Starting at King’s

We want your first few weeks and months with us to go as smoothly as possible, so you can get on with what you do best and we can chart your progress and development.

Your first day at King’s

Your line manager will usually contact you the week before you start at the Trust to advise you of what time to arrive and where to meet.

In most cases, they will also co-ordinate what happens on your first day, introducing you to your team, helping you to find your way around the hospital and ensuring that you have all the information you need to get down to work.

Inductions

Everyone who joins us takes part in our induction programme. It is part of your mandatory training and introduces you to King’s and how we work as well as giving you essential employment-related information.

Local inductions: new staff, current employees who have been appointed to other positions at King’s and medical staff who are rotating through different specialties will have a departmental induction. It covers details such as local procedures, facilities, key contacts, risks and risk management.

Corporate inductions: all new staff also have a corporate induction. It covers key information such as the Trust’s aims and objectives, policies, procedures, and health and safety.

Buddy Scheme

All new staff are entitled to a buddy or mentor as part of their induction, to help them settle in more quickly at King’s. Your manager will talk to you about this in your first few days.

Appraisals

During your local induction period, your manager will explain the profile for your job. We develop this using the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) which identifies the knowledge, skills and development required for your role.

We also use this profile to measure your performance. At your annual appraisal you will be expected to be able to provide evidence and/or a description of how you have performed and met your objectives throughout the year. You can regularly update your evidence using the e-KSF online tool.

If you are struggling to meet your agreed objectives, your incremental pay increase may be deferred until you have had the opportunity to complete a remedial action plan. But the vast majority of staff pass through these ‘gateways’ without a problem.

At your appraisal you will also be able to discuss your training needs and plan with your manager how these can be met. Not all development is about courses and qualifications; for example, you may find that shadowing someone, attending meetings or belonging to a journal club are more appropriate to your needs.