The GP School

GP VTS

The KSS GP Specialty School is responsible for the delivery of GP education and training for those doctors training for general practice in the counties of Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

The KSS GP School is an integral part of the KSS Deanery. It is managed by the KSS Deanery in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners. It is part of the KSS Department of General Practice Education which is itself part of the KSS Postgraduate Deanery.

Structure of the School

The KSS GP School covers the geographical areas of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. This covers 4.2 million head of population which is served by 4000 GPs, 8 Primary Care Trusts, 13 Acute Hospital Trusts and 4 Mental Health Trusts.

There are 14 GP Specialty Training Programmes (formerly Vocational Training Schemes) in the GP School supported by over 50 GP Specialty Training Programme Directors. There are nearly 500 GP Trainers in the School who at any one time are supporting about 800 GP Specialty Training Registrars in both their hospital and GP placements, at different stages of their training. Each county (patch) is supported by two Associate GP Deans.

The Dean of Postgraduate GP Education is Professor Abdol Tavabie.

The Head of the KSS GP School is Dr. Ian McLean, who is also the Deputy Dean of Postgraduate GP Education.

The GP Specialty Training Programmes (Schemes) are individual geographically based subsets of the GP School. In their configuration, some of these reflect the change in organisation of the local Acute Hospital Trusts and are thus larger than others, but many Programmes have increasingly close working relationships with their neighbours.

GP Deanery School Support Structure

GP Specialty trainees will have the support of a Clinical Supervisor during their hospital attachments, and will also have a GP Educational Supervisor. The Clinical Supervisor will ensure that appropriate clinical experience is available for trainees, congruent with the developmental needs of the trainee with reference to the GP curriculum and patient safety. They will also be responsible for supervising the workplace based assessments and ensuring the trainees are able to get these effectively organised. The GP Educational Supervisor will facilitate meetings with the trainee/s for whom they are responsible and support their learning and development in line with the requirements of the GP curriculum and also check that the assessments are happening appropriately. The GP Educational Supervisor will be a qualified GP Trainer.

The GP placements will be undertaken in a Practice approved for GP training purposes. In a similar way to the hospital placements, trainees will be supported by both a Clinical Supervisor and a GP Educational Supervisor. However, if they are attached to a Practice that has one or more GP Trainers, then the GP Trainer will undertake both roles. If the attachment is in an approved Practice that has GPs who are trained for the role of Clinical Supervisor, then the GP Educational Supervisor will be a GP Trainer in a nearby Practice.

Each GP Training Programme locality will be supported by a Faculty Group.

The GP Specialty School local Faculty Board will have a patch Associate GP Dean as its chair and will have membership drawn from the local GP Trainers and GP Educational Supervisors, the GP Specialty Programme Directors, and trainees.

GP Deanery Team

The Dean, Professor Abdol Tavabie, and his deputy, Dr Ian Mclean, lead a team of Associate Deans who are a group of working GPs with an interest and qualifications in education in primary care and its management.

The Life-Long Learning Adviser who is also part of the team works closely with the patch Associate GP Deans, and GP Tutors in PCTs.

The GP Deanery structure is responsive to the needs of today's general practice education, and offers opportunities for all team members to work towards their aspirations and full potential.

To find out more about their roles please view the prospectus available from the attachments below.