NHSE Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) Deanery was established in April 2013. The team is based in Horley, Surrey.
We are currently supported by the Healthcare Education Team (HET) who are responsible for the London and KSS medical and dental postgraduate trainees as well as SAS doctors. Where appropriate you may be directed to the London Deanery website or London and KSS Support Portal to find the policies or processes that you require.
We are responsible for coordinating and facilitating the delivery of education to specialty trainees and supporting their education to the next level of training. The specialty schools and committees in KSS have their own structures and oversee the relevant specialty curricula in the region, working to the curriculum, policies and guidance of the relevant medical Royal College and their affiliates. The specialty schools are supported and serviced by the KSS Specialty Workforce Team.
We work with 14 local education providers within NHS trusts (11 acute trusts and three mental health trusts) and 250 General Practices across Kent, Surrey and Sussex in relation to all aspects of trainee recruitment and management. KSS trainee numbers are approximately 1,000 in Foundation training, 600 in core specialty training, 850 in higher specialty training and 820 in General Practice Training posts.
Our Specialty Workforce Team maintains a professional working relationship with NHSE regional teams, particularly in the South East, taking into consideration the necessity occasionally to accommodate trainees from other regions and/or manage trainees occupying training posts outside of KSS boundaries.
Some areas of higher specialty training are jointly provided by KSS together with London, and trainees have placements in both during their training. In such cases a memorandum of agreement is drawn up and signed by representatives from both regions.
Key clauses of such an agreement cover:
- How representatives from each region will be included in recruitment panels and processes for posts
- The placement requirements of specialty programmes in London teaching and district general hospitals
- Arrangements for consultation between key post holders such as training programme directors in the respective regions
- Timelines and deadlines for processes and rotation arrangements to take place
- Arrangements for communication between the regions and key post holders in each
- Estimated numbers of training places required, allocation of national training numbers
- Arrangements for conducting ARCPs, and monitoring portfolios
- Each regions responsibility for OOP, LTFT, and trainees requiring additional support
- In which respects each region is responsible for quality and how each region is represented in quality monitoring visits
- How changes to the memorandum of agreement will be managed.
The regions are responsible for implementing specialty training in accordance with General Medical Council (GMC) approved specialty curricula. They work closely with Royal Colleges and LEPs to quality manage the delivery of postgraduate medical training to GMC standards.