Free tools / Changeover and notice dates
Free tool · for programme directors and rota teams
Changeover and notice dates
Each coming changeover, the last day before it, and the dates the Code of Practice says doctors must be told by. Rotation months differ by specialty and region, so choose yours, or enter any start date.
February and August, on the first Wednesday, is the pattern for anaesthetics in England. Check your own programme's rotation dates with your deanery.
Subscribe to these dates
Every changeover and its 12-, 8- and 6-week deadlines appear in your calendar, ten years ahead, and stay up to date on their own.
Each deadline is that number of weeks before the changeover. "Add to calendar" adds one changeover's three deadlines and the changeover as all-day events, made on your device; "Subscribe" above adds them all and keeps them current.
What is due when
The Code of Practice on the provision of information for postgraduate medical training (England, 2017) sets three notice points before a doctor starts a placement:
- 12 weeks: the deanery (NHS England's local office) tells the doctor and the employer about the placement: the post and its level, the employer, the site, the start date and how long it lasts.
- 8 weeks: the employer sends the post's details, including hours and on-call pattern, pay, leave and supervisors, and the generic work schedule. Under the 2016 terms and conditions the 8-week work schedule is contractual.
- 6 weeks: the employer sends the duty roster, which is the doctor's actual rota slot.
The full walk-through, including who is responsible and what to do when a deadline is missed, is in our guide to Code of Practice notice periods.
When do rotations change?
It depends on the specialty and the region. Most specialty training in England starts on the first Wednesday of August, and some programmes, including anaesthetics, also rotate in February. Others rotate at different points in the year, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own dates. Choose the months your programme uses above.
Why anaesthetics training ends on a Tuesday
A placement runs up to the day before the next changeover, so a doctor finishing at a Wednesday changeover finishes on the Tuesday. The RCoA's CCT date calculator moves an anaesthetics completion date within six days of the February or August changeover to that Tuesday. Work out a date with the free CCT date calculator.