Doctor Training Programmes

Request

I am writing to all Deaneries in England.  We are currently researching the fate of doctors who complete their training programmes, and we are specifically looking to see whether or not the 'subconsultant' grade is becoming a real entity. We are trying to ascertain whether doctors completing their CCT go straight into consultant jobs, or into locum posts, or into other non-training non-consultant jobs.

We understand that Deaneries routinely record this information, and I am writing to ask if you could send me the most recent figures you hold on this. We would be happy with conglomerate data and do not need the names of the individual doctors.

If you have this information broken down by specialty then that would be very helpful.

Please consider this to be a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

We will be preparing a report looking at this data across the country, and we will be happy to share our findings with you in due course.

Our Response

I refer to your email requesting information in respect of doctors training programmes.   

I can confirm in accordance with S.1 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) that we do hold some of the information that you have requested.

NHS East Midlands manages the training programmes for trainee doctors through the East Midlands Health Workforce Deanery (EMHWD):-

http://www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/

Individual trusts hold their formal contract of employment so consequently, there is no requirement on the EMHWD to formally ask for a leaving destination or roles that people are undertaking once they have left the programme. Therefore the information is not systematically collected.

However the EMHWD does collect this information from time to time in an ad hoc format, but this does rely upon what information is voluntarily offered by trainees.

I have provided below the results from the most recent ad hoc survey which was undertaken for the calendar year, 2009. This records that 70 trainees fully completed their training. A further 175 are recorded as leaving earlier (for example at the end of core training, or to move to another deanery etc). Of the 70 only 20% offer information as to where they are moving to.

In the 2009 survey, the following is shown for the trainees gaining a CCT in a secondary care specialty:

I hope that this information is of use.  If you are dissatisfied with the way in which we have dealt with your request you can ask us to review our decision by writing to:-

Mr Kevin Orford
Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance
NHS East Midlands
Octavia House
Interchange Business Park
Bostock's Lane
Sandiacre
Nottingham
NG10 5QG

If at the conclusion of any review you remain dissatisfied you may complain to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at:-

The Office of the Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely