Job description review and AAC panel assessor

Process and timeframes

The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is committed to ensuring the creation of high-quality consultant and SAS Specialist doctor posts, and appointment of the most suitable individuals. This is to the benefit of the trusts, health boards and universities, and ultimately their patients. To assist with this matter, the College is committed to providing review and approval to these posts, and sourcing an independent College assessor to attend the Advisory Appointment Committee (AAC), in line with the National Health Service (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations Good Practice Guidance 2005, and the Concordat between the College and the Foundation Trust Network.

Ensuring that job descriptions meet the criteria for RCS England approval enables trusts, health boards and universities to attract high-quality applicants. The College will review posts against established criteria, to ensure that the job description is open, transparent and fair, and that the post will allocate the required time and resources to ensure the provision of an effective surgical service. In turn, the RCS England approval of the job description ahead of advertisement will ensure that the application process appoints the strongest candidates, and to continue providing the highest-quality surgical care, to certify patient safety and care. RCS England approval provides confidence to applicants that the job will enable them to undertake competent practice, with the appropriate training in place, and will support them as they progress, and assure longevity for the employer. The submission of a job description for review by the College, and the subsequent inclusion of RCS England endorsement, has been long-established as best practice for NHS and Foundation trusts, health boards and universities.

Submitting job descriptions

Submit all full-time or part-time substantive surgical consultant, substantive specialist posts and academic posts to the College Representatives department (collegereps@rcseng.ac.uk) to facilitate the review process. We cannot facilitate the review of locum, fixed term or specialty doctor posts, and these should be reviewed internally within the trust or health board, in line with the relevant national guidelines.

Ensure that the post includes an indicative job plan and a person specification, and that the review process is completed before the post is submitted for advertisement. The College will unfortunately not be able to undertake the review for a post that has been advertised or shortlisted, and the post may need to be withdrawn from the review process if it is advertised before RCS England approval has been granted.

We ask the trust, health board or university to self-assess their post against the RCS England guidance and checklist on NHS Surgical Consultant Job Descriptions or NHS Surgical Specialist Job Descriptions, as appropriate. The College would seek for confirmation within the post where the required elements outlined in the checklist are met. This will assist in facilitating a prompt review, but please note that the post will still be reviewed by the RSPA to confirm approval, or seek any clarification.

The review process

Once this post has been received, we aim to send this for review within 5 working days. The post will be added to our records, and please respond to any initial queries from the team to allow the post to be processed. The job description will be sent to one of our Regional Specialty Professional Advisors (RSPAs) for review, and they will be permitted 15 working days to return the initial review. A unique College code (letters followed by 3 digits) will be assigned to the review – please ensure that this is included in all future correspondence regarding the post.

Posts in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Vascular Surgery and Breast Surgery are facilitated by the Surgical Specialty Association (SSA) directly, but must be submitted to the College alone in the first instance. The individual(s) at the trust, health board or university will be cc’d into the review request email, along with the Regional Director, to whom any concerns can be escalated. Queries or concerns may also need to be raised with the College directly, and/or with the SSA.

Further review

The RSPA may outline revisions that are required to be implemented before approval can be granted, to meet the criteria outlined in the RCS England guidance and checklist. We would ask that the initial comments from the RSPA are communicated with the department for implementation, and the RSPA is provided the contact details of the clinical or department lead to discuss any concerns directly, and for the post to be amended accordingly. The College should be included in all correspondence between the RSPA and other individuals, to assess the progress of the review.

The trust, health board or university may submit the revised post to the RSPA directly, with the College and the Regional Director cc’d in, to ensure that this is received promptly by the RSPA. The RSPA is permitted 10 working days to provide a second review, and will confirm if the post meets the RCS England criteria, or if any further revisions may need to be discussed.

Approval

Once the RSPA confirms that approval can be granted, the College will confirm this in an approval email, with our records updated accordingly. The date of approval is noted for future reference as the date of the written confirmation received from the RSPA. The trust, health board or university will be provided with the RCS England approval badge, which can be included within the post, and the job description can now be advertised externally.

RCS England approval for job descriptions is valid for 12 months, and valid approval must be held for the entire recruitment process, including on the date of the AAC panel.

If approval is set to expire soon and the trust, health board or university wishes to re-advertise the post to appoint a suitable candidate or additional appointment, please get back in contact, and the College will be able to facilitate extension of the approval. Similarly, if significant revisions have been incorporated into the post since approval was granted, the post will need to re-submitted for the edits to be reviewed by the RSPA, even if the twelve-month window has not elapsed.

The College would envision that approval is granted to the post within 6-8 weeks of the job description being submitted to the College, to avoid any delays in the recruitment process.

AAC panel and the assessor process

When submitting the post for review to the College, please inform us of the upcoming AAC panel date, and we will be able to assist with sourcing the College assessor to attend, parallel to the ongoing job description review. RCS England does not provide a list of assessors for the trust, health board or university to undertake its own search and we would request that the panel details are communicated for the College alone to undertake the search.

Our assessors are active clinicians, and must provide adequate notice to their respective trusts or health boards to adjust or cancel clinical commitments to attend panels; we would therefore request a minimum of 8 weeks’ notice ahead of the panel date. The College assessor must attend as an equal member of the panel, including being invited to partake in the shortlisting process, and receive reimbursement for any reasonable expenses incurred when attending panels in-person, including travel and accommodation expenses.

Once the panel has taken place, the College assessor will inform the College of any successful appointments made, and the College will assist or advise as appropriate with any outstanding queries or concerns from the trust, health board, university, or the College assessor.

Summary

• The trust, health board or university self-assesses the post against the NHS Surgical Consultant Job Descriptions or NHS Surgical Specialist Job Descriptions, as appropriate
• Example job descriptions will soon be available on the RCS England website
• The job description, including person specification, is submitted to the College alone in the first instance, for review by the RSPA/SSA
• The trust, health board or university confirms the date of shortlisting, and the AAC panel, to enable the College to source an appropriate College assessor
• The initial review of the post is to be received with 20 working days of submission to the College
• The trust, health board or university implements required amendments, and a second review is returned within 10 working days
• Necessitated further reviews are returned within 10 working days
• The RCS Approval Badge is issued, and RCS approval is valid for 12 months
• The job description is to be advertised externally, in line with the organisation and NHS England guidance
• Confirmation is received of the appointed College assessor, who is invited to partake in the shortlisting process
• AAC panel proceeds
• A candidate is successfully appointed, and the College assessor returns feedback to the College
  
  

Self-assessment checklist