New guidance on standards for GP specialty training released

New guidance on standards for GP specialty training released GP education programmes that meet the requirements of this guidance, an update of guidance first published in 2008 and based on the GMC's The Trainee Doctor standards - will be assumed to meet General Medical Council standards.


Significant developments in this version include:

• Reference to the requirements of appraisal and revalidation for educational supervisors.
• An updated section on making GP recruitment more generic and future proof.
• Further reference to sharing information on trainees; the need to support and report on trainees in difficulty; and the role of regulators (including the GMC and CQC) in GP specialty training.
• Specific reference to the need for trainees to be released to attend 70% of the formal GP teaching programme.
• Reference to the importance and function of the Trainee ePortfolio and the role of the multi-professional primary healthcare team in assessing trainee competence.
• An extension to the maximum period between re-approvals for GP trainers and GP training practices from three to five years.

In addition, several annexes of standards for educational supervisors, clinical supervisors and training programme directors have also been integrated into the new Academy of Medical Educators' Framework for the Professional Development of Postgraduate Medical Supervisors, which includes suggestions for the sort of evidence educators might provide to show compliance with the guidelines.

The College recommends that all deaneries and Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs) responsible for quality management use this guidance and that the GMC makes reference to it when quality assuring GP specialty training. The Royal College of General Practitioners