Advocacy for SAS doctors and the #SASsix

Published: 30/05/2024 | Author: Dr Ashwini Keshkamat and Dr Sunil Kumar

The College has recently endorsed the six principles of the SAS Collective, a group of Specialist, Associate Specialist and Specialty (SAS) doctors who – like the College and other membership organisations – are working to improve the careers and retention of doctors in the UK.  

SAS and locally employed doctors are the fastest growing groups of doctors in the UK. The NHS and millions of patients depend on us and yet we continue to face challenges specific to the SAS role. Some of these challenges are highlighted in the College’s recent manifesto, Anaesthesia: solutions for an NHS in crisis, which calls on political parties to expand on the commitments in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan to ensure SAS doctors are valued, respected, and treated fairly and consistently.  

Supporting and facilitating career progression 

The #SASsix principles reinforce much of what we are trying to achieve at the College through our work to advocate for SAS doctors. This work is led by our SAS Committee, who advise Council on all matters relating to SAS doctors. Our committee works closely with the SAS Committees of the Association of Anaesthetists and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges around our shared goals to encourage and facilitate the career development of SAS doctors. As members of the SAS Committee and elected Council members, we ensure the interests of SAS doctors are represented across all areas of the College’s work.   

For example, earlier this year we worked with the College’s Training, Curriculum and Assessment Committee to develop and publish best practice guidance on how doctors outside of formal training programmes should be supported within their departments. This builds on our earlier work to embed similar principles in The Good Department chapter of GPAS, which also aligns with the Association’s SAS handbook and the Academy’s SAS resources and guidance.  

SAS doctors as educators and leaders 

Our guidance includes recommendations that all locally employed and early career specialty doctors should be offered a nominated educational supervisor, and that specialists and experienced SAS doctors should be encouraged to become educational supervisors themselves. For more discussion of SAS doctors in educational roles, you might find our podcast on SAS doctors as educators an interesting listen.  

We also set out what departments need to put in place to ensure that all SAS doctors have access to professional development opportunities relevant to their career stage, reinforcing our earlier work with the Association to help departments understand what a good SAS Job Plan should be.  

Another important recommendation in our guidance is that departmental leadership and management roles should be open to all SAS doctors with the relevant experience. This is something that we have sought to ensure in access to opportunities for roles at the College too. We are fortunate, for example, to benefit from the expertise of SAS doctors as FRCA examiners and affiliate examiners, Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration assessors, clinical content leads for our events and many other roles.   

What are the #SASsix principles?  

The SAS Collective’s principles for improving the careers and retention of SAS doctors in the UK are:  

  • Every early career SAS doctor should have access to an educational supervisor. 

  • All SAS doctors should have equity of access to professional development opportunities relevant to their stage of career. 

  • All Specialty Doctors who meet the required capabilities should have the opportunity to become Specialists. 

  • Senior SAS doctors should be offered the opportunity to be educators at every level on a par with consultants e.g. educational supervisors, clinical supervisors, directors of medical education. 

  • All extended roles in leadership and management should be open to all substantive medical staff i.e. consultants AND appropriately experienced SAS doctors. 

  • All locally employed doctors employed for more than two years within one trust should be offered the opportunity to transfer to the appropriate SAS contract. 

As SAS doctors, we have a range of different backgrounds and routes into the specialty. Our roles, lives and achievements are diverse, as illustrated by the personal stories shared by our members. What we have in common is a huge amount of potential and a desire for equity, progression and fulfilment in our careers. We are working to ensure the College does all it can to achieve that.