Consultant Discretionary Points
What are Discretionary Points?
Who is eligible to apply for Discretionary Points?
How many points can be awarded?
How do I apply for Discretionary Points?
How will my application be considered?
Will I be able to appeal the outcome of my application?
What is the Internal Audit Process?
Where can I find further Information regarding the Discretionary Points Process?
What are Discretionary Points?
Discretionary Points are a financial award paid at the discretion of the employer to reward excellence. To warrant payment of a discretionary point, consultants will be expected to demonstrate an above average contribution in respect of service to patients, teaching, research and the management and development of the service.
The employer, in determining the award of discretionary points, will follow the guidance in NHS Circular PCS(DD)1995/6 and the SEHD Guidance of 12 January 2000 ‘Discretionary Points for Consultants’.
Who is eligible to apply for Discretionary Points?
The application process is open to all Consultants who:-
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· Are on the new contract, and have reached pay point 5 of the salary scale, (or its equivalent, for those consultants on the transitional salary scales), by 1st April of the fiscal year |
OR
Please note:
How many points can be awarded?
Employers have discretion on the numbers to be granted in any individual case in any particular year, and on the total number of points to be granted in any year subject to the minimum requirement of 0.35 points per eligible Consultant.
Notwithstanding this principle only in exceptional circumstances will more than two discretionary points be awarded to an individual in any single year.
How do I apply for Discretionary Points?
All eligible consultants will be written to at their home addresses and invited to submit an application. It is the responsibility of the Consultant to ensure the Payroll department hold their current address.
Applicants will be given four weeks from the date of the invite letter to return their completed application form. Please note that this year the application form is now a web based document that can be accessed by clicking on the following link Apply. Please note applications will not be accepted if they are received after the closing date, 5pm on Friday 1st October 2021.
Consultants should not apply for discretionary points in the year following the receipt of an award apart from in exceptional circumstances. Where a consultant believes that ‘exceptional circumstances’ apply, then they should complete Section 2 of the application form.
Details on how to complete, save and submit the new form can be found in the Guidance Note on Completion of Application Form.
The Statement of Case is in Section 5 of the new form and each scoring box now has a words limit depending on the number of points available for that section. The number of words available for each box is indicated under the bottom right hand corner of the box.
Please note that there is also a box in Section 5 to list any publications or research etc,
Please ensure that your application is anonymised (including any list of publications, research etc.). Failure to comply with this will result in your application being disqualified.
Applications that are not completed in accordance to the guidance specification will be disqualified. As it is an applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their application meets the guidance specification you are advised to double check your form prior to submission. All applications received by the closing date will be submitted to the decision making panels who will decide if an application meets the guidance specification prior to the scoring process. If an application does not meet the guidance specification applicants will be notified in writing of their disqualification from the process.
To apply you will need to read and follow the Guidance Note on Completion of Application Form and complete and submit your Application Form and the Equality Monitoring Form by 5pm on Friday 1st October 2021. To submit your completed application click submit at the bottom of the Application form. Please remember to email your completed Equality Monitoring Form to DiscretionaryPoints@ggc.scot.nhs.uk.
How will my application be considered?
The committee composition has equal numbers of management to MSA Representatives
Will I be able to appeal for the outcome of my application?
Consultants may wish to discuss their application with the relevant Chief of Medicine before deciding on whether to proceed with a formal appeal
In the event that a consultant believes that the process of awarding discretionary points has been unfair i.e. they believe they have been disadvantaged by the assessment or in regard to how many point they have been awarded, there is the right of appeal.
The purpose of the appeal hearing is for an independent panel to review the consultant’s original application and the scores awarded by the Discretionary Points Committee, to assess whether the process of awarding points has been carried out fairly. It is not an opportunity for the consultant to present new information.
Appeals must be made in writing to the Head of People & Change within one month of the candidate receiving notification that they will not be receiving an award. The grounds of appeal must be clearly stated by the applicant in their letter of appeal.
On receipt of an appeal the Medical Staffing Unit will arrange an appeal hearing, within two calendar months of the completion of all the Discretionary Points Committee’ meetings. The appeals panel is comprises of the following individuals:-
Following the appeal, the appellant will be informed in writing within three working days of the decision.
The decision of the Appeals Panel will be final.
What is the Internal Audit Process?
At the end of each Discretionary Points round, a random selection of anonymised applications will be subject to internal audit to verify accuracy, on an annual basis
Where can I find further Information regarding the Discretionary Points Process?
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