You’ll need to have an induction interview at the beginning of a new post to set objectives, and subsequent appraisals to track your progress.
This page sets out what you should expect and how to prepare.
Team observation forms
The TO1 form is a multi-source feedback tool based on the principles of good medical practice, as defined by the General Medical Council (GMC). TO1 forms are used to obtain feedback from a range of healthcare professionals and forms part of your assessment. The TO1 is a snapshot feedback tool to be used by individuals at a fixed point in time. Individual team members completing a TO1 form should do so based on their experience of you as a trainee.
The TO1 forms are summarised in a TO2 form, which informs your ARCP.
You’ll need to send out TO1 forms before your 4- and 8-month appraisal meetings with your Educational Supervisor, and before the meeting you have with your Educational Supervisor before your ARCP. Your Educational Supervisor may also send out additional TO1 forms as required.
TO1 form
You need to collate a minimum of 10 TO1 forms (send out more than 10 requests to ensure you receive an adequate number of responses). You’ll need to include:
- Your current supervising consultant(s) – at least 3 consultants
- Senior members of nursing and midwifery staff in different clinical areas – antenatal setting, labour ward, gynaecological wards and outpatient clinics, theatres (both obstetric and gynaecological)
- Trainees – a maximum of 3 (at all levels)
- Staff from other specialties outside of O&G – must be senior medical staff
- Specific individuals as directed by ARCP panel objectives
- TO1s should not be completed by groups of team members as this would render the tool invalid.
The process for completing TO1 forms is managed through your ePortfolio and works as follows:
- You and your Educational Supervisor/College Tutor decide together who to send the TO1 forms to
- You send out the forms using the Ticket Request function in the ePortfolio
- You’ll be able to see the number of forms that have been completed, but not the content; only your Educational Supervisor and College Tutor can see the content.
TO2 form
Your Educational Supervisor is usually responsible for collating the TO1 forms and generating a TO2 form for your ARCP or appraisal. You must keep all TO2 forms in your ePortfolio. Constructive feedback and appropriate support from your Educational Supervisor or College Tutor may also be required.
TO1s submitted by groups of individuals should not be used in collating the TO2.
If you receive a poor TO2 score (which includes either ‘unsatisfactory’/‘improvement needed’ or substantial negative comments in the free text sections), your Educational Supervisor or College Tutor should discuss with you how you can address the issues identified, and should also alert your Training Programme Director.
TO2 forms should generally be taken together with other evidence to determine your ARCP outcome. However, a particularly poor TO2 form alone could suggest an ARCP outcome 3.
