Have you recently left, or are you planning to leave General Practice? Planning a move out of Dorset?

We would like to offer you the opportunity to have a peer-to-peer conversation with a supportive GP colleague from the Primary Care Training Hub.

This is not intended to try and influence your decision or change your mind in anyway!

Rather, it is to help us understand reasons for leaving General Practice and offer any help or support with your future plans.

You would be adding your voice to an important piece of work seeking to understand why GPs are leaving the profession and/ or the local area, which will help shape how we can support the workforce of the future.

For more information or to book a conversation, please contact us at traininghub@ourdorset.nhs.uk

Becoming a UK visa sponsoring practice (May 2021)

Gaining the right to be a UK visa sponsoring practice has many advantages and could form an important part of your general practice workforce planning.  You need a sponsorship licence to employ someone to work for you from outside the UK.  As the
number of international medical graduates undertaking GP training in England continues to increase, with around 700 due to qualify in 2021 alone and a growing number in years to come, there is a greater chance that you will need a sponsorship licence to give you the broadest choice of UK trained GP candidates.

All of the international medical graduates qualifying as GPs in 2021 have been trained by Health Education England and have spent at least three years working in the NHS.  They have excellent English language skills and knowledge of the NHS ways of working, but most of them will need visa sponsorship if they are to continue working in England’s practices after they qualify.

If your practice has GP vacancies, or is likely to have vacancies in the future, obtaining a sponsorship licence will help ensure that you maximise your opportunities to recruit into these roles.

Sponsorship will also allow you to employ one of the growing number of GPs from countries such as Australia and South Africa who are relocating to the UK via the Streamlined CEGPR route, and European GPs that have applied to join the International Induction Programme (IIP).

Applying for visa sponsorship is straightforward. You apply online and will need to supply supporting documents and pay a fee. GPs are on the shortage occupations list and this makes the process of obtaining a sponsorship licence under the UK’s new points-based immigration system more straightforward.

As a sponsoring practice your responsibilities include:

• Checking workers have the necessary skills, qualifications or professional accreditation to do their job and retaining documents on file demonstrating this.
• Telling UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) if your sponsored workers are not complying with their visa conditions.

Your licence will be valid for four years. You may lose your licence if you do not meet your responsibilities as a sponsor.

The application process can take up to 16 weeks but most applications from practices are currently being approved in around four to six weeks, so now is the time to start the process to be ready for the next cohort of newly qualified GPs.

Here is the link to the International Recruitment Toolkit.  The Overseas Doctor Recruitment Section on page 86 is useful.

More information and support for practices:

• UK visa sponsorship guide for employers on GOV.UK• Email for dedicated and prioritised visa support and advice for NHS organisations including GP practices: UKVINHSTeam@homeoffice.gov.uk
• The British Medical Association (BMA) also provides an immigration advice service to its members via support@bma.org.uk.

We recognise it is very difficult to find experienced administrators with primary, health or social care work experience and as a response the Our Dorset Workforce Delivery Team has launched another Admin Recruitment campaign to tackle the shortage of admin staff across Dorset ICS.

Following the success of ‘The Primary Care Admin Scholarship’ that we piloted earlier this year where we successfully recruited 10 people into admin roles in primary care, our next Admin Vocational Scholarship Programme, in collaboration with Job Centre, started on 26th September.

The vocational scholarships enable us to tap into a wider pool of potential workforce by providing an enhanced induction designed to get applicants to the point where they can “hit the ground running” as they commence their new roles in Admin.

Candidates have embarked on a 3-week course that includes insights into the roles available, values and behaviours of working in the Health and Care sector and employability training. The scholarship will conclude on 14 October and candidates will then apply to various admin positions within health, social and primary care.

We are reaching out to you to share with us your current admin vacancies that are live (that do not close for applications before 14/10) so this cohort can submit an application during the final week of the course. Please email us at: Madhu.Gunaratne@nhsdorset.nhs.uk

Temporary Recruitment – Trust Temps

Do you use temporary administration staff? Is it hard to find good people and is time consuming?

Answer: Sign up to be part of the Dorset HealthCare bank administration system; Trust Temps.

The Primary Care Training Hub is funding the cost of accessing the Dorset HealthCare bank administration system for practices in Dorset.

The Bank Staff

• Receptionists, administrators, medical secretaries
• They will have been fully interviewed and had all their recruitment checks completed
• They will have completed all their statutory and mandatory training
• We are also working to ensure they will be fully trained in using system 1

Roles Available

Receptionist
Administrator
Medical Secretary

Hourly rates are in line with Agenda for Change pay bands appropriate for the role.

Do you want to use a Trust Temp? Please contact dhc.trust.temps@nhs.net or on 01202 277152.

Locally, in line with our NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, we have developed a New to Practice Framework in order to maximise the opportunity presented through the national programmes and to ensure we meet local needs. The purpose of the Framework is to ensure support is offered to all new roles and all newly qualified professionals starting work in general practice and help them thrive in their new role.

To support the successful implementation of the framework and with recruitment in general, we have created a set of resources and will continue to find and develop helpful resources and add them here:

• Writing adverts – How to write a great job advert
• How to conduct virtual interviews – Recruitment support for PCNs
• How to conduct virtual interviews – Recruitment support for candidates

In addition, if you are planning to recruit to the new funded roles under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) you will find information against those roles here. We are regularly adding resources such as examples of adverts, Job Descriptions and Person Specifications under each role.

The collation and analysis of workforce data helps us to develop new initiatives and opportunities for our valued colleagues across Dorset ICS. 

Part of our work has focused on the development of a set of ‘Guiding Principles’ to help retain and recruit staff, especially those in priority roles. Further to this we are currently collaborating with colleagues across the ICS to design and implement support for managers, career planning and an impartial career support service.

“Improving Staff Retention – a guide for employers”

is a useful new resource produced in March 2022 in conjunction with NHS Employers which aims to support line managers, employers and leaders, and anyone involved in the retention of our NHS people, by suggesting actions to take to drive progress in retention across several areas.

It also provides helpful practical tips and tools to consider, and case studies from NHS organisations. It includes new chapters aimed at colleagues in their early and later stages of career with specific focus on induction, reward and recognition and support during the menopause.

A copy of this guide can be downloaded here

We provide a platform for all Primary Care Networks and Practices to advertise any workforce vacancies free of charge.  Previously this has been through the Doorway to Dorset website and now we are pleased to confirm that we will be using the Join Our Dorset website, which has a higher number of visitors and is where all Dorset focused recruitment campaigns are directed towards.

To advertise your vacancies please provide details of the vacancies to our team via traininghub@ourdorset.nhs.uk.

To aid with retention and recruitment, our Career Flex service provides support with setting up portfolio careers and flexible working for all primary care colleagues.  When paired with education and coaching/supervision, our portfolio support can also help develop accredited specialist interest roles.  Examples include GPwER (GP with Extended Role) Dermatology.

To find out more please contact us at traininghub@ourdorset.nhs.uk

To support GPs who have been away from work for an extended period of time such as maternity leave, shared parental leave or illness, we have developed a one-day programme providing CPD and simulated patient consultations.  We understand the importance of rebuilding confidence when returning to work and each simulated consultation is supported with feedback and coaching from an experienced GP Educator.

Click here to find out more >> 

To see available dates and book a place please visit our CPD and Training calendar.

Working in collaboration with the Our Dorset Workforce Delivery Team, we have established an Education Alliance with representatives for local schools, colleges and universities as well as bodies such as Young Chamber Dorset & The Careers and Enterprise Company.  The Education Alliance focuses on the following areas:

• Inspiring students about careers in health and care
• Work experience
• Provides a database of NHS careers ambassadors to support our engagement with schools
• Developing education for tomorrow’s workforce

Working in collaboration with The Careers & Enterprise Company we have established the NHS in Dorset as a Cornerstone Employer focusing on building talent pipelines for the local health system, sharing best practice with other Cornerstone Employers and being an ambassador and champion for social mobility.

The GP Retention Scheme is a package of financial and educational support to help doctors, who might otherwise leave the profession, remain in clinical general practice.

The scheme is aimed at doctors who are seriously considering leaving or have left general practice due to personal reasons (caring responsibilities or personal illness), approaching retirement or requiring greater flexibility. The scheme supports both the retained GP and the practice employing them by offering financial support in recognition of the fact that this role is different to a ‘regular’ part-time, salaried GP post, offering greater flexibility and educational support.