Certificate of Eligibility for
Specialist Registration (CESR) - Article 14
The General and Specialist Medical Practice (Education,
Training and Qualifications) Order 2003
The General and
Specialist Medical Practice (Education, Training and
Qualifications) Order 2003 came into force on 30 September 2005.
This Order provides for the regulation of postgraduate
medical education and training for specialist and general medical
practice: the Order implements obligations under Directive
2005/36/EC 20 October 2007 to facilitate the free movement of
doctors and the mutual recognition of their diplomas, certificates
and other evidence of formal qualifications.
Part 1 of the Order makes
provision for commencement and interpretation of the Order
(articles 1 and 2 and Schedule 1).
Part 2 of the Order
creates a body, the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training
Board ("the Board"), which is required to set standards of
postgraduate medical education and training and to put in place
arrangements to ensure that they are met (article 3 and Part 1 of
Schedule 2). The Order creates two statutory committees of the
Board: the Training Committee and the Assessment Committee (article
3(7) and Part 2 of Schedule 2).
Part 3 of the Order
provides for the Board to set standards and requirements that have
to be satisfied before a doctor can be awarded a Certificate of
Completion of Training ("CCT") as a general practitioner or a
specialist (article 4). Any such standards or requirements
established by the Board must comply with prescribed minimum
requirements, which includes the requirements for general practice
and specialist training set out in EU Directive
2005/36/EC. The Board may award CCTs (article 8).
Part 4 makes provision
for the General Medical Council (GMC) to maintain a General
Practitioner Register (article 10) and a Specialist Register
(article 13). It sets out the categories of doctors who are
eligible for entry in each of the Registers (articles 11, 12 and 14
and Schedules 6 and 7). The Specialist Register replaces the
register of specialists maintained by the GMC under the European
Specialist Medical Qualifications Order 1995.
Article 14 describes
specific conditions that a doctor must meet to be regarded as an
eligible specialist for the purposes of inclusion in the Specialist
Register.
What is Article
14 and what are the eligibility requirements?
Article 14 provides a
route for doctors who do not hold a Certificate of Completion of
Training (CCT) to obtain specialist registration. They must
satisfy the PMETB that their specialist training or specialist
qualifications, when considered together, are equivalent to a CCT
in the specialty in question. Doctors who have undertaken a
minimum of 6 months training or obtained a specialist qualification
and acquired specialist medical experience or knowledge as a
psychiatrist within a non-training post,, and are currently
practising, may apply to the PMETB for assessment of their
competences.
Role of the College
The College’s role is to
evaluate individual applications for Specialist Registration in
Psychiatry and send recommendations to the PMETB. The College
works closely with the PMETB to ensure that a robust system of
assessment is established.
To achieve this, the
College:
a) determines criteria reflecting training
requirements for doctors applying for the inclusion in the
Specialist
Register
b) evaluates individual applications for
the inclusion in the Specialist Register
c) must be satisfied that the applicant
demonstrates an equivalent level of competence to that of a UK
qualified specialist
holding a CCT (Certificate of Completion of Training)
Routes to the
inclusion in the Specialist Register of the General Medical
Council
Since 1 January 1997 it
has been a legal requirement that, in order to take up a consultant
post (other than a locum consultant appointment) in a medical or
surgical specialty in the UK health service a doctor must be
included in the Specialist Register. The only exceptions are
doctors who held a consultant post (other than a locum consultant
post) in oral and maxillo-facial surgery in the UK health service
immediately before 1 January 1997.
Although not a legal
requirement, generally speaking, doctors wishing to work
unsupervised in private practice in the UK will also need to hold
specialist registration. This is because the major private health
providers and insurance companies only recognise doctors whose
names are included in the Specialist Register.
The Specialist Register
is maintained by the GMC. Individual recommendations for
inclusion in the Specialist Register are submitted to the GMC by
the PMETB following the College evaluation.
The PMETB supervises
(approves) specialist training in the UK and doctors who complete
their specialist training in this country are awarded a Certificate
of Completion of Training or a CCT.
International/European Doctors
EU nationals with some
specialist training in another European member state can enter UK
training at any level and have their previous training counted for
the award of a CCT. However, they need to provide
confirmation of this from the competent authority of the relevant
European Country that this training meets the minimum requirements
of Directive 2005/36/EC. They will need to present this
evidence when attending interviews for posts above ST1 (Specialty
Training Year 1). This confirmation is then treated in the same way
as having training in a PMETB approved training post.
Doctors who qualified as
specialists in countries other than EEA member states and meet the
required criteria may be eligible to enter the Specialist Register
by obtaining the Certificate of Eligibility for the Specialist
Register (CESR – the Article 14 equivalence route).
Eligibility for a CCT
depends on completion of training which meets PMETB requirements in
every respect. Under the current legislation, time spent in
career grade posts does not satisfy these legal requirements and
cannot be counted towards compliance with the standards and
requirements for a CCT. Therefore, doctors who have spent any
time in posts not approved for training purposes by the Board
cannot be awarded a CCT when they transfer to specialist training
at anywhere above ST1.
This means that doctors
who have moved between specialist career posts and training posts
cannot be awarded a CCT but, if they meet the required standards,
would be eligible for specialist registration through the CESR
route. The same situation applies to doctors who have
undertaken specialist training overseas, not prospectively approved
as part of a UK specialist training programme, who enter a
programme anywhere above ST1.
In contrast, doctors who
move from a fixed term specialist training post into a specialist
training programme at year 2 or above will be eligible for a CCT,
provided PMETB has approved the fixed term posts which they have
held and their training is relevant to the CCT programme they
enter.
Applying for a Certificate of
Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) - Article
14
Completed PMETB application forms must
be sent directly to PMETB, whose address will be at the top of the
form. Any enquiries about the administrative process should be made
to PMETB via e-mail article14@pmetb.org.uk or
addressed to PMETB's offices which are at Hercules House, Hercules
Road, London SE1 7DU.
Please refer to the following links
for application advice and criteria.
This link will take you to
College questions and answers regarding Article 14
Specialty Specific Guidance
2010
- Child And Adolescent Psychiatry - Pending
- Forensic Psychiatry - Pending
- Old Age Psychiatry - Pending
- Psychiatry Of Learning Disability -
Pending
- Psychotherapy - Pending
All questions regarding specialty
specific curriculums must be submitted to the College in writing.
We are unable to provide advice over the telephone or in
person.
Please submit queries to:
Miss L Hartley
Administrator for CESR - Article 14
The Royal College of Psychiatrists
17 Belgrave Square
London
SW1X 8PG
Fax: +44 (0)20 7235 7976
Email: lhartley@rcpsych.ac.uk