The National HEFT Programme
Health Equity Focused Training in Wessex
The HEFT programme is an enhanced training programme with a focus on health equity.
The Wessex and Thames Valley Schools of Primary Care are excited to be offering HEFT rotations for the 2024/25 intake. These innovative posts have proved popular in other regions of the country. They are designed to give you the knowledge, skills and confidence to work in areas of poverty and with excluded groups, including vulnerable migrants, sex workers, Gypsies and Travellers, and those experiencing poverty and homelessness. Practising in these areas is challenging, but incredibly rewarding. We hope that a HEFT placement will give you a deep understanding of health inequity and the broader needs of communities, and equip you to be leaders of the future.
You will complete three years of GP training, meeting all standard curriculum requirements, alongside colleagues who are not undertaking HEFT. Trainees on a HEFT rotation are released from normal training to attend an online national HEFT education programme (one session every 8 weeks) and have the opportunity to attend an annual conference. We are also keen for you to participate in regional HEFT peer-learning groups, meeting trainees from across the region to share in your learning and development.
Where possible, the posts that make up your training programme will include GP placements in practices that serve communities in areas of high deprivation, and relevant hospital specialties (such as Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology).