Appendix H Source and update note
Edition control
Edition and source-lock date: First digital edition — 12 September 2026
Sources checked through: 12 September 2026
Corrections page reviewed for this edition: 12 September 2026
This handbook distinguishes durable explanations from rules that may change. The bibliography records sources used in preparing this edition, but a citation does not guarantee that a webpage, form, fee, threshold, policy or procedure remains current when the reader acts. Follow the source navigator, locate the live document and retain its version or date.
High volatility material
Recheck immediately before relying on:
- national contract amendments, pay circulars and job-planning procedures;
- Welsh or Scottish Specialist progression and regrading policies;
- advertised person specifications and local recruitment requirements;
- GMC Portfolio Pathway fees, evidence rules and specialty guidance;
- GMC fitness-to-practise decision guidance and procedural stages;
- appraisal and revalidation delivery arrangements;
- pension forms, retirement conditions and administrator deadlines;
- annual-allowance thresholds, tax rules and lump-sum allowances; and
- employment, appeal, tribunal or court deadlines.
Corrections and updates
The companion site at sasdoctors.com should be consulted for the published corrections record, updated official links and accessible versions of selected tools. A correction should state the affected edition, page or chapter, the original wording where necessary, the corrected position, the source and the date of change. A silent website amendment must not be treated as correction of a printed edition.
Readers identifying a possible error should provide the edition, precise location and a link or copy of the relevant authoritative source. Personal cases and confidential documents should not be submitted through a general website form. Questions requiring individual employment, regulatory, legal, pension, tax or financial advice should be taken to the appropriate adviser.
Reader verification record
Question or decision: ________________________________________
Book section consulted: _____________________________________
Live official source and date checked: _______________________
Change or correction identified: _____________________________
Individual advice obtained from: _____________________________
Decision and review date: ___________________________________
The purpose of updating is not to make a printed handbook behave like a live rulebook. It is to preserve a reliable method: understand the issue, identify the governing source, assemble the relevant evidence, obtain the right decision and recognise when general information has reached its boundary.
Responsibilities in using an update
An online update should be read with its scope. A corrected date may affect one paragraph without changing the chapter’s wider explanation; a replaced policy may require the entire practical route to be reconsidered. Record whether the new source applies to an existing decision, a future application or a different group of doctors.
Source superseded: ___________________________________________
Successor source and effective date: _________________________
Who is affected: ____________________________________________
Action for an existing record or application: _______________
Advice obtained where transition is unclear: _________________
The author and publisher can correct the handbook and point readers towards official material. They cannot know the facts of an employment, regulatory or financial decision. The reader remains responsible for checking the live source and obtaining tailored advice. Organisations using a template from this book should adapt it transparently and must not present it as an official national form.
Edition checked: _____________________________________________
Tool copied or adapted: ______________________________________
Local owner of adaptation: __________________________________
Date for review: _____________________________________________
Record tools securely. Blank templates contain no assurance; their value depends on evidence, review and appropriate action.