Workforce, training and education
Yorkshire and Humber

ACF Neurology ST3 - Themed Posts (Sheffield)

 

The University of Sheffield, in partnership with NHS England North East and Yorkshire and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, has developed an exciting pathway of academic clinical training opportunities.

Applications are now invited for an Academic Clinical Fellowship in Neurology at ST3 level from August 2024. This new post has been created as part of the NHS England (NHSE)/National Institution for Health Research programme of Integrated Academic Training and offers candidates a comprehensive experience of clinical academic medicine working alongside internationally renowned clinicians and researchers.



The following posts are available:

One post in Neurology - Theme: Dementia

One post in Neurology - Theme: Mental Health



Please note: This is a multi-specialty vacancy; an appointment may not be made in this specialty.

There will be:

  • 1 ACF post in either Neurology or General Psychiatry – Mental Health 
  • 1 ACF post in either Neurology or Clinical Radiology - Dementia



Please read through all the relevant information available on the NHS England North East and Yorkshire ACF Webpage and associated links before beginning your application (link available through Oriel).

Applications open at 10am on 6th October 2023 and the closing date is 4pm on 1st November 2023. You will not be able to submit your application after this time. Please ensure that you have completed all the relevant sections of the application forms as missing information will deem your application incomplete and it will not be considered.

Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACFs) are 3 year fixed-term national training posts. They attract an NTN(A) and trainees undertake 75 % clinical and 25% academic training over the term of the post. They are employed by the NHS Trust and have an honorary contract with the University at whose Medical School their academic research is supported.

ACF trainees also undertake a Research Training Programme provided by the University for which funding is provided by NIHR. They also are eligible for a £1,000 bursary per year to support research training activity (e.g. to attend academic conferences).

The Clinical Academic Programme at Sheffield has recently introduced a competitive ACF pump-priming award. Trainees can apply for up to £2000 for initial costs for work aimed at achieving a research fellowship.

ACF trainees would also normally complete and submit an external funding application for a research fellowship to enable them to complete a higher degree (PhD or research MD) following the completion of their ACF fixed-term post, which would be completed as Out-of-Programme-Research (OOPR).

All Academic Clinical Fellowships are run-through posts, regardless of specialty, with the exception of ‘Medical Education’ ACFs.  A trainee entering ACF in a specialty during a Core Training period would therefore be guaranteed continued training to CCT in the eventual specialty, as long as they progress satisfactorily through both their academic and clinical training. Run-through status is withdrawn if ACFs do not complete the academic component.

We advise all applicants to read through all the relevant information available on the NHS England North East and Yorkshire Neurology ACF Webpage and associated links before beginning your application through Oriel.

Including

  • The Job Description
  • The Person Specification
  • The Timeline
  • Interview Structure and location

The qualifications and professional registration requirements plus other eligibility criteria can be found in the person specification. The person specification for this specialty is available from the Specialty Training website.

Please upload all required evidence of competences to your online application form when completing the application form online. For those experiencing difficulties when uploading evidence, please ensure you email the evidence to the following email address by the application deadline: academicrec.yh@hee.nhs.uk  with “your name” and “competencies” in the title of the email.

Please note:  ST3-level applicants - Only trainees who hold a Deanery Reference Number in the penultimate year of Internal Medical Training (CT2) or ACCS acute medicine (CT3) are eligible to apply. Trainees who have either: completed Core Medical Training, IMT training or ACCS-AM, are in the final year of IMT or ACCS-AM, or have alternative experience outside of UK training, are not eligible to apply.

Trainees currently in the penultimate year of their core programme who are successful in gaining an ST3-level ACF programme will start their first year by completing IMY3.  Assuming internal medicine stage 1 is completed successfully, they will then run-through into their higher specialty at ST4-level.  There is no requirement for the trainees in this category to clinically benchmark as they will be carrying on with completing their IMT programme.

The Postgraduate Dean confirms that this placement and / or programme has the required educational and Dean’s approval.

Applications are equally open to those who may, either from the outset or subsequently, wish to train less than full time or job share.

Please note that there is a strict application policy that applications cannot be accepted after the deadline.

Pay scales          

All trainees should be paid monthly at the rates set out in the national terms and conditions of service for hospital medical and dental staff and doctors in public health medicine and the community health service (England and Wales), “the TCS”, as amended from time to time. The pay scales are reviewed annually. Part-time posts will be paid pro-rata.

Current rates of pay for junior doctors may be viewed on the NHS Employers website

Enquiries

Further information regarding NHS England North East and Yorkshire ACF vacancies is available from the NHSE North East and Yorkshire Recruitment webpages

For any queries that cannot be answered by the methods above please contact; academicrec.yh@hee.nhs.uk  with “your name” and the “Question area” in the title of the email.

For further national information please visit the Specialty Training Website

Further sources of information

Details of the recruitment process are provided below.

Recruitment Timeline

The recruitment process for this Academic Clinical Fellow post will follow the timeline below:*

    • Applications Open - 10am Friday 6 October 2023
    • Applications Close - 4pm Wednesday 1 November 2023
    • Interview Window - Monday 6 November 2023 to Friday 12 January 2024
    • Initial Offers out** - Thursday 18 January 2024
    • Hold Deadline** - Thursday 25 January 2024

*Please note that all dates are indicative and subject to change.

Applications

Applications will only be accepted through the Oriel online application system.

For guidance on creating an account, registering and submitting your application using the system please refer to the Oriel Applicant User Guide which can be downloaded from the Oriel Resource Bank.

Application Deadline

The deadline for submitting applications is 4pm Wednesday 1 November 2023. After this time no applications will be accepted. There will be no exceptions to this deadline. You are advised to complete and submit your application ahead of the deadline to allow for any unforeseen problems.

Eligibility & Longlisting

Applicants for this post will be required to meet the relevant Clinical eligibility criteria for the appropriate specialty and level listed at:-

AND the Academic eligibility criteria listed at:

It is an applicant’s responsibility to demonstrate that they meet the eligibility criteria. All applications will be assessed against the eligibility criteria during longlisting. Any applications which do not meet the eligibility criteria will be longlisted out of the process and will not progress to the next stage.

For more information about eligibility please refer to the Applicant Handbook and the NIHR website.

Please note: Applicants who submit the competency form within the application window will only have 1 opportunity to resubmit incomplete or inaccurate competency documents. Applicants who fail to submit a competency document during the application window will only have 1 subsequent opportunity to submit the form. Please therefore ensure that you have thoroughly read the guidance and checked the document you are providing carefully before submitting.

Please note: By allowing applicants to progress to the interview stage, Health Education England working across Yorkshire and the Humber DOES NOT accept or confirm that applicants meet all eligibility requirements. This includes immigration status, evidence of achievement of core competencies or equivalent, and requisite length of time in training as per the national person specification. This list is not exhaustive, and is applicable to all eligibility criteria.

Applicants may still be withdrawn from the application process at any stage, including after the interviews have taken place, if the evidence pertaining to an eligibility criterion is found to be unsatisfactory by Health Education England working across Yorkshire and the Humber.

Shortlisting

Shortlisting will take place following the completion of longlisting. Where possible we aim to give applicants at least one week's notice to attend an interview. However, unforseen delays in shortlisting mean this is not always possible.

Interviews

Interview Dates and Venue

The interviews for this post will take place on a date to be confirmed Online via Microsoft Teams.

 

Documents Required at Interview

You will be required to send a copy of your passport prior to your interview.

These documents will be checked against a checklist and the photocopies will be retained on your recruitment file. If you are appointed to a training post, these documents will be transferred to your trainee file.

 

Interview Format

The interviews will consist of a single panel interview with both academic and clinical components. The interview panel will be made up of academic and clinical panel members.

Offers

All recruitment offices will be using Oriel to make offers to Academic Clinical Fellow training posts. Oriel can be accessed at https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/ 

Please refer to the Oriel Applicant User Guide which can be downloaded from the Oriel Resource Bank for further information about receiving and responding to offers.

Receiving and Responding to Offers

If you are offered a post you will have 48 hours from the time of your offer, including weekends and bank holidays, to decide whether to accept, reject or hold it. You must respond to the offer through the UK Offers System. No other form of response will be accepted.

IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND TO YOUR OFFER WITHIN 48 HOURS, THE OFFER WILL EXPIRE AND THE POST WILL BE OFFERED TO ANOTHER APPLICANT. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY FURTHER OFFERS.

Any offer made through this recruitment process is an offer of an allocation to a training programme; it is not an offer of employment. Offers of employment can only be by an employing organisation following completion of satisfactory pre-employment checks.

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