Frequently Asked Questions

A: Unfortunately, we are unable to share any consultant contacts outside what is available in our website. Please check the link below and select the speciality from the drop-down list under your desired speciality and reach out to the doctors of whose contacts are already available on the website.

You may write to the respective Consultant, expressing your interest in a clinical attachment.

Our Departments - University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire (uhcw.nhs.uk)

A: If you are temporarily suspended from your medical practice for a periodic or term time period, you must inform Medical Education office and the accepting consultant with evidence of your suspension details. Any related conversation or request for reference regarding to support your Tribunal hearing as required, need to be directly communicated with the supervising consultant and not through the Medical Education office.

A: If you are an International Medical Graduate seeking a placement opportunity with us, it would be identified as an application similar to the MTI (Medical Training Initiative) and this would be processed through Medical Education Office, unless you require a hands on experience.  Any placement that is beyond observation, or hands-on need to be processed through Medical Workforce office : MedicalWorkforceTeam@uhcw.nhs.uk

A: If you are an International Medical Graduate, the application process must start at least 4 months prior to your planned start date, which is also subject to completion of all ID checks and mandatory occupational health screening.

Except for WMS Students, all placement candidates must undergo mandatory occupational health screening which should take a minimum of 4 weeks.

A: Unfortunately, you are only allowed to be under the supervision of one Consultants under his respective speciality for a maximum of 2 – 4 weeks subject to the consultant availability. However, this may be reviewed, if the Consultants have accepted you.

A: The fee for the clinical placement is non-refundable, unless you have justifiable reasons for the refund request accompanied with sufficient evidence, such as cancellation of flights to the UK, rejection of UK visa etc.

A: The application can only be processed 3-4 months prior to your planned start date. Should your visa expire, you must provide us with a renewed UK visa in order to start your placement.

A:  A GMC Licence is not a required for you to apply for a clinical placement with us.

A: You must start the process at least 4 months prior to your planned start date.

For example; If you have planned your placement date in July, you should start the process at least 4 months prior to your visit, as the occupational health takes a maximum of 4 weeks to process. Once you obtain a UK visa, you must send it along with a valid passport copy to initiate the process. It is advisable to have your immunisation / vaccination reports to avoid any additional charges for occupational health screening.

It is advisable not to make any travel arrangements prior to obtaining the occupational health clearance or setting up a blood test appointment (if required), unless you have any other personal engagements planned in the UK.

A: Please follow the steps below if you are abroad and do not yet have a UK visa. If your UK visa status is not shared with the Medical Education office, and your registration fee paid, your application will be on hold and will not be processed. (the below steps are subject to change).

1. Apply for the UK visa.
2. Submit UK visa and other docs as requested to Medical Education MedicalEducation@uhcw.nhs.uk.
3. Your application will be processed on a first come first served basis.
4. You will be registered to the system for occupational health screening.
5. You will then receive a notification to complete the OH application further and submit (subject to change).
6. You will be notified about your occupational health clearance within 4 – 6 weeks.
7. If any immunisation assessments / blood tests are required by the Trust, the Occupational Health office will contact you for an appointment and a charge will be required as advised by the OH office. (Table of cost of all the tests will be supplied to you during Stage I).
8. Within 7-10 days of your appointment, your clearance will be confirmed, however, if you are partially cleared, you are still able to start your placement, but must complete the appointment in due course during your placement period.
9. Once cleared, the consultant availability and your availability are finalised and confirmed.
10. An honorary contract is issued for your electronic signature and security access will be requested to the Security Access Team. For Medical Electives, the ID badge will be paper based and issued by Medical Education Office.

A: We cannot confirm any start date until all documentation has been received, Occupational health clearance obtained and all mandatory checks completed. You will then be advised of your start date and reconfirm the availability of your supervising consultant.

Occupational Health Office
Room ACD40005, 4^th Floor, West Wing
University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
Clifford Bridge Road,
Coventry,
CV2 2DX

Location Map

Dermatology Consultants rotate between the two hospitals (Coventry & Rugby)

St. Cross Hospital, Rugby,
Barby Road,
Rugby,
CV22 5PX

Location Map

A police clearance certificate is a mandatory document. however, it is not a barrier to initiate the process for your occupational health clearance and must be submitted prior to commencing the placement. You can request it to the Government organisation of your home country.

A police clearance certificate, issued by a country outside the UK, is required for every country where the person has been present for 12 months or more, within a 10 year period prior to the application, since the person was aged 18 or over. The requirement for applicants to evidence their criminal record strengthens the existing process enabling us to establish whether the person has committed any offences overseas.

If you are in the UK for less than 3 months, you need to apply for a police clearance certificate from your home country or the country where you have lived for 10 years or more – as stated below.

A police clearance certificate, issued by a country outside the UK, is required for every country where the person has been present for 12 months or more, in the 10 year period prior to the application, while the person was aged 18 or over. The requirement for applicants to evidence their criminal record strengthens the existing process enabling us to establish whether the person has committed any offences overseas.

If you are in the UK for more than 3 months and / or you are seeking employment in the UK, you must complete both Police clearance from the country you lived more than 10 years and also a Standard DBS from the UK.

A Standard DBS: A standard DBS check is a criminal record check that shows information of all cautions, warnings and reprimands a person has. It is the middle level of DBS check available and can only be requested by employers or organisations for roles that require it. It is carried out by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in England and Wales, and Disclosure Scotland for north of the border. It is not required in the case of Medical Electives unless the candidate is a resident in the UK or been here for more than 3 months. More information could be found here below:

About us - Disclosure and Barring Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A: If you have been in the UK for more than 3 months and unemployed, we can support in applying a standard DBS for you. You must visit our office for document verification. Your original passport, original BRP card and original proof of address should be submitted for verification. And you will be notified on the next steps by the Medical Education MedicalEducation@uhcw.nhs.uk office.

A: No, however, it is usually accepted if it is less than 12 months old.

A:  We do not advise any information related to Immigration requirements, you may explore the links below for general information;

Do you require a visa

(https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa)

Extension of visa for attaches

Visit the UK as a Standard Visitor: When you can extend your stay - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Visiting the UK: guide to supporting documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A: If you have lost your childhood immunisation records, confirm it via email and also update the information on the healthcare declaration online application form. If there are any insufficient records, Occupational Health will arrange with you to book an appointment for immunisation assessment / blood tests, which you will be charged for (Table of cost of all the tests will be supplied to you during Stage I).

A: Once your Occupational health forms along with your Immunisation records are submitted to Occupational health office and have been verified, you will be contacted by them through the contact number or email address that you have provided on your form, to book an appointment for Triage. Once this is physically completed within 7- 10 days, you will be notified that you are completely cleared of your Occupational health Clearance.

There are some instances that you will be partially cleared to start your placement on an observing capacity only, however, you will be required to  complete the appointment during your placement at our Trust.

You will be required to bring your identification documents, such as passport, vaccination cards and immunisation records.

If you have need to start your placement urgently due to the expiry of your visa, or having booked return flight, please inform the nurse during your triage. Also please note there may be an additional occupational health fee should you require further testing.

• Occupational health screens for measles, rubella, varicella – you may provide these completed from your home country in your records to avoid any fees.
• Hep b antibody blood tests may also be checked, this can be completed only in the UK
• BCG scar may also be checked.

A:  Your Occupational Health Questionnaire will be triaged by our nursing team; therefore, you do not need to attend an appointment, unless you are contacted. If you are required to attend an appointment it will be for immunisations/blood tests and must be at Coventry or Rugby only.

• Occupational Health Office
  Room ACD40005, 4^th Floor, West Wing
  University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
  Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry, CV2 2DX

• St. Cross Hospital
  Barby Road, Rugby
  CV22 5PX
  

A:  Yes, if you do not to inform Occupationalhealth@uhcw.nhs.uk at least 48 hours prior to your appointment date in order to cancel or reschedule your appointment, you will be charged £23 on the day of your new appointment.

A: Yes, once you receive clearance from the occupational health office, you are OK to start any time, subject to availability of your assigned consultant and all mandatory documents and checks have been completed.

A:  Yes, the occupational health clearance is only valid for 6 months, so if you have passed this date you must reapply again, which will incur further charges.

A:  The Occupational Health will notify you to book a face-to-face appointment and then issue an adjusted clearance letter .

A: Your placement is an observing capacity only. So no EPP clearance is not required for these specialities.

A:  ED speciality generally requires EPP clearance due to observing vulnerable patients, however, if you do not require, you may advise that you do not require EPP to Medical Education office , and they will inform the OH office , and the clearance will be approved only for an observing capacity.

A: All surgical specialities, including Emergency speciality could offer Observership in theatres as well. However, you are permitted to enter for Observership into theatres only if you are EPP cleared.

Should you think you require theatre Observership, you may inform the Medical Education Office MedicalEducation@uhcw.nhs.uk that you require one and they will inform Occupational Health office to process an EPP clearance for you.

Emergency Medicine speciality generally requires EPP clearance, as you will be observing vulnerable patients, however, if you do not require, you will be then put into a schedule that only gives you limited exposure.

Please note that this may require you to complete any additional blood test which is chargeable.

A: Unfortunately we do not provide accommodation, any limited space is used for our Night shift consultants. We recommend browsing other agencies such as Airbnb, Spareroom, Rightmove, Zoopla, etc and check for student accommodation which should be more affordable.

A: If only related to the code of conduct of the candidate specifically,  please notify Medical Education MedicalEducation@uhcw.nhs.uk including the supervising consultant,  relevant action will then be applied.

A: Our courses are limited to internal staff and also accommodated based on capacity. However, you can write to Hewitt Debra (RKB) Administrator Debra.Hewitt@uhcw.nhs.uk for more information on this.

A: If you wish to enrol for a clinical audit during your placement, please contact AssuranceTeam@uhcw.nhs.uk to confirm your availability to schedule a session for you. You must clearly state your start date and end date and your supervising consultant in order to assign you with the most appropriate clinical audit.

A: We have the Trust Grand Round every Friday at the Lecture Theatre at UHCW, CSB Building, First Floor from 13:00pm until 14:00 pm with lunch provided.  This would be a great opportunity to participate and gain a learning experience and also an opportunity to collaborate with the staff and external guests.

Information regarding the Grand Round is available at Home (mededcoventry.org)

A: According to the Uniforms and workwear: guidance for NHS employers

It is recommended that the below alternatives could be allowed for those who are present within the patient care setting;

• Uniforms may include provision for sleeves that can be full length when staff are not engaged in direct patient care activity.
• Uniforms can have three-quarter length sleeves.
• Any full or three-quarter length sleeves must not be loose or dangling. They must be able to be rolled or pulled back and kept securely in place during hand-washing and direct patient care activity.
• Disposable over-sleeves, elasticated at the elbow and wrist, may be used but must be put on and discarded in exactly the same way as disposable gloves. Strict procedures for washing hands and wrists must still be observed.
• Where, for religious reasons, members of staff wish to cover their forearms or wear a bracelet when not engaged in patient care, ensure that sleeves or bracelets can be pushed up the arm and secured in place for hand washing and direct patient care activity.
• Headwear, for example, turbans and kippot, veils (Christian or niqab) and headscarves are permitted on religious grounds, provided that patient care, health and safety, infection control and security and safety of patients or staff is not compromised.

A: Please email Medical Education MedicalEducation@uhcw.nhs.uk to request your certificate and an electronic certificate will be issued.