Peninsula Foundation School
Foundation Year 2 Doctors in General Practice
Information Sheet
This guidance sheet is designed to provide you with some practical information to help you through your placement in GP but don’t forget that the staff in your Postgraduate Centre are still there to support you and can answer any additional queries that you have.
What should you do in preparation for your post in GP?
Find out where you are going and how you will get there. Many of the practices are some distance from the acute Trust and you may need to make specific transport arrangements.
At least 2 weeks before your post starts, you should contact your GP supervisor by telephone and introduce yourself. This is a professional courtesy but is also a useful opportunity for you both to consider your expectations for your GP post, any personal circumstances that will affect you working at the practice or particular educational objectives that you have. The Postgraduate Centre may be able to put the current F2 in touch with you to pass on any useful advice.
What should you expect when you arrive in the practice?
When you arrive in GP you will spend the first week, or best part of that week, on an induction programme. You should ensure that you take full advantage of this opportunity to find your way around the practice, understand a bit more about the practice area, sit in on surgeries, meet the doctors and other staff, learn how to use the computer system, and know how to get yourself a cup of coffee! You should make sure that you know where to find key equipment, know the whereabouts of panic buttons and where and how to contact key staff if you find yourself dealing with an emergency. The practice will adapt the induction to suit your individual needs so ask your supervisor if there is something you would particularly like to be covered.
After induction, it is likely that you will spend a few days in directly supervised practice until you are ready to see patients on your own (with supervision provided by other means).
Holiday arrangements during GP
It is vital that any annual leave during the GP post is agreed with the GP supervisor in advance, even if you are booking the leave before you are in the GP post. Please liaise with both the Postgraduate Centre Staff and your GP Supervisor before making any holiday arrangements, or ensure that your Centre Manager has liaised with the GP practice on your behalf.
Similarly, please liaise with your Postgraduate Centre and GP Supervisor should you need to make arrangements for additional leave such as paternity leave, compassionate leave, study leave or special leave for interviews whilst in GP. You should expect usual trust rules to apply regarding notice for leave requests i.e. 6-8 weeks depending on your employer. Practices may be able to accommodate less notice than this but it is at their discretion.
Your annual leave entitlement per post is 9 x 8 hour days (72 hours). If you are working 4 x 10 hour days in GP each week you should expect to have 7 days and 2 hours annual leave in your post (72 hours) rather than 9 days (90 hours).
Who should you inform if you take sick leave?
Please inform your Trust HR Department and your GP Supervisor if it is necessary for you to take any sick leave and ensure you tell your Trust when you have returned to GP.
What if you are incurring additional travel expenses during your F2 post?
You can claim travel expenses from your employing Trust whilst working in your GP post. If the distance you are required to travel to the GP placement is greater than the distance you normally travel to your trust you can claim the difference in miles. For example, if home to hospital is 12 miles, but home to GP is 20 miles then you can claim for the additional 8 miles each way. If home to GP is 7 miles you would not be able to claim any travel expenses. If you will be using your car to travel to and from the practice each day and attend any home visits, you will need to arrange business cover on your car insurance. You may be asked to provide evidence of this when you submit your first travel claim.
What F2 teaching should I attend whilst in GP? You will be expected to attend Learning Sets specifically designed for F2s in GP. All these dates will be given to you by the Trust and the days will be taken from your study leave allocation. You can attend regional F2 regional teaching during GP with appropriate notice given for study leave approval. Any teaching sessions delivered by the GPs within the Practice can count towards your total hours for F2 teaching if evidenced by a form in your portfolio (see F2 teaching guidance).
Should you still complete assessments whilst in GP?
Yes. Your GP Supervisor will be prepared to expect this. Remember though it is your responsibility to make sure your assessments are completed.
Who is your contact for any queries, problems or concerns whilst in GP?
If you are experiencing problems in GP speak to your GP supervisor in the first instance. If this is not possible, or you feel awkward approaching your GP Supervisor, please speak to your Educational supervisor, Foundation Training Programme Director or your Trust Postgraduate Centre Manager. Whilst in GP, the Trust is still your employer for all HR related issues.
If you encounter any particular issues whilst working in GP, we would encourage you to feed these back to your supervisor during the placement. GPs are usually keen to improve experiences wherever they can and constructive feedback is normally viewed positively.
What working hours are expected in GP?
Your working/learning week will be 40 hours. This is worked on Monday to Friday only at times between 8am and 7pm. You must not work out of these hours during General Practice.
Travel time from your home to the GP Practice that is more than the time it normally takes you to travel to the hospital base will count towards your working week. For example; journey from home to base hospital 30 mins, journey from home to GP Practice 60 mins. The extra 30 mins each way (total 60 mins per day) can be deducted from your 40 hour working week. You should discuss this with your supervisor and agree clinical working hours before you commence your GP post.
What can you expect from a typical week in GP?
Every experience should be an opportunity for learning and your supervisor will try to get the balance right between learning by seeing your own patients in a formal surgery setting and learning through other opportunities.
The following table is an indicator of how a typical week might run but all practices and trainees are different so don’t expect your time to be spent exactly like this:
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6 x Surgeries
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2 x sessions in other learning opportunities |
This could be
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1 x session on project work or directed study |
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teaching session |
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Practices are not required to offer formal teaching sessions, although you may find that some practices do. Even if the practice in which you are based does not offer teaching on a regular basis, if you would find it useful to cover a specific topic, please ask your GP supervisor who may be able to arrange something.
Indemnity
You are covered by NHS indemnity through your contract of employment with the acute trust. You are advised to let your medical defence union know that you have a GP placement as part of your F2 programme but this shouldn’t make any difference to your cover.
We hope you enjoy and make the most of your post in your GP.
The Foundation Team
Health Education England, working across the south west
Peninsula Postgraduate Medical Education