What you should do in preparation for your post

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 courteous in the first instance 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 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! In particular you may wish to make sure that you know where to find the key equipment or 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 probably adapt the induction to suit your specific needs so if there is something you would particularly like to be covered, ask your supervisor.

After induction, it is likely that you will then spend a number of days in directly supervised practice before you and your supervisor decide that 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, your GP Supervisor & the foundation programme team if it is necessary for you to take any sick leave and ensure you tell the FP team and your Trust when you have returned to GP.

What if you are incurring additional travel expenses during your F2 post?

Under certain circumstances you can claim travel expenses from your employing Trust whilst working in your GP post. This may cover the cost of travel from home to the GP practice and back again (or part thereof). Please contact the Foundation Team for more details and expense claim forms can be found via the links below.

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.

Excess Mileage Expenses Form

Home Visit Mileage Expenses Form

Is it still necessary to attend the Trust teaching sessions whilst in GP?

As well as your individual arrangements for attending F2 regional & mandatory teaching, you will also be expected to attend Learning Sets specifically designed for F2s in GP. There is also a handful of lunchtime teaching sessions here at the Postgraduate Medical Centre that are available for you to attend and can be logged on your teaching record but attendance is not mandatory, although encouraged wherever possible.

GP Learning Set Meetings 2021 - 2022

RILD Building

Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital

Barrack Road

Exeter

Devon

EX2 5DW

Start Time: 10:15

End Time: 16:30 (approx.)

In more normal times the F2 GP set learning days are all day sessions delivered Face to Face in RILD, RD & E Hospital. However, due to the current pandemic they will be shorter sessions held virtually. Links to the sessions will be sent out to individual trainees on GP placement at the time.

Placement 1:

Friday TBC August 13:30 - 16:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC September 09:30 - 12:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC October 13:30 - 16:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC October 09:30 - 12:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC November 13:30 - 16:30 via MS Teams

Placement 2:

Friday TBC December 13:30 - 16:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC December 09:30 - 12:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC January 13:30 - 16:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC January 09:30 - 13:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC February 13:30 - 16:30 via MS Teams

Placement 3:

Friday TBC April 13:30 - 16:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC May 09:30 - 12:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC June 13:30 - 16:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC July 09:30 - 12:30 via MS Teams

Friday TBC July 13:30 - 16:30 via MS Teams

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 the Foundation Programme Coordinator, Kate Talmage. 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 can be taken into account when your hours are planned with your GP placement. If your travel time to your GP placement is over and above your normal commute time to work (i.e. the time taken to travel from your home to UHP) then the extra time can be counted as working hours. You should discuss this with your supervisor 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 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:

6 x Surgeries

These will usually start at 30 minute appointments for each patient and reduce to 20 minute appointments as you develop your skills, knowledge and confidence (and your supervisor develops the same in you)
You must always have access to another doctor (not a locum doctor) but not necessarily your supervisor in the practice
You may not have a dedicated room solely for your use. You will see patients in your own room but may find you use different rooms on different days
You may attend home visits but always make sure you discuss any unaccompanied visit before and afterwards with your supervisor.

2 x sessions in other learning opportunities

This could be

1:1 session with your trainer or other members of the practice team
Small group work with other learners in the practice
Small group work with F2s from other practices
Shadowing or observing other health professionals or service providers e.g. out patient clinics pertinent to primary care, palliative care teams, voluntary sector workers

1 x session on project work or directed study

It may be possible for you to undertake a project or audit during your time in GP. You may have some protected time to do some research, collect the data, write up the project and present your work to the practice team

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

For more information related to indemnity please contact HEE or the medical HR department here at UHP.

We hope you enjoy and make the most of your post in your GP.