SAS posts are permanent posts with national terms and conditions and recognised career progression and pay thresholds.
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.
National terms and conditions state that job plans for SAS doctors should include at least one session (four hours/week) for "Supporting Professional Activities" – this is non-clinical time and should be used for activities such as CPD. This is similar to the consultant job planning process.
See the RCOG page Consultant job planning for guidance on supporting professional activities (SPAs) in the consultant job planning process, summarising the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) recommendations.
Additional resources
Employers of specialist doctor posts can find detailed guidance and tools in the following resources:
National and employer-specific guidance
Specialist role implementation
- 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