Specialist doctor posts are created by employers in response to local service needs, and individual person specifications and job plans are created accordingly. Posts are advertised externally and appointed through open competitions.
Entry criteria
Specialist doctors (new contract) must have at least 12 years’ post-graduate experience in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 10 years’ experience in Scotland, at least six of which must be in the relevant specialty. They need to meet the criteria set out in the generic capabilities framework for specialist grade developed by the AoMRC, BMA and NHS employers.
Resources
The below resources are both for specialist doctors, and for specialty doctors interested in specialist doctor posts.
Specialist grade person specification:
- NHS Confederation – Specialist Grade: template person specification
- BMA and NHS Employers – Specialist grade appointment guidance: a template for collating evidence against the capabilities framework
Specialist post contracts:
- NHS Employers – SAS contract reform 2021
- NHS Employers – Terms and conditions and resources for SAS contracts reform 2021
- BMA – SAS Contracts
- BMA – Contract Checking Service
Support for specialist doctors:
- AoMRC – SAS: A viable career choice
- NHS Employers – SAS doctor development (this includes advise on coding work to SAS doctors)
- BMA – Autonomy of SAS grade
- AoMRC, BDA, BMA, HEE and NHS Employers: SAS Doctor Development - Summary of resources and further work
Resources for employers of specialist posts:
- NHS Employers and the BMA – Guidance on the establishment and introduction of the specialist role in England: an introduction to embedding the specialist grade into the workforce (October 2024)
- NHS Employers and the BMA – Joint statement on supporting employers to appoint specialist doctors (July 2022)
- NHS Employers – Checklist for employers
- NHS Employers – Implementation Guidance
- NHS Employers and BMA- Employing a SAS advocate