How to use the book

This handbook can be read in sequence or used to prepare for a particular decision. If you are unfamiliar with the distinctions between grade, role and registration, begin with Chapters 1 to 3. If the immediate question concerns an offer, read Chapters 4 and 5 before moving to job planning. For an established post whose workload has changed, Chapters 6 and 7 provide the main preparation method. Chapter 8 addresses the related contractual questions about progression and additional work.

For appraisal, start with Chapter 10 and use Chapter 12 to organise the evidence. Read Chapter 11 when confirming the revalidation connection, understanding the recommendation process or planning around a change of employment or a break. If a formal concern or adverse notice has arrived, identify the process and obtain timely advice; do not wait to complete a general reading programme. Chapter 13 provides the fuller account of feedback and formal processes.

Readers planning progression should first define the destination. Chapter 14 helps with that decision. The following chapters separate the national regrading routes, competitive appointments and specialist registration. The same portfolio may contribute to more than one route, but each submission must meet its own requirements. For a change in working intensity or retirement plans, read the pension and transition chapters together. Professional, employment and financial decisions may need to be sequenced rather than made independently.

At the start of a chapter, identify the question you want it to help answer. Keep a short note beside the text: my nation, my grade, my contract, my role and my intended decision. Add the relevant document dates when you know them. This small reference note helps prevent a worked example from being mistaken for a description of your own arrangements. Where the text names a specific nation or contract, retain that qualification when discussing the passage with colleagues.

Source notes support the factual explanations. Follow the original source when a provision determines eligibility, an entitlement, a formal procedure or a deadline. A source title alone is not sufficient if a later version has replaced the document. Look for the issue date, effective date, amendments and relevant schedule. When a website offers several historical documents, choose the one governing the particular employment or application rather than assuming the most recently uploaded file applies to everyone.

The cases explain decisions through illustrative people and settings. They are not reports of identifiable colleagues or precedents for a successful outcome. Ask what evidence changes the analysis and what further information would be needed in your circumstances. Where the case provides numbers, retain its stated assumptions. A diary example may illustrate measurement without establishing a contractual allocation; a financial example may explain a mechanism without recommending a personal choice.

Use the practical tools selectively. A document map is useful when records disagree. A workload diary is useful when the timetable omits recurring activity. An evidence index is useful when material is difficult to retrieve. None requires you to create a parallel bureaucracy for every part of your working life. Start with the smallest record capable of answering the question, keep it in an appropriate system and review whether maintaining it remains worthwhile.

Keep your reading notes separate from the authoritative record. A margin note can capture a question or possible interpretation, but it should not be copied into a submission as though it were the policy itself. When preparing a formal account, return to the source and distinguish quotation, paraphrase and your own proposal. This helps an adviser test the reasoning without first untangling where each statement originated or what status you intended it to have.

For a professional meeting, translate the chapter into a short preparation note. State the issue, identify the relevant source, summarise the evidence and propose the next action. Bring the supporting documents, but do not make the recipient reconstruct the question from a large attachment bundle. After the meeting, record what was agreed, what remains unresolved, who will obtain missing information and when the position will be reviewed. Distinguish a proposal from an authorised change.

Confidentiality applies to preparation as well as formal submission. Avoid copying patient records, identifiable correspondence or sensitive employment material into personal notes or online tools simply because they might be useful later. Use approved arrangements and seek advice about anonymisation, retention and transfer. A portfolio should preserve a defensible account of your contribution without becoming an unauthorised archive of other people's information. Chapter 12 examines these questions in more detail.

SAS Doctors Review provides related online learning and resources. The printed explanations are intended to remain useful without an account or a particular browser feature. When using an online worksheet, understand whether information remains only in the open page, is downloaded to your device or is stored elsewhere. Do not assume a tool is an approved place for confidential information because it appears on a professional website. Use your organisation's required system for the actual submission.

Finally, use the advice boundaries as practical signposts. A pension administrator can explain scheme records and procedures; personal tax or retirement choices may need a different adviser. A clinical manager may resolve an operational question; a contractual dispute may require employment representation. A defence organisation may need to advise on a professional concern before a substantive response is sent. Arrive with the relevant documents and a clear chronology, while allowing the adviser to identify issues you have not recognised.