Midlands Job planning for Consultants and SAS Doctors underway
The Midlands NHS region has received funding to develop a Regional Job Planning Improvement Network and recruit Experts by Experience to support professional development across the region.
In September, NHS England launched Job Planning Guidance for Consultants and SAS (Specialist and Associate Specialist) doctors. To support implementation, a series of workshops were delivered to provider trusts across England, with selected Trusts allocated funding to lead the development of quality jobs plans aligned with productivity.
The plans will support the region to deliver against the following ambitions of the 2025/26 Medical Job Planning Improvement Programme:
- 95% of consultant and SAS job plans being signed off ahead of the next financial year
- 98% of activity within active job plans (from across the available consultant and SAS workforce) is tracked and delivered in 25/26
- Trusts and ICSs track relevant activity being delivered by their consultant and SAS workforce
All the mental health Trusts across the Midlands have come together to bid for the funding for 2025/26, led by Dr Bhanu Chadalavada, Medical Director at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and Dr Girish Kunigiri, Chief Medical Officer at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Kunigiri, who is also a member of the national Multidisciplinary Task and Finish Group for developing Mental Health Job Planning Guidance, said:
"In July 2025, a regional session brought together medical directors from Midlands mental health trusts to discuss the key themes and challenges in mental health job planning. Recruitment is now under way for sessional consultants and SAS doctors with experience in job planning (Experts by Experience) as well as a dedicated Project Manager. Experts by Experience will lead and deliver job planning surgeries and masterclasses, as well as ensure Job Planning Consistency Committees are in place for all providers.
"A series of stakeholder workshops is also being planned to offer support to mental health trusts to improve the compliance and quality of job planning across Midlands."