What are Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) and how might you reflect on them in your appraisal?

Because the coming changes to the delivery of care are intended to change the whole system, every doctor working in the NHS needs some degree of awareness, if not direct involvement, with STPs. Because of the scale of change it could be argued that every doctor in the UK should at least know what is happening, whether they work in the NHS or not.

The NHS Five Year Forward View was published in October 2014 and set out a vision for the future of the NHS based around new models of care.

The Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships are local plans for the implementation of the Five Year Forward View. There are 44 STP geographical ‘footprints’ or defined local areas on which the plans are based. Each has produced a STP which is a five year plan covering the health and social care development in that area.

• If you are a STP lead or involved in the development or implementation of a plan then you should consider this as a part of your scope of work. You should submit supporting information relating to this work with your associated reflection to your appraisal portfolio for discussion with your appraiser. This would be considered quality improvement activity.
• If you have not been directly involved in STP work then you could read your local plan and reflect on it for your appraisal. You could consider whether you might like to become involved in some of the work to develop new models of care for the patients in your area and perhaps add an item to your PDP.
• If you are an appraiser you could prompt your doctor to discuss the relevance to them of the local STP at their appraisal.

This information sheet is relevant primarily to NHS England responsible officers and their doctors, but may be of interest in other designated bodies.

Released January 2018.