Who's who in the NHS?
Working in the UK involves familiarising yourself with a bewildering number of organisations. Here we provide a concise guide to the ones you will encounter during your job application.
General Medical Council
The General Medical Council is the UK's regulatory body for doctors. You must have registration with the GMC to practice in the UK. For IMGs, the routes for doing so are via exams (eg. PLAB / MRCS / MRCP / FRCS etc) or sponsorship.
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the union for doctors working the UK. Their primary role is to advocate for doctors, for example giving you representation if you have a conflict with your employer. You do not need to join the BMA to work in the NHS, though you will find that a large proportion of doctors are members.
Medical Protection Society, Medical Defence Union, others
The Medical Defence Unions are bodies which represent doctors in case of medico-legal problems. They are also referred to as indemnity insurance providers. Typically, your NHS employer will have their own medicolegal insurance, which will offer you cover during your work in the NHS. However, most doctors have their own indemnity also, this is particularly relevant in cases where you might be in conflict with your employer or where you have offered medical care to a member of the public in an emergency (a Good Samaritan act).
Health Education England/
NHS Education Scotland/ Northern Ireland Medical & Dental Training Agency / Health Education & Improvement Wales
These bodies are responsible for postgraduate medical education in each of the 4 UK nations. They will run recruitment for training posts at pre-determined times each year (i.e. Foundation Training / Core Training / Speciality Training). In England, the country is split into Deaneries, each is considered a training region and containing a number of hospitals. Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland are considered geographic Deaneries in their own right. Deaneries will be further split into regions. Whilst in a training programme, you will typically rotate through most of the hospitals in your region.
Whilst these bodies recruitment and run the training programmes, the actual training (and work!) takes place in hospitals within each region - this will be your place of work, and often, your employer.
Trusts/ Health Boards
Trusts/Health Boards are public facing entities providing healthcare. Each hospital will form part of a Trust / Health Board. Typically each Trust / Health Board will have their own employment policies, induction, occupational health department, human resources department and IT services. If you work in a non training grade, you will usually be employed directly by a Trust / Health Board.
If you are a trainee, in some regions, there is a Lead Employer such that you are employed by one Trust / Health Boards throughout the course of your training, but rotate to other Trusts / Health Boards.
Royal Colleges
The medical Royal Colleges are professional bodies who play a role in medical education and training, setting standards and developing standards and guidance. The Royal Colleges will set exams such as the MRCOG/ MRCGP / MRCP / FRCS etc, determining the standard of medical education required to progress in, or complete medical training.
You do not need to be a member of a College to practice medicine in the UK, though you need to be a member to sit some exams and to use postnominals after your name in a professional capacity.