November 2024

Please see below for our KSS November bulletin.

New updates

KSS Foundation School F2 Swaps 2025

During F1 in early 2025, doctors are given the opportunity to apply to swap part or all of their allocated F2 programme before the August start date. The ‘Swap Shop’ 2025 process has now been confirmed and will be managed by the KSS Foundation team.

There are two types of swaps:

  • Whole Programme Swaps (also referred to as Swap Shop)
  • Swapping of Individual Placements (also referred to as Local Swaps). Please note this year this has changed to allow doctors to swap 2 placements within the local process.

For more information, including the full process, conditions, 2025 dates, forms and FAQs, please visit our F2 Swaps page.

Reminder – closing soon

National Education Survey (NETS)

The survey is open until 26th November 2024. Please share your experience and shape your future by taking ten minutes to complete the survey. You can access the survey and further information at NETS 2024 | NHS England | Workforce, training and education (hee.nhs.uk).

A NETS Communication Toolkit for providers is also available here.

Important Information

Provisionally registered doctors (foundation year one/F1) must not undertake formal locum posts or activities.

Provisionally registered doctors can undertake occasional ad hoc additional/overtime shifts on their current FY1 placement or previous FY1 placements that have formed part of their F1 rotation, where such work is undertaken only within the limits of their current competence and with the support of their educational supervisor. When undertaking such occasional ad hoc additional/overtime work, provisionally registered doctors should be clear with other members of their team about their current experience and level of competence.

SCRIPT – supporting safer prescribing practices

It is a local KSS Foundation School requirement that all F1 and F2 doctors complete 6 script modules per year prior to ARCP.  The topics are not mandated by the foundation school, however, your trust may mandate topics.

The SCRIPT programme is a collection of innovative eLearning portfolios designed to encourage safe and effective prescribing and medicines management among healthcare professionals.

SCRIPT will enhance your knowledge and confidence in prescribing correctly, improving patient safety, therapeutics and medicines management. You will receive a certificate for each module that you complete, which can be used in your online learning portfolio. SCRIPT is easy to use. You can access the modules at a time which suits you and revisit them even after completion. You can learn more about the SCRIPT eLearning programme and how to sign up by visiting Medicine & Surgery | Safe Prescriber

Study Leave

The KSSFS Admin Team have received several queries on how KSS Foundation Year 2 Doctors can apply for Discretionary Study Leave. For clarity, please see below.

Discretionary Study Leave should be applied for prospectively and not retrospectively.  

  1. Foundation Doctor (FD) seeks support from Educational Supervisor and trust (local) Foundation Training Programme Director (FTPD).
  2. Local FTPD seeks approval from the area Foundation School Director (FSD)
  3. Local FSD replies to trust TPD, including study leave team.
  4. Local TPD can then reply to FD with outcome. 
  5. If approved, on the guidance from the study leave team FD completes study leave form on the study leave portal. 

If you have any further questions, please do contact the school at: england.kssfoundationenquiries.se@nhs.net.

2024-25 TAB (Team Assessment of Behaviour) window dates

The recommended dates for TAB are detailed below but these dates are not mandatory. More information on the TAB process can be found on the Horus Website.

Placement 1

Opens: Friday 4th October 2024

Closes: Monday 2nd December 2024

Placement 2

Opens: Friday 7th February 2025

Closes: Monday 31st March 2025

Placement 3

Opens: Friday 18th April 2025

Closes: Monday 19th May 2025

KSS Contact details:

For Foundation Year 1 queries please email england.kssfoundationyear1.se@nhs.net

For Foundation Year 2 queries please email england.kssfoundationyear2.se@nhs.net

For any other queries, please email england.kssfoundationenquiries.se@nhs.net


PSA sittings 2024-2025

All sittings are scheduled to commence at 13.00.

  • Tuesday 10 September 2024
  • Thursday 20 March 2025
  • Thursday 1 May 2025

enhance Programme

Hopefully, enhance will have been introduced to you as a Foundation doctor during induction and those wishing to take part will have expressed an interest. However, there is still time to participate, so please contact your local FTPD or PGMDE team if you are interested in taking part and they will be able to help you.

enhance is available to everyone who works for NHS England and you can find more information on the KSS website.

e-learning opportunities

Welcome to your October 2024 update from the Foundation elearning programme.

The Foundation elearning programme covers key areas in your Foundation curriculum. It has been developed specifically for Foundation doctors by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in partnership with NHS England elearning for healthcare (NHSE elfh) and is approved by the UK Foundation Programme (UKFPO).

Reminders and Guidance

TIS Checks

Please can we use this opportunity to remind Medical Education colleagues in Trusts to work with their Medical Staffing teams to regularly check Foundation Doctors’ posts on TIS, against internal records. Early recognition of any discrepancies can help us all to resolve issues quickly.

Also, if you have not already informed us of any F1s that have withdrawn from training, please do so, as we aren’t always made aware by trainees themselves.

Foundation Doctors taking Parental Leave

Please can all foundation doctors who will be taking a period of Parental Leave complete the following training interruption form: https://kss.hee.nhs.uk/kss-foundation/useful-links-and-documents/ and return to england.kssfoundationenquiries.se@nhs.net. This is in addition to informing your employing Trust.

Less Than Full Time (LTFT) Training

Please click the link below for guidance regarding Less Than Full Time (LTFT) training: https://kss.hee.nhs.uk/kss-foundation/current-doctors-in-training/less-than-full-training/

Foundation doctors in GP and psychiatry placements contributing to acute services     

Please see below link for guidance regarding Foundation doctors in community placements contributing to acute services: https://kss.hee.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/KSSFS-Foundation-doctors-in-GP-and-psychiatry-placements-contributing-to-acute-services_2.pdf

NHS employers’ guidance on induction for international medical graduates

Please see below link to guidance from NHS employers:

https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Welcoming-and-Valuing-International-Medical-Graduates-A-guide-to-induction-for-IMGs-WEB.pdf

Foundation Doctor Role and Responsibilities

Foundation Doctor Role and Responsibilities within the Local Education Provider and Minimum Requirements for Clinical Supervision of Foundation Doctors: please see document.

Foundation ARCP requirements

The ARCP checklist can be found here: https://kss.hee.nhs.uk/kss-foundation/current-doctors-in-training/arcp/

Courses, events and surveys

User Research – help to improve the Digital Staff Passport service!

NHS England are seeking volunteers to test the latest version of the Digital Staff Passport.  The Digital Staff Passport is designed to reduce the amount of admin and face-to-face ID checks that clinicians have to complete every time they move between trusts. In the process it is also streamlining the work of Medical HR teams. Please see flyer here.

Sessions are held one-to-one or in small groups with an NHSE researcher via a Teams call. They typically take 30-45 minutes and can be arranged at a time to suit you. If you’d like to help make the service as efficient and effective as possible, please contact england.dsp.ur@nhs.net so the Digital Staff Passport Design team can arrange a session for you. See here for details about the service.

We can only improve this service with your help. Thanks!

Follow up induction survey for FY1s – NHS England national survey

Many thanks to those of you who participated in part one of the induction survey.  This second survey is designed to provide further information which will be used to develop our induction programme for trainees in the future. We plan to share this information as widely as possible so your contribution could potentially make a significant difference to future trainees.

Please complete this survey regardless of whether you completed the initial survey.

There is an opportunity to provide more in-depth feedback as outlined in the final question.

To access the survey please log onto https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/followupinduction2024

Or use the following QR code:

If possible, please complete the survey in one sitting since you will not be able to access it later. It should only take you approximately 10 minutes to complete. The questionnaire is anonymous and your thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated.

National Foundation Doctors Presentation Day 2025 – venue information

UKFPO are delighted to finally be able to announce the venue for the 2025 NFDPD.

Where: Sheffield United Football Club, Bramall Lane, Sheffield, S2 4SU

When: Friday 17 January 2025, all day (approximately 08:30 to 16:30)

Transport: See the venue’s website for transport details (scroll down to the “FIND US” section). The venue is in the city centre, just a few minutes’ walk/taxi ride (one mile) from the main railway station. It also has up to 400 complimentary car parking spaces available every day on a first-come, first-served basis.

Accommodation: The DoubleTree by Hilton hotel is located next to the stadium, for those who wish to book accommodation (note that as per last year, it isn’t possible for us to provide discounted rates for conference attendees). There are also many other accommodation options to choose from in and around the city.

Further information: Visit our NFDPD microsite for more information on the event and email foundation.nfdpd@nhs.net with any queries. Thank you to those of you who signed up to support the abstract shortlisting and judging processes and the administration on the day. We will be in touch in due course with more information.

UKFPO Webinar Resources

New UKFPO-run webinars to share important information and cover essential training. Please keep an eye on the website for dates and topic updates:  https://foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/resources/ukfpo-webinars/.

Useful Websites and Contacts

UKFPO Bulletin:

Read the latest UKFPO bulletin (November 2024)