r/ConsultantDoctorsUK

I was recently in the US for my brother’s surgery and noticed how there was a big screen with anonymised patient numbers that would turn into a different colour based on the stage of the surgery (eg, prep, in the OR, post op, etc), putting people accompanying the patients to an ease.
Ive been to multiple VERY busy A&Es and couldn’t help but think that a similar system could benefit the patients and the healthcare workers (as they’re constantly bombarded with when they’ll be seen). I know with A&Es its a bit different given the whole triage system but a simple in queue to be seen by a nurse/in queue to see a doctor/awaiting lab results,etc would greatly beneficial to all parties.
Unless I am missing something could people please tell me why this system isn’t implemented?

I will CCT next August and will obviously be able to start applying for consultant posts from February. I’m interested in two hospitals within our region.

As consultants/CDs, do you generally like trainees to approach you early to express an interest in working at your trust, or does it not make much difference because you may already have an idea of who you’d like as your next colleague?

When would you advise approaching the Clinical Director — at the beginning of the final year of training, or around 6 months before CCT?

Thanks

Does anyone know of any good national medico-legal conferences coming up in the UK?

My partner works as an expert witness and is looking for something worthwhile to attend next year. London would be ideal as that’s where he’s based, although online attendance would also be useful.

Ideally something covering medico-legal practice, expert evidence or clinical negligence, and offering CPD hours.

I’ve had a look around Google but there seem to be quite a few different events, so thought I’d ask here if anyone has attended one they’d recommend.

Educational supervision sounds manageable when it is described as a few meetings a year. The actual work can include portfolio review, forms, difficult conversations, ARCP preparation and sorting problems between scheduled meetings. For consultants supervising several trainees, how much SPA is actually attached to it? At what point does the number of trainees make proper supervision unrealistic within the time given?

We all cover the same information on clerking

But what’s most interesting is how we present it.

Noted clerking documentation / layout makes a huge difference.

What’s everyone’s preferred Format to make your lives easier on post take

What I think is better is rather than having BG/PMH all the way under the HPC is have it right at the top to give a good oversight initially.

So mine is something like

80M + performance status number

Referred by ED for Chest Pain ?NSTEMI

BG ( PMH summarised alongside surgical Hx)

HPC

Further expansion on social

Dhx / Allergies

Examination findings

Bloods / Ix / imaging

My thoughts / clinical reasoning

Clerking diagnosis

Plan

As an early IMT wanted to hear from seniors / consultant what you think makes good documentation / structure.

Wanting to improve

Thanks

I’m a senior registrar and have recently completed the Edward Jenner Programme (Levels 1 and 2). I’m considering whether to do either the Mary Seacole or Rosalind Franklin leadership programme next.

Has anyone here completed either of these programmes? Did you find them worthwhile, particularly at senior registrar/consultant level and did they add much to your CV or leadership development after Edward Jenner?

I’d also be interested to know about the workload and time commitment as I’m currently progressing towards a PGDip alongside clinical work.

Thanks

I've put together a (sorry quite long) video walking through every bit of NHS pension tax paperwork – what each document is, which ones you actually need, and how to request them. It's free, no sign-up (but feel free to like and subscribe etc to help get the message out!):

▶ Everything you NEED to understand about pension tax paperwork (and were too afraid to ask)

It's 72 minutes, so here are the chapters – jump to whatever's relevant:

• 01:21 – Payslips
• 05:11 – TRS / ABS / ABS-RSS
• 14:14 – Annual Tax Summaries (if you're near tapering)
• 15:33 – State Pension forecast
• 17:08 – Using the documents to model your pension
• 19:58 – NHSP01 Total Reward Statement
• 23:51 – NHSP02 Manual pension estimate
• 27:06 – NHSP03 Pension Savings Statement
• 37:25 – NHSP04 Remediable Pension Savings Statement (RPSS)
• 41:10 – NHSP05 05 Service & Pay extract
• 46:19 – NHSP06 Scheme Pays extract
• 49:21 – HMRC McCloud extract
• 57:32 – Your questions answered

Free request templates for all of these (England & Wales – NHSBSA, plus the HMRC McCloud extract): https://goldstonepenfintech.com/templates – fill in your details once and every request email is pre-completed. Nothing you type is sent anywhere; it stays in your browser.

⚠️ Annual allowance – an important warning

I've had several reports of doctors being told that if they haven't received a Pension Savings Statement by 6 October, they can assume they haven't exceeded their annual allowance.

That's simply not true. The schemes are way behind with admin, and an automatic statement only covers part of the picture anyway (it knows nothing about your tapering, carry forward or other pensions).

My advice:

• If you're a high earner (roughly £90k+ pensionable) or your pay has grown quickly, request a PSS "on demand" every year. The scheme has to provide it within 3 months – or by 6 October if you ask before 6 July – so ask around early July each year.
• Haven't had your 25/26 PSS? Request one now. England & Wales: NHSP03 template. Scotland: ask SPPA. Northern Ireland: ask HSC Pension Service. Asking today gets you to early January – not much time before the 31 January self assessment deadline.
• Ask even if they say they can't do it in time. If it doesn't arrive, use the scheme's formal complaints process. If that fails, consider escalating to the scheme's Chief Executive, your MP, or the Pensions Ombudsman (you'll need to have exhausted the scheme's complaints process first).
• Keep a paper trail – request and complain by email and keep copies. You may be entitled to compensation, and you'll need to show you asked properly.

The scheme's legal deadlines are on GOV.UK.

Scotland: if you used to receive pension tax letters, check your SPPA Engage portal – several people have found statements sitting there that they were never told about.

Turning the paperwork into numbers

Once you've got the documents, the hard part is doing something with them. We've built a tool (PLUS) that reads payslips, TRS/ABS, PSS, RPSS, 05 extracts and the HMRC extract and pulls the figures into our pension modellers in seconds – demo here at 17:08. It's a paid add-on, but everything else in the video and all the templates are free.

Happy to answer questions in the comments.