a coordinated way and share some resources and activities such as quality management.
Further information on the three Foundation Schools can be found at:
Foundation Schools | Health Education England East Midlands
West Midlands Foundation Schools
Structure of NHS Midlands Foundation Programme
In Foundation Training Programmes in the Midlands,
Each trust will be part of one foundation school, that trust will have a Foundation Programme Coordinator (FPC) based in the Postgraduate Education Centre.
Each trust will have at least one Foundation Training Programme Directors (FTPD) who reports to the Foundation school Director (FSD)
Each FSD will report to the Postgraduate Dean of the Region they are under.
If you experience difficulties during your training time, the appropriate escalation route would be FPC, FTPD, FSD.
Contacts at the Trust
The Trust that you are working in will be your employer and will hold your employment contract. This means that your employer will change each time you rotate to a new Employing Trust.
Resident Doctors are expected to familiarise themselves with the policies of their employer and adhere to these accordingly.
In addition to the team that you are working with in the hospital, other important contacts for you in the Trust will be:
- Medical Workforce/Staffing – for employment issues such as training contracts, statutory and annual leave
- Foundation Training Programme Director – for approval of study leave, training programme/general and personal issues
- Medical Education Manager/Postgraduate Team – who will be your first point of call for day-to- day issues relating to postgraduate medical education such as hospital teaching programmes, e-Portfolio, and accommodation queries.
Transfer of Information between Trusts
If during your Foundation Programme you rotate between trusts, then by the time of rotation from one trust to another, your information, including employment information, will be passed from the old employer to the new.
Please keep your contact information up to date with both the Programmes Team and your employing Trust, particularly a valid e-mail address which can be used for the full 2-year programme. Failure to do so may mean you miss important communications from the Foundation School or your employing Trust.
STEP Forms
All foundation doctors are required to fill out a STEP form prior to entering programme. The link to this and further information is available from the UKFPO’S website at the link below.
Supporting Trainees Entering Practice (STEP) - UK Foundation Programme
As per the guidance, Non-UK graduates need to fill out a physical form and have it signed by your medical school. The form is available from the link below:
Who must undertake the STEP process? - UK Foundation Programme
Please return these to england.foundationprogrammes.midlands@nhs.net prior to beginning in programme.
Please note that Step Forms do not have any impact on your placement allocation.
Removal and Travel Expenses – Local Guidance
NHS England has produced local guidance on removal and associated expenses for doctors in training. This is based on the NHS Employers document “Removal and Associated Expenses Guidance for Doctors in Training”.
The local guidance can be downloaded from the links below:
Relocation and Excess Travel | Health Education England East Midlands.
Removal & Expenses Guidance (West).
Queries should be directed to england.futureworkforce@nhs.net.
Less than Full-Time (LTFT) Training
Less than full-time training allows doctors and dentists to work less than full-time in posts that are fully recognised for training, and have the educational approval of the Postgraduate Dean. Resident Doctors cannot commence LTFT training without submitting the correct application form and having this agreed in advance.
Details on how to apply for Less than Full-Time Training can be found at: Less Than Full Time Training | Health Education England East Midlands. Please be aware that the form linked covers the whole Midlands region.
Professional Support and Wellbeing
Doctors and dentists may sometimes encounter circumstances that could affect their performance at any stage in their career.
Guidance has been put together that promotes the early identification of doctors and dentists in difficulty and provides educational supervisors with a clear structure to identify and address a wide spectrum of these difficulties.
The Professional Support Unit guidance can be accessed via the East Midlands website: Professional Support and Wellbeing Service (PSW) (Midlands) | Health Education England East Midlands.
Professional Support and Wellbeing
The team can be contacted on Contact details | Health Education England East Midlands or england.psu.wm@nhs.net.
Careers
Information regarding your career in medicine can be found at:
Careers Support | Health Education England East Midlands
Health Education (West Midlands) - Careers Support
Escalating Concerns
Concerns may cover any issue including patient safety and quality of education and training. Resident Doctors should invoke pathways appropriately and in order of priority.
Postgraduate Resident Doctors are encouraged to raise concerns when appropriate regarding their training programme via a number of mechanisms such as; the Junior Doctors Forums, discussions with ES/FTPD or your Postgraduate Team, Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, Reviews/Visits to Local Education Providers (LEPs), Incident Reporting etc.
Please familiarise yourself with local Trust policies regarding patient safety concerns and incident reporting.
GMC and NETS Survey
We encourage doctors in training to complete the annual GMC Survey and the National Education Training Survey (NETS), to give feedback on training quality improvements and ways of improving the training environment.
From Julian Chilvers, FSD West Midlands Central:
“The survey as this is an excellent opportunity for you to give anonymous, honest feedback as to the quality of training and education within your specialty at your Trust. The feedback is reviewed closely by the education team, to help make changes and further improve the quality of training you receive whilst at the Trust. the foundation programme requires evidence of feedback as part of FPC 8 and 11 and this is an excellent way of fulfilling this specific requirement for your ARCP.”
And finally…
If there is any other information that you would like to receive that has not been provided as part of this welcome pack, please do not hesitate to contact either our central inbox (given below) or your allocated Trust as appropriate.
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment, and wish you every success in the completion of your training programme.
General Enquires
Email: england.foundationprogrammes.midlands.@nhs.net
Foundation Programme Co-ordinator – Michael Walton-Mayall
Foundation Programme Officer – Hannah de Val-Gaunt
Foundation Programme Administrators:
- Veena Bugby
- Adam Rudge
- Varsha Wardhera
- Irina Mardar
Appendix A – Information for International Medical Graduates
Welcome to working in the UK, and thank you for choosing the Midlands! We hope you will find your time here rewarding and fulfilling.
As you may be aware, there are a number of things that you will need to have ready before beginning in programme in August.
These must be in place before starting in order to fulfil the UKFPO’s eligibility criteria, or there is a risk your application will need to be withdrawn for eligibility reasons.
Right to Work
Please make sure you apply for any Visa or Right to Work needed in plenty of time via the UK Home Office, as it is possible that this will take significantly longer to come through than intended.
If you require a Skilled Worker Visa, the Certificate of Sponsorship will be issued by our sponsorship team. The UKFPO will share information with them after you hav been made an offer and they will automatically contact you where your Oriel application identifies that you may need sponsorship.
The Sponsorship Team are contactable by e-mail only and can be reached at england.sponsorship@nhs.net. We would like to make you aware that this is the only team who can advise regarding sponsorship, and they experience a high volume of e-mail correspondence as a result. Please look out for their correspondence, and make sure to read this thoroughly and action promptly.
Guidance from the UKFPO is available at this link: Evidence of Right to Work in the UK - UK Foundation Programme
Primary Medical Qualification
Your Primary Medical Degree must be in place before the start of the programme and this must be verified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (or ECFMG), through their online electronic portfolio service (EPIC). Further information can be found here: Primary source verification for international medical graduates - GMC
GMC Registration
Information on how to apply for GMC registration is available through the GMC website at Provisional registration for international medical graduates - GMC
The contact e-mail address is UK@gmc-uk.org for any queries.
A reminder from the GMC: “Applications for first time provisional registration can take up to three months to process as there are several pieces of evidence involved. Applicants don’t need to wait until they’ve completed the EPIC process before making an application for provisional registration.”
Please therefore ensure you do not wait until the last minute to apply. Any delay in this process can result your application being withdrawn as you no longer meet the eligibility criteria.
The UKFPO’s guidance can be found here: GMC Registration and PLAB - UK Foundation Programme
English Language Evidence
If evidence of English Language is required, we advise you to have this in place as soon as possible, particularly if you plan to submit evidence other than the IELTS or OET. The GMC guidance is currently that, while this evidence may be accepted, it will need to be assessed by the GMC International Applications team before acceptance.
Further information can be found here: Your knowledge of English - provisional registrations for international medical graduates - GMC
Please do not send in a physical copy of your certificate! We cannot process them, and they will be returned to sender. All evidence should be uploaded to Oriel appropriately.
We look forward to welcoming you into practice in the UK, and are confident you will find many positive opportunities and experiences here. Please keep us up to date with any issues you may experience along the way, and we will do our best to support you on your journey into programme.
Appendix B – Withdrawing from Programme
We understand that, as circumstances change, you may find yourself in a position where you need to withdraw from your programme. If this becomes the case, the following people will need to be made aware. Please contact all those listed below as soon as possible via e-mail (or the MS Form):
- Complete the Withdrawal MS Form (https://forms.office.com/e/R3dmRHESRC), this will inform the NHSE-Midlands recruitment and programmes team.
- Your medical school
- Your Trust Medical Staffing AND Postgraduate Team (if known at the point of withdrawal)
- Sponsorship team (if applicable)
Please be aware of the consequences of withdrawal:
- By withdrawing from the Foundation Programme your current application / allocation will no longer be valid and there will be no further opportunities to re-join the programme in the current year.
- There will be no opportunity to work as a locum F1 doctor with provisional GMC registration in the UK.
- It is not guaranteed you will be offered a post in future.
- If you choose to re-apply to the Foundation Programme in future, you will be required to provide all the necessary personal and eligibility information again. This includes evidence of English language proficiency for applicants through the UKFPO’s Eligibility Office. Information provided as part of the application process will not be carried across to any future applications.
- If you choose to re-apply to the Foundation Programme in future, you will need to complete all assessments, and requirements, that are needed for that year.
- The application process and criteria for applying to the Foundation Programme is under review and there may be changes or additional requirements.
UK medical school graduates only: -
- You will not be awarded full registration with the GMC until you have completed the F1 year.
- If you wish to work in the future as a doctor in the UK, you will have to complete the F1 year regardless of any training you have received outside of the UK.
- If you decide to re-apply and the start of the Foundation Programme is two or more years after you qualified from Medical School, you will have to apply through Oriel and via the Eligibility route. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the timelines and guidelines for the year that you apply.
- Your medical school will be informed of your decision to withdraw from the application process.
Please fill out this form (linked) if you wish to withdraw from the Foundation Programme 2025: https://forms.office.com/e/R3dmRHESRC
Appendix C – Deferrals and Delayed Starts
Deferrals
There is no option to defer your Foundation Training Programme unless under statutory health or maternity reasons. Delayed exam results, exam resits, fitness to practice investigations, delays to visas or GMC registration, or taking time away from medicine are not valid reasons to request a deferral to your programme. We recommend you withdraw to reapply for next year’s intake, and speak to your medical school about ways to maintain your clinical skills in the interim.
Any deferral agreed under statutory terms will be for a maximum period of 12 months only. Deferred applicants who run over this time will be asked to reapply.
Delayed Start
Please contact us, as soon as possible, at the Foundation Programme e-mail (england.foundationprogrammes.midlands@nhs.net) if you experience exceptional circumstances which may cause a short delay to your ability to start in time on August 6th 2025. These will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Examples of exceptional circumstances causing a delayed start are as follows: natural disaster, war, delayed or cancelled flights, industrial action or strikes, terrorist attack, etc.
Please note that there is very limited flexibility around delayed start, even for the approved exceptional circumstances.
Applicants who experience delays to visas or GMC registration will be given 20 working days following August 6th 2025 to resolve these issues; after this, your offer of a 2-year Foundation Programme will be withdrawn. It is therefore vital you apply for both of these in good time.
The UKFPO’s guidance can be found here:
Employment and start date - UK Foundation Programme
Shadowing and induction
If you have pre-planned leave already booked within the induction period (i.e. for weddings or other events that were booked in before receiving your UOA via Oriel), please speak directly to your postgraduate team at Trust once you know who this is. Inductions are run entirely by your employing Trust, and we cannot advise regarding this.