MOVEMENT OF SpRs BETWEEN DEANERIES
and Inter-Deanery Transfers of NTNs
It is possible for SpRs to be helped to move
between deaneries or within the UK. The arrangements for this
apply to both full-time and part-time trainees. Movement is at
the discretion of the Postgraduate Dean and trainees will be expected
to show that they have well-founded reasons for moving….
Trainees can also approach Postgraduate Deans in other regions directly
to discuss transferring their training but their home deans should
always be informed of this.
(Guide to Specialist Registrar Training, Section 14, paragraphs 1 and 3, February 1998)
Section 14 of the Orange
Guide gives a clear outline of the basic rules. What follows is
drawn from that guidance but expanded in the light of operational
experience, including occasional inappropriate manipulation of the
rules by a very small minority of trainees. Deans and trainees
need to be aware that a "protected" transfer bypasses the normal
appointment process for the receiving Deanery, and will usually delay
the entry of an SHO or LAT aspiring to an SpR post in that specialty in
the region concerned. There are two quite different sets of
reasons for trainees needing to move between deaneries which might
justify such a "protected" transfer:
1. Well-founded personal reasons (usually permanent transfers)
You can download an application form for an inter-deanery transfer on personal grounds here.
These will often be related to family,
such as the genuinely unavoidable move of a spouse or committed partner
to another part of the country, or illness in a dependent family
member, which could not have been foreseen when the appointment to the
current SpR post was made. If they are to be considered for a
transfer on these grounds, applicants will therefore be asked to
provide evidence of change in their circumstances subsequent to their
appointment, and movement will not be supported within the first year
of the programme. These transfers are "not an entitlement", as
the Orange Guide reminds us, and the decision will be influenced not
only by the strength of the personal case but also the impact of the
requested transfer on other trainees in the receiving Deanery,
especially in specialties for which competition is intense. The
final decision will rest with the receiving Dean, who will be advised
by the home Dean responsible for the current post, and by key trainers.
If agreed in principle, a commitment will be made, but actual placement
in the programme and provision of a new NTN may not be possible
immediately, or even for some time. That will depend on the
availability of an appropriate slot in the training programme and the
availability of NTNs in the receiving deanery. Inter-deanery
transfers cannot be made from one specialty to another.
2. Educational grounds (usually temporary transfers)
You can download an application form for an inter-deanery transfer on educational grounds here.
A range of situations arise or exist:
i) Remedial and targeted training:
It may be appropriate for remedial and targeted training to take place
away from the host deanery. Such training will be for a defined
period of time and with pre-determined objectives and outcomes (and
funding arrangements) agreed between the two deans. The trainee
should retain his or her original NTN and on the completion of the
training should return to the host deanery.
ii) Specialised training opportunities: secondment of individuals
Exposure to certain highly specialised training opportunities which
exist in just a few deaneries may be essential for a particular
trainee's future career. Where these opportunities are
unavailable with the current deanery, by agreement between the two
Deans, a trainee may transfer on secondment retaining the original
NTN. On completion of the secondment the trainee would return to
the host deanery. Deans would agree specific funding arrangements
in these cases.
iii) Fixed progressions and rotations between deaneries as part of regular planned training programmes:
In a number of specialties, the complete training programme cannot be
provided within one deanery because of lack of suitable specialist
training opportunities. Also, there are long-standing rotations
which straddle two or more deaneries. The rotation forms part of
the whole training package.
There are two versions of this arrangement. (The Orange Guide, in paragraph 4 iv, is describing the first of these).
a. structured progression
In these "rotations" the trainee always starts in deanery A and
finishes in deanery B. The original NTN would be surrendered and
a new NTN provided by the new deanery (B). "As this will be
permanent relocation, removal expenses should be available".
b. structured rotations
In these programmes (for example several of the pan-Thames programmes)
trainees may start in either deanery and finish in either deanery,
often depending on where the next vacancy happens to arise. When
a trainee moves, at some defined stage(s) in the programme, to "the
other" deanery he or she retains his or her original NTN. Quite
often, a movement by another trainee on the rotation will be occurring
in the opposite direction, so NTNs move to-and-fro within the combined
programme. In such steady state arrangements the two deaneries
and their STCs must agree and define formally:
- the supervision, support and RITA process for all the trainees involved;
- the distribution of NTN allocations across the region;
- the handling of disciplinary and indemnity issues for those
trainees that have problems while working in one region but hold an NTN
from another;
- whether or to what extent removal expenses are payable.
Other movements and transfers
Trainees wishing to transfer because they
would prefer training in another region, not on the specific advice of
the home deanery or Specialty Training Committee, or trainees wishing
to move into a different specialty or CCST programme, can only transfer
by applying in open competition for a place on a training programme in
another deanery.
Flexible training
This guidance applies equally to those in or
seeking flexible training, subject to the normal working practice in
the receiving deanery in regard to flexible training numbers,
organisation and funding.
Trainees other than those in substantive SpR programmes
The regulations above apply to all specialist registrars in type 1 training, but only to them.
Formal advice to trainees: a model "statement"
If you wish to be considered for an inter-deanery transfer you should:
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Approach your own postgraduate dean to
explain why you are seeking an inter-deanery transfer. You should
be able to show a change to your personal circumstances which accounts
for this request. You will need the agreement of your current
postgraduate dean to initiate the process.
Complete an application form requesting an inter - deanery transfer and
submit it to your current postgraduate dean with an up-to-date
CV. Your postgraduate dean will then contact the dean in the
region into which you are seeking a transfer.
You will subsequently be contacted by that postgraduate dean or his/her
training representative in order to discuss the process further.
You will probably be invited to a "getting to know you" interview in
the "receiving" Deanery, but this will not be competitive
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