Out of Hours

All general practice trainees, whilst in a general practice post, are required to undertake a minimum of 72 hours of out of hours (OOH) pro rata.

• GP Trainee OOHs Training Workbook

GP trainees are responsible for organising their sessions with OOH Providers and should ensure that the required number of hours are achieved commensurate with the duration of the GP component of their training programme. GP trainees should work in the OOH services, under supervision, in order to gain competence and confidence in the delivery of these services as a necessary part of becoming registered as GPs. The work of GP trainees in acquiring OOH competencies will be as part of their normal contract of employment.

The key out-of-hours competencies and their assessment

GP trainees should demonstrate competency in the provision of OOH care. The overall responsibility for assessment of competency is with the GP Trainer but GP trainees have a duty to keep the record of their experience, reflection and feedback in the competency domains.

The six generic competencies, embedded within the RCGP Curriculum Statement on 'Care of acutely ill people', are defined as the:

1.   Ability to manage common medical, surgical and psychiatric emergencies in the out-of-hours setting.

2.   Understanding of the organisational aspects of NHS out of hours care.

3.   Ability to make appropriate referrals to hospitals and other professionals in the out-of-hours setting.

4.   Demonstration of communication skills required for out-of-hours care.

5.   Individual personal time and stress management.

6.   Maintenance of personal security and awareness and management of the security risks to others

Mapping OOH competencies to the GP curriculum and workplace based assessments

Recording OOH experience in eportfolio

GP trainees are expected to undertake a minimum of 36 hours of OOH sessions during ST2 and a minimum of 72 hours in ST3.  When a GPST has been given an extension to training they need to work an additional proportionate amount of time on the above basis.

It is Wales Deanery policy that the GP trainee should complete a record of experience and learning during their OOH sessions in their logbook/workbook, which should be signed by the OOH Clinical Supervisor at the end of each session, and which can be shared with their GP Trainer, both as a confirmation of the completed session and to support the reflective learning and continuation of the PDP.

They should record in their eportfolio within the learning log, the actual numbers of hours worked, type of shift and the cumulative number of hours since the start of that training year i.e. ST2, ST3 or ST4.  They should also include here any reflective elements from their work during the shift.

Trainers should view and validate such log entries in the usual way so that in due course they can confirm that the required amount of OOH work has been completed.