1. What is the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme?

The Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme is an initiative that will offer a one off payment of £20,000 to GP trainees committed to working in a select number of training places in England that have been hard to recruit to for the past three years. These areas often have an extremely good track record for education, but are initially less popular simply because of their geographical location. However, those trainees that do come usually stay on after training, as they discover these locations’ hidden attractions.

2. Where are the hard the recruit training places?

Locations identified by Health Education England and NHS England for posts commencing between August 2020 and February 2021 are listed below:

DISCLAIMER: the information listed above may be subject to change and the number of TERS posts available in each location may not necessarily be equivalent to all posts available in the training programme. Applicants are be advised to contact the relevant Local Offices for further information. The appropriate contact details for each local office can be found via the Recruitment Leads & Programme Details page.

3. Why are these places so hard to fill?

There are a variety of reasons why these areas find it more difficult to attract trainees. Some are relatively remote from large towns, and as a result are not routinely used for medical school placement so are unfamiliar to doctors in training.

The quality of placements in such areas are at least equivalent to all other placements and are often more highly rated by trainees who work there. As these placements are often in smaller communities where a greater number of services need to be delivered locally rather than relying on large teaching hospitals, doctors working in these areas often receive an increased breadth of training and many more opportunities for diversification. Once you get there, you may well find that the lifestyle is much more relaxed than in our big cities.

4. How do I find out more about working in these areas?

Information relating to these areas is available via the Recruitment Leads & Programme Details page and by contacting the HEE Local Offices directly.

5. When will the payment be paid?

The payment will be paid upon starting the training post and will be administered by your employer on behalf the local Health Education England office where the appointment is based. An agreement will be implemented between the trainee and HEE for the payment.

6. Is the payment subject to tax?

The HMRC have advised that these payments will be subject to tax. If you believe you should be exempt from this tax you are advised to take financial advice and speak to your local Tax office.

7. How do I apply for the scheme?

Those interested in the scheme should review their preferences within their GP application within Oriel prioritising a ‘hard to recruit to’ training place and resubmit their preferred training locations by the national upgrade deadline for the round in question. In the event that any of the hard to recruit training places are oversubscribed, standard recruitment and selection processes for training places will be applied.

Those who opt to defer entry into their training programme will not be eligible to receive TERS payments unless the deferment is for statutory reasons e.g. maternity leave.

8. What happens if I leave the scheme early?

You will only receive your payment once you have signed an agreement to complete the three year placement, with no relocation option. Should you need to leave your training place before completing your three year placement, you would need to make a pro-rata repayment of the payment.

9. How were the training places identified for the scheme?

GP training directors identified those areas with consistently low fill rates over the last three years.