Innovative training posts: Trust-attached general practice registrars

The education of general practitioners (GPs) in hospital senior house officer (SHO) posts has long been criticised due to the heavy service commitment, the lack of relevance of teaching to primary care and the limited contact with general practice during the hospital years. Over a one-year period 31 hospital 'trust-attached GP registrar' or 'TAG' posts were designed and piloted as an alternative to the traditional hospital-based model of training. This paper describes and evaluates the first six-month cohort of 18 posts. All posts were found to have achieved their aim of increased contact with primary care and outpatients for GP SHOs. In addition, there was an increase in teaching relevant to general practice, and when trainee satisfaction scores were compared with those of existing, 'traditional' posts, they were found to be higher. In conclusion, the trust-attached GP registrar (TAG) posts have been found to be an improvement on traditional GP vocational training SHO posts, and this type of innovative training post is now widely offered throughout Severn and Wessex.