London Intensive Care Medicine Trainee Representatives

The Pan-London Intensive Care Medicine programme provides high quality training in teaching centres throughout the Capital which equips trainees with the skills and experience needed to meet the challenges and demands of the NHS today and tomorrow. The diverse nature of London's population offers unparalleled clinical exposure. ICM trainees undertake training placements in world renowned centres of excellence across the capital including district general hospitals, teaching hospitals, research units and specialist tertiary referral hospitals.

The London programme has more than 200 trainees who enter higher specialist ICM training from core training programmes and equivalence pathways.

Both single and dual (anaesthesia, emergency medicine, renal, respiratory and acute medicine) specialty training are well represented and each trainee undertakes a bespoke and individually tailored programme designed to meet their training needs and personal career ambitions.

London ICM training sites include:

• Barnet Hospital

• Charing Cross Hospital

• Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

• Great Ormond Street Hospital

• Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital

• Hammersmith Hospital

• Homerton University Hospital

• King's College Hospital

• Kingston Hospital

• National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, Queen Square

• Newham Hospital

• Northwick Park Hospital

• Queen's Hospital, Romford

• St Bartholomew's Hospital

• St George's Hospital

• St Helier Hospital

• St Mary's Hospital

• The Royal Brompton Hospital

• The Royal Free Hospital

• The Royal London Hospital

• The Royal Marsden Hospital

• University College London Hospital

• University Hospital Lewisham

• Whipp's Cross Hospital

For more information on specific Intensive Care Units please refer to the Regional Post Information & Unit Briefs

The new ICM Curriculum: Supporting Excellence was implemented on 4 August 2021.  All ICM Specialty Registrars (StRs) single CCT and dual, moved to the new ICM curriculum except for those within 12 calendar months of attaining their Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) who wished to remain on the 2010 Curriculum. 

Information regarding the 2021 and previous ICM curricula (including transition guidance, key dates & documents) can be found on the FICM Website.

Please use this resource to ensure your are familiar with the curriculum and capability outcomes that need to be achieved and evidence in training.

In each training placement (whether an ICM or dual specialty post) trainees should be assigned an ICM educational supervisor (ES) who will be able to provide local support and guidance.  If you are not placed in an ICM programme post (i.e. you are in your partner specialty) then it is likely that your Faculty Tutor is unaware of you and you will need to contact them to arrange an ICM ES.  If you experience any problems, please contact your Regional Advisor or TPD.

Your ES is responsible for the overall supervision and management of a doctor’s educational progress during a placement or a series of placements. Trainees should regularly meet with their ICM Educational Supervisor (at the start, middle and end of a placement as a minimum) to review progress and achievement of learning outcomes. They are also responsible for the educational agreement, and for bringing together all relevant evidence to form a summative judgement about progression at the end of the placement or a series of placements. If at any stage, you are concerned or running into difficulty, please contact your ES, Faculty Tutor (FT) or TPD as soon as possible.

Special Skills Year (SSY)

The LSICM supports single specialty ICM trainees in their choice of a Special Skills Year. On joining the programme we recommend that you read the FICM handbook and have a think about which SSY you would like to undertake and then discuss this with your ES and Stage 2 TPD. The Stage 2 TPD will seek your top three SSY preferences at least one year in advance of commencement. Should a placement be over-subscribed, your ranking at national recruitment will be used to allocate placements.                 

LSICM can likely support any SSY in the curriculum but if not, we can help identify a suitable placement which can be undertaken as an OOPT (subject to GMC and FICM approval). 

Please be aware that ICM SSY's only form part of the single specialty ICM curriculum. If you are a dual trainee and wish to undertake this experience, you can do this by arranging an OOPE or post-CCT fellowship.  

It is a requirement of training programmes that an Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP) is undertaken each year.  In the London School of ICM, we try to align the timing of your annual ICM ARCP with critical progression points; e.g. end of stage.  This means your ARCP may not be at the end of an academic year. 

If you are a dual trainee, please also be aware you will have an ARCP in both specialities on an annual basis and only your ICM portfolio can be accessed and reviewed at the ICM ARCP.  The ICM Operations Team will email you with the intended ARCP date and what information/evidence is required so please keep an eye out for this communication and read it carefully.  All ICM ARCP’s are held in absentia.

Whilst the ARCP process can seem quite daunting, it should be relatively straightforward with steady preparation during each academic year.  In addition to regular meetings with your Educational Supervisor (ES), we recommend liaising with your Faculty Tutor. As soon as you are made aware of your ARCP date so they can support you in your ARCP preparation and compile & submit an Educational Supervisor’s Structured Report (ESSR) with plenty of notice.

The exact requirements for each year’s ARCP will depend on your stage of training.  There is excellent ICM ARCP Guidance and ARCP checklist on the FICM website. 

For the purposes of revalidation you will also need to upload a Form R which outlines your full scope of practice (including any additional work, paid or not, which requires GMC registration). This applies even if you are on statutory leave or out of programme.

Please note the following and avoid common pitfalls:

• You will receive a comprehensive email from the NHSE Operations Team outlining what you need to submit for your ARCP.  Please read this carefully and include everything detailed in the communication.
• The Educational Supervisors Structured Report is a vital and essential piece of information which helps inform the ARCP panel and anything that needs to be viewed by the panel must be linked to the ESSR. 
• Please be aware that the “Document Store” cannot be viewed ARCP panels
• The ESSR must cover the full date range from your previous ARCP – linked evidence outside the date range is not visible to an ARCP panel.
• Please ensure you link a logbook summary.  The panel will want to view cumulative numbers of procedures and as well as numbers of procedures undertaken since your last ARCP.  FICM has a number of recommended logbook resources.
• All evidence including the Form R must be linked before submission and Educational Supervisor & FT “sign off” otherwise it cannot be viewed by the ARCP panel.
• Please ensure you upload the Form R itself (not the notification of completion of form R). The link to complete the Form R can be found in your ARCP invite.
• If you are a Dual Anaesthesia/ICM trainee, please be aware that the panel can only view evidence in your ICM portfolio (even if you have linked it through from your anaesthesia portfolio to your ICM ESSR).  Therefore, any evidence in your anaesthetic portfolio which needs to be reviewed by the ICM ARCP Panel needs to be loaded onto the ICM section of LLP and linked accordingly.
• You will be notified via the Lifelong Learning Platform when your outcome form has been completed by the ARCP panel. Please remember to review this form and accept it. The panel will provide feedback on the form, please note any objectives and if a provisional next ARCP date under 1 year has been set by the panel. If you are unsure of any of the comments on the form or objectives that have been set, please discuss these with your TPD. 

More information on ARCP’s & FAQ’s can be found on the PGMDE Support Portal. 

End of Stage

Your end of stage will be assessed at an ARCP as well as the usual evidence. The panel will be looking to see completion of the curricular requirements documented in HiLLOs and acquisition of the FFICM for the end of Stage 2.  If you are unsure of your current end of stage date then please contact your TPD. 

When you have successfully completed your end of stage, the ARCP panel will confirm that your end of stage date and that a certificate can be issued. They will ask you to send an end-of-stage certificate ticket to your regional advisor (which should include this date). There are 5 regional advisors covering London (NW, NC, NE, SW and SE), and for the purposes of your end of stage certificate we’ll advise you to contact the RA that is local to your Trust. Please carefully read your ARCP outcome form for this information.

Regional Training Days RTDs are organised by LSICM and FICM trainers.. There are 10 half day (2pm - 5pm) sessions per annum, being held once a month excluding August and January.

Each hospital that receives LSICM trainees organises a half day programme for the school.  These may be held via MS Teams, face to face or a hybrid format. The Healthcare Education team assist in organising publication of the agenda and will also help with the smooth transition between talks and speakers. ICM trainees must register to access the London School of Intensive Care Medicine RTD catalogue on the NHS Learning Hub to view previous training day content.

The training days are delivered as a two year rolling programme covering the entire Intensive Care Medicine curriculum.

For all Regional Training Day and event information please access the Events Calendar section of the website by clicking here. Once on the calendar use the search functions on the calendar to find the RTD programme or event required. 

Please contact Dr De la Cerda (RTD TPD) or the Health Education Team via the PGMDE Support Portal for any queries about the RTD programme.

London ICM Regional Training Days Timetable

NHS England London have published lists per specialty on the PGMDE Support Portal which detail the courses Schools consider mandatory to support curriculum requirements and those that are optional. 

For more information about Study Leave - click here.

The London School of ICM course list can be found here

In the event you wish to undertake a course outside the mandatory and optional lists please make a prospective application following the discretionary course process. This includes seeking support from your TPD.  Please email the TPD and include the points below which provides details of the course, estimated costs and justification for attending the course and justification if it is outside of London.  If your TPD approves your request it will be sent to the HoS for approval before final approval is given. If at any point along the approval process your request is declined you will be emailed and informed why.

Details to be included for DISCRETIONARY STUDY LEAVE REQUEST

• Name of course
• Course location
• Course dates
• Course fees
• Estimated travel/accommodation expenses
• Justification for attending the course*, linked to trainee’s PDP and learning objectives and confirmation that the trainee has not already received funding for an international event during the current period of training (i.e. Foundation or core or higher training programmes, trainees in run through or dual programmes can apply for international events every 3 years as a maximum)
• Justification for attending a course located outside of London, Kent, Surrey & Sussex.

* Please note that trainees seeking leadership training should in the first instance be encouraged to access the free NHS Leadership Academy Edward Jenner or the LEEP programme delivered by an NHS Trust or HEE and should only consider other options when these courses are not available. Please confirm you have explored these options in your application.

Returning to training following a period of absence

Trainees who have been out of training for a while, regardless of reason can access Support Return to Training (SuppoRTT) resources.  The scheme aims to support all trainees to safely and confidently return to training after a sustained period of absence of three months or more.  Those absent for a shorter period may also opt in.  Returning trainees are eligible for courses are not covered by the usual study leave process and they are able to claim for funding for supernumerary sessions.  Each trust has SRTT champion as does each school.

All trainees anticipating time out of training should meet with their educational supervisor pre absence, about 12-16 weeks pre return and as soon as possible following return to work to design a personalised return to work package.  There are 3 helpful forms that support these discussions and need to be be completed by trainee.  Please click here for more information.

The forms are also used to apply for funding which can include supervised clinical sessions.  Please make use of this as needed.  (Most ICM trainees finding undertaking a period of supernumerary practice, including sessions in theatres to brush up their technical skillset, extremely helpful.  This is usually organised at a local level using SuppoRTT scheme funding or carried out on KIT/SPLIT days). RCOA also offer return to work courses however please be aware they are very popular and frequently over subscribed, so careful advance planning is needed.

Dual trainees may have additional concerns regarding return to practice in there partner specialty, especially if they are leaving from and returning to ICM placement.  Dual trainees planning a period of absence should link up with both programme's ES/TPD SuppoRTT champions so all return to specialty needs are addressed.

Other useful resources

FICM "return to practice webpage"  This includes the FICM 2020 Return to work document which contains a useful framework to help guide conversations.

BMA: Returning to work and your rights as a working parent

Please use the england.acpenquirieslondon@nhs.net inbox for any queries or messages for the HEE Advancing Practice team.

Useful resources:

The Centre for Advancing Practice

Further information regarding ACCP training and Careers

ACCPs