Information for Applicants 2012/13 - Foundation Programme Recruitment

Recruitment to the Foundation Programme is through fair and open competitive selection processes for UK and non UK medical graduates via the national website. The application period will take place between Monday 10th October and Friday 21st October 2011. For current available information on the 2012-2013 national recruitment process please visit the Foundation Programme website.

Click here for information about academic F1 posts in national recruitment round

HOW MANY POSTS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE WALES FOUNDATION SCHOOL?

Within the Wales Foundation School there will be 321 available Foundation Training posts (109 programmes) commencing August 2012.

WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LOCAL HEALTH BOARDS?

Click on our Health Board pages in the menu on the left.

WHERE CAN I SEE A LIST OF AVAILABLE PROGRAMMES FOR 2012-13?

• Please click here for information on F1 posts available in 2012/13
• Please click here for information on F2 posts available in 2012/13

Applicants who apply to Wales, and successfully obtain a place will be matched to a two year Foundation Programme

Welcome to the Wales Foundation School

HOW ARE POSTS ARE PROGRAMMES ALLOCATED WITHIN THE WALES FOUNDATION SCHOOL?

Applicants are allocated based on their scores during the national application process and expressed order of preference of programme. The Wales Foundation School allocates all foundation doctors to a 1 year programme prior to the start of the Foundation Programme. Applicants will not be asked to attend an interview. Programmes are matched to applicants via an auto-match facility which works through the list of applicants in order of score (high to low) matching them to the highest ranked programme in their preferences that still has a place remaining. Applicants on the same score are selected randomly.

Applicants will be provided with information on which decile they are in, in order to assist them when ranking their posts.

Applicants will be matched to F2 programmes approximately 4 months after the start of the F1 year, allowing the F1 doctor to make an informed decision regarding their choice of F2 job. For more information see the 'Matching to Year 2' section below.

TIMELINE

The timeline for matching applicants to programmes in the Wales Foundation School is as follows:

• Thursday 8th December 2011 - Primary list applicants informed of allocation to Foundation School
• Monday 12th December 2011 - Primary list applicants matched to Wales, will be asked to start ranking all programmes within the Wales Foundation School
• Tuesday 24th January 2012 (12 NOON) - Deadline for submission of programme preferences
• Wednesday 15th February 2012 - Primary list applicants notified which programme they have been allocated.
• Thursday 29th March - Wednesday 25th July 2012 - Reserve list applicants will be allocated to any vacancies arisen since the last allocation. This will be run in 5 batches during this period.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The deadline for submitting your programmes preferences is 12 noon on Tuesday 24th January 2012. No late applications will be accepted.

If you do not submit your preferences by the deadline, you will be randomly allocated to any posts that remain once the matching process has been completed.

If you do not rank all the programmes and are not matched to one of the preferences you have stated, you will be randomly matched to any programmes available once the process has been completed for all other applicants.

LINKED APPLICATIONS

Linked applications will be recognised for allocation to Foundation School, but not for allocation to health board or programme.

SWAPPING PLACES

It is not possible to "swap" places between foundation schools. Foundation doctors contemplating requesting an IFST should check the relevant "Guidance for Applicants" in the Key Documents section of the UKFPO website or Polices and Procedures section of this website. Please note that it is not possible to change foundation schools if the circumstances have not changed since the application for FP 2012.

The Wales Foundation School does not permit foundation doctors to swap their programme allocated.

ACADEMIC POSTS

Academic recruitment for 2012-13 is now closed. Further information about the academic programme can be found in the Academic Foundation Programme Section.

INDUCTION

A period of 4 days paid induction will take place for all F1 Doctors in Wales, before the commencement of work on Tuesday 31st July 2012. All F1 Doctors will therefore be expected to start their post on Thursday 26th July 2012.

ACCOMMODATION

Please note that the Welsh Government have agreed that accommodation for F1 doctors training in Wales will continue to be free.

MATCHING TO YEAR 2

For more information on the matching process and timetable for foundation year 2 see the documents below.

F2 Matching Scheme process 2012-13

Foundation Year 2 Recruitment 2012-13

TIME OUT OF FOUNDATION PROGRAMME

For information about take Time Out of Foundation Programme and working abroad for your F2 year, please visit the Policies and Procedures page. Please note, for 2012-13 a maximum of 17 Foundation Doctors will be permitted to take Time Out of Foundation Programme. Applications are selected on first come-first served basis. Working abroad is no longer accredited by the Wales Foundation School.

EDUCATIONAL AND CLINICAL SUPERVISION

An educational supervisor is allocated to each foundation doctor for each 4-month placement within the rotation, for the full two years of their Foundation Programme, to maintain an overview of development and progress of the doctor within the training programme. A clinical supervisor will be allocated for each 4-month placement within the rotation.

FOUNDATION DOCTOR FORUMS

The Wales Foundation School encourages foundation doctors to contribute to, and participate in, any local forums. Further details of which will be circulated on commencement of posts.

Additionally, there are national forums conducted by the UKFPO.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

To view Terms and Conditions of Service (TCS) click here.

ROTATIONS INFORMATION

Full information about the rotation, location and content of placements will be available later in the year.

SALARY

You should be paid monthly at the rates set out in the national terms and conditions of service for hospital medical and dental staff and doctors in public health medicine and the community health services (England and Wales), 'the TCS', as amended from time to time. The payscales are reviews annually. To view the current rates of pay click here.

Less Than Full Time posts will be paid pro-rata.

BANDING

The responsibility of providing information regarding banding lies with the Local Health Boards from whom information should be sought. However, applicants for posts should note the following principles, which are in line with legal advice given to Local Health Boards in Wales:

• If an applicant contacts a Local Health Board personnel officer to enquire about the pay banding of a particular Foundation Training post, the Local Health Board should give them the information that currently applies to the post. However, this does not mean that the applicant will be entitled to pay protection at the level of banding that is applicable at the time of enquiry.
• Pay protection can only be claimed from the time that an appointee formally accepts an appointment to a post according the UK terms and conditions of service. Final year medical students are not in a position to accept an appointment until they have successfully passed their final examinations; sometimes this will be many months after the allocation has been made. Normally Local Health Board Personnel Departments send out the formal offer of a post to all new Foundation Trainees late in June or early July each year; along with your contract of employment, once final medical school examination results have been made known.

Please note that all hospital training posts are monitored twice a year in accordance with government regulations for New Deal working hours. As a result the pay banding can change. As stated above you will be informed about what banding you will be on when you start work in your hospital post.

START DATE

The first working day for foundation year 1 doctors is usually the last Tuesday in July or the first Tuesday in August. Foundation year 2 programmes usually commence the first Wednesday in August. Please note that F1's are required to attend induction period prior to this date which will be communicated on allocation to programme.

ANNUAL LEAVE

F1 doctors are entitled to 27 days annual leave in the year, which does not include the 8 statutory holidays. If a foundation doctor works any part of a bank holiday they are entitled to an additional days leave in lieu.
In some specialties there is some restriction on when a foundation doctor can take their leave during the 4 months (e.g. not on their ‘hot week’ for surgery). The individual directorates will inform the foundation doctor of any specific restrictions on when they can take leave.
The foundation doctor is required to book their leave at least 6 weeks in advance via the relevant Practice Manager.

STUDY LEAVE

Study leave is only permitted during the F2 year and is not available during F1. Special arrangements can be made for F1 doctors who wish to arrange career “taster” sessions during the last four months of their F1 year.

VISA / WORK PERMITS / LEAVE TO REMAIN

The Local Health Board will consider British /EEA nationals for appointment in the first instance. If the applicant is a non-resident of the United Kingdom or European Economic Union, they are required to have a valid work visa and leave to remain in the UK, which is renewed as required. The Health Board is unable to employ or continue to employ the applicant/post holder if they require but do not have a valid work visa and/or leave to remain in the UK.

WHO TO CONTACT

Should you have any queries, please e-mail foundation school or do not hesitate to contact a member of the Foundation School team, who will endeavour to help you with your query.