Harpreet Ark qualified as a Dentist from the University of Birmingham in 2008. On completion of vocational training she pursued her interest in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery. During this time, she gained her Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgeons with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2012. Harpreet works on a part time basis as a Speciality Doctor within the Oral and Maxillofacial department at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham. Additionally, she is an accredited Tier 2 minor oral surgery performer in primary care. For the remainder of the week she works as a General Dental Practitioner in Leicestershire. Harpreet has been an approved Educational Supervisor for Foundation Dentists since 2018. With a passion for teaching and a keen interest in education, she completed her Master’s degree in Medical Education from the University of Nottingham in 2020. Harpreet additionally sits as a Fitness to Practice panellist for the General Dental Council. 

I have worked as a Specialty Doctor in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for the past seven years, and will shortly be commencing a Specialist Grade post. During this time I have been involved in countless audits and quality improvement projects and have been appointed as an Educational Supervisor to Dental Core Trainees. I have been involved in the organisation of local and national teaching courses relating to Oral Surgery and have a keen interest in advancing education for trainees and non-training grades.

I am currently a member of the Essex Managed Clinical Network for Oral Surgery and have been elected to the Essex Local Dental Committee. In these roles, I have gained understanding of the commissioning of services and challenges faced in both primary and secondary care for clinicians. Alongside this I have come to appreciate the non clinical aspects of our roles as medical professionals, and I now wish to contribute to this on a national scale with the application to BAOMS Council as an Associate Fellow.

Induction is a workplace-specific process that ensures that the new employees understand the employer’s local policies and practices regarding clinical and nonclinical work. The purpose of the induction is an effective working environment facilitating effective healthcare.

The induction ideally takes place during working hours. Where induction takes place outside working hours e.g. online modules, time off in lieu or a payment at an appropriate rate should be made. The responsibility for successful induction does not rest solely with the employers and there is also an onus on you to engage actively with induction procedures and be active participants in the process.

The key features of a good quality induction programme should include:

• Local orientation of the hospitals within the organisation
• Organisational orientation – Management Structure, Board of Directors including CEO and MD
• IT and communications Facilities
• Clinical governance, complaints handling and risk management structure within the organisation
• Core values of the organisation and key priorities for the year ahead
• Occupational Health, CRB or Disclosure Scotland checks
• Statutory/Mandatory Training including Health and safety Policies e.g. fire safety, manual handling, infection control  
• Information Governance – Complaints and Patient Feedback, Datix Reporting, Duty of Candour, Ethics Committee, Caldicott Guardian, Whistle Blowing
• Information on annual leave, study leave and study leave funds
• Knowing your payslip
• Introduction to SAS Tutor/Educational Advisor for the trust/health board including additional SAS funds
• Medical Education Structure - Director of Medical Education and Postgraduate medical education
• Introduction to your BMA and SAS Representatives on LNC and their roles
• Information on job planning/Appraisal
• Additional induction material may be tailored for doctors new to the NHS in the UK, to include income tax/NI matters, history and structure of the NHS, life and work in the UK

Departments should have an additional induction process that should include:

• Introduction to clinical staff (Outpatient/Ward staff/Theatre staff)
• Introduction to administrative staff
• Opportunity to have a mentor and information on their role
• Opportunities for being clinical/educational supervisor
• Governance Structure within the unit
• Allocation of workspace/IT facilities
• Clinical Lead – Job Planning/Appraisal
• Working pattern in peripheral units
• Joining British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS)

• Associate Fellows Summer Newsletter 2018

This charter sets out what SAS Doctors can expect from their employers and employers can expect of them.

It also sets out the objectives and support mechanisms that Health Education England (HEE) promotes and provides through individual Local Education Training Boards (LETBs) and Local Education Providers (LEPs).

Originally a 2004 BMA document, The SAS Charter has been updated to reflect subsequent changes to national contracts and to education and training, jointly with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, HEE and NHS Employers. Joint Local Negotiating Committees (LNCs) are requested to commit to using the charter to help provide an optimum working environment for this valuable group of doctors.

• SAS charters for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales

SAS Doctors refer to the Staff Grade, Associate Specialist and Specialty Doctor group.

In 2008, following a long period of negotiations, a new contract was voted in with a 60% majority, and was then offered on an optional basis from 1 April 2008 to doctors and dentists in the following grades:

• Staff Grades
• Associate Specialists
• Senior Clinical Medical Officers
• Clinical Assistants and Hospital Practitioners (but not GPs who were providing a primary care)
• Service in the secondary care setting or community hospitals

During the initial Assimilation exercise, SAS doctors and Dentists who did not express an interest in the new contract during the initial 12 weeks had two options:

• They were able to remain on their current contract indefinitely
• They had the ability to transfer to the new Specialty Doctor Contract at any point (although with no back dated pay to April 2008)

Following the completion of assimilation process, the post of staff grade and associate specialist have been closed to new entrants and has instead been replaced by the specialty doctor grade.

Choosing to be a SAS doctor or dentist is a positive choice for those who do not want the responsibilities or workload of a consultant post or are unable to complete the higher training programme for a variety of reasons, but wish to commit to a specialist area of practice.

The SAS doctors and dentists in OMFS are independent practitioners who either hold the licence to practice with GMC or are fully registered with GDC or both. Working as a SAS doctor can offer an ambitious career choice with an extensive clinical experience with time.

In addition to clinical responsibilities, SAS doctors are fully engaged with annual appraisal, job planning, and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) that maintains and develops their professional and personal skills leading to their involvement in further nonclinical and leadership roles during the senior years of their professional life.

• Guidance for Portfolio towards Oral Surgery Specialist List Final AS 240620
• Guidance for Tier 2 Accreditation for Oral Surgery AS 240620

One must personally review their contract prior to starting a new job to ensure you are getting the correct entitlement. The contract checking service is available through British Medical Association (BMA) but one must be a member of BMA in order to use this service. Most of the SAS doctors in OMFS are registered with BDA, however being a hospital practitioner BDA membership gives you an access to BMA services. BMA can advice you of any issue you need to be aware of and can provide additional support and representation to get these issues resolved.

• Contracts

Job planning is a prospective agreement between an employer and an employee that sets out your duties, responsibilities and objectives/outcomes for the coming year. In addition it provides clarity of expectations for you and your employer about the use of time and resources to meet individual and service objectives/outcomes.

The link below will take you to the job planning guidance under the SAS 2008 contract. In addition job planning workshops are available within your Healthcare organisation that are generally organised by British Medical Association (BMA), Local Negotiating Committee (LNC) or SAS Tutors/Educational Advisors.

• Job planning

Effective annual appraisal is the cornerstone of medical revalidation. Doctors need to be able to discuss and reflect on their practice and performance during their appraisal to demonstrate that they are keeping up to date with their knowledge and skills and are fit to practice. An improved appraisal makes good doctors better, and leads to improved patient care.

The 2008 SAS contract makes appraisal a core requirement for all SAS Doctors and Dentists. Incremental pay progression depends on a doctor having participated satisfactorily in the appraisal process in accordance with the General Medical Council's (GMC) requirements set out in “Good Medical Practice”.

A number of common views have emerged from the evidence drawn from the workshops, including a perception that there is a lack of parity for SAS doctors and a hierarchical appraisal culture within organisations has contributed to the relatively low appraisal rates. There is need for increased awareness across the SAS community of what is required for a constructive appraisal and recognition that SAS doctors need to be more actively engaged.

The link below is a guide to a constructive appraisal mechanism. In addition all Healthcare Organisations have an appraisal lead who can be contacted for appraisal workshops that are often organised within individual organisations for further guidance, training and advice. The appraisal lead can be contacted through the Director of Medical Education (DME) office.

• Appraisal
• Revalidation

The majority of deaneries' websites have the details of courses available within your healthcare organisation. Please ensure to register with your respective deaneries to make use of these educational opportunities, most of which come at either very little or no price.

In addition there are educational and social events organised by the SAS Tutors/educational Advisors specifically for SAS Doctors and Dentists that are funded by the SAS Educational funds within the deaneries.

Hence it will also be useful for you to be in touch with the SAS Tutor/Educational Advisor. They can also guide you to make use of additional funds available though the deaneries in addition to your study leave funds. The details of these SAS tutors/Educational Advisors should be available on your deanery website or though the Director of Medical Education (DME) Office within your Trust/Health Board.

We in addition will do our best to provide you with various additional educational activities that may be relevant to SAS Doctors and Dentists.

The following links should guide to these educational activities in addition to what may be available through your respective deaneries.

• Training and courses for SAS doctors
• BMJ Learning: A module on how to create an effective e-portfolio

The BAOMS National Workforce census keeps the names and details of all OMFS Associate Specialists, Staff Grades and Specialty Doctors. You do not necessarily need to be a BAOMS member to be part of this database. This information will enable the council towards their future surveys, projects and workforce discussion. Please see the BAOMS worksforce survery. 

NHS Development Programme in Scotland

The Staff, Associate Specialist and Specialty (SAS) Doctors and Dentists Development Programme was established in 2012 as a result of Scottish Government funding to develop SAS doctors and dentists working in NHS Scotland.  Funding was initially on a three-year project basis but has now been added to NES’s baseline funding.

The programme aims to direct national funding to those SAS doctors and dentists who are seeking to enhance their role within the clinical team, and where funding is not otherwise provided by the employing Health Board.  If approved, funding is available to support costs for training, salary backfill, or completion of training to apply for a Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR). In addition, funding has enabled the creation of a national network of Education Advisers (who are themselves SAS doctors or dentists) to support local SAS doctors and dentists, and to guide them (and their employing Health Boards) to make best use of this funding opportunity. 

• Further information on SAS Development Programme in Scotland and their work

SAS Committee - Academy of Medical Royal Colleges 

The SAS Committee of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) brings together the SAS doctors and dentists from all different specialities.  The members of SAS Committee of AoMRC are the leads and chairs of SAS Committees of all Royal Colleges.  The aim of the committee is to share examples of good practice and promote professional representation and development for SAS doctors and dentists.

• Learn about their work