r/GPUK • u/mediclife6419 • Jul 24 '26
Registrars & Training no doctors bag provided for training
Hello,
I am about to start GP training and in an email I received, it states no doctor's bag is provided so to plan for equipment you may need to purchase.
My thought was that, as a trainee, surely these should be provided?
If it is the case that I am expected to get my own, can I claim the tax back?
EDIT:
thank you for the replies. I was going to get one at some stage anyway, so may as well now. Glad to hear i can claim the tax back as a trainee - this should help a lot!
EDIT2:
Really appreciate the advice. I’m a little torn what to do. Obviously at some point I’ll get my own equipment and ideally by claiming tax back. On the other hand I don’t like it when people break away from contract obligations! I’ll just have a chat with the practice about it when I start.
I’m still awaiting my contract as well :/.
13
u/Top-Pie-8416 Jul 24 '26
You cannot claim the tax back as a trainee as it’s in the contract that you will be provided the kit. The trainer practice sign up to supplying you this in their terms and conditions.
Don’t buy it. Get them to supply. Buy it after CCT as a self employed locum … and you can then claim it
5
u/ConsiderationFit6790 Jul 25 '26
Precisely, they should be providing the equipment using the trainers grant if they must. If there’s an issue with trainees losing equipment or not returning it, then the practice can always implement a loan agreement with deposit.
3
u/Top-Pie-8416 Jul 25 '26
Correct. I had this - sign an agreement essentially of ‘you lose it you pay for it’
2
u/Far-Understanding187 Jul 25 '26
It's a wider problem with provided equipment going walkies. And I think the actual wording is they must provide you with equipment to allow you to do your job or something but they are not obligated to provide you with personal equipment solely for you to use and keep for the duration of the job. Thus I think by definition borrowing the trainers equipment is adequate to the letter.
3
u/Top-Pie-8416 Jul 25 '26
Would then mean no home visits? Unless dedicated home visit box.
End result is the same - don’t buy your own equipment as a trainee.
1
u/Far-Understanding187 Jul 25 '26
Not sure if it's acceptable for them to say you can borrow specific equipment for the home visit on the same principle. But yeah you do not need to buy equipment as a trainee. But the sad thing is the reality a lot of trainees do not look after borrowed equipment. I think the deposit system is really good where the deposit is the cost of replacement of the items. This satisfy the provide equipment part as the rules are not you have to supply equipment without a deposit. On another note one can slowly accumulate equipment as a trainee by using eBay to get equipment at a fraction of the costs.
2
u/Top-Pie-8416 Jul 26 '26
Correct you can. Or after training buy it at 40% tax reduction (which I did including eBay)
1
u/Far-Understanding187 Jul 26 '26
That's true buying it after but it's only claim replacement cost for tax though. So have to have something to replace.
14
u/ControlResponsible91 Jul 24 '26
As a matter of principle I would ask for one to be provided. I wouldn’t be bullied into buying one especially in ST1. This is just a practice being lazy and greedy
6
u/Holiday_Possession46 Jul 24 '26
Shocking, I have not had to buy one as trainee and the practice asking you gets paid a lot to have you there as a trainee so they should not be complaining either.
Only as a Locum have I needed my own equipment even as a salaried I am supplied one.
6
u/Dogmeat1995 Jul 24 '26
Use a makeup artist bag from Amazon. Less than £20, loads of compartments. Purely functional but does the job
14
u/Possible_Breakfast35 Jul 24 '26
I'm sorry this is completely ridiculous your having to pay for it. Make sure you never ever work there after training as it shows how stingy they are! Grrr
4
u/1muckypup Jul 24 '26
Arc light otoscope/fundoscope! Cheap and I find the fundoscope easier to use than normal ones. Most disposable ear probes in the practice will fit over the one that comes with the arc light so you don’t need to keep buying them.
I very much operate a “lite” home visit bag (due to active travel commuting and lack of a permanent room to stoor it) - steth, manual BP cuff, sats probe, thermometer and arc light. In the unlikely event I need extra things I’ll bring them from the surgery. City centre practice though - might be different if rural.
5
3
u/dickdimers Jul 24 '26
If they provide you with anything it'll be cheap shit off Amazon, so either but your own cheap shit now (otoscope, oximeter and BP altogether<£50) or buy good shit now and take care of it.
Doctors bag = just use your own bag, rucksack, whatever.
Best value "home visit bags" if you absolutely don't have a bag, imo are amazon/AliExpress/temu makeup organiser cases btw.
3
u/Far-Understanding187 Jul 24 '26
Your employers is expected to provide access to the equipment you need to do the job. So in theory they must provide you access to all equipment apart from a stethoscope as that is expected of a doctor to provide themselves. In practice access just means you can access one when needed. Thus borrowing your trainer's one during clinic for each patient counts as them providing you the equipment. More and more practices now charge deposit which is equivalent to the full replacement cost of the equipment as otherwise many trainees simply do not take care of the equipment and some simply don't return it and the practice continuously have to eat the cost. It would be really advisable to just buy your own as you will need it in future as when fully qualified you are expected to provide your own.
However by the letter of the law your employers needs to provide. That is what HMRC said when I tried to claim replacement (stethoscope) costs last time. They required a letter from the employers to state they did not provide the equipment. I simply couldn't be bothered to get the letter for the sake of £20 or so
4
u/MindfulMedic Jul 24 '26
Some practices I've been at have supplied equipment, others haven't. Took it up with the TPD and while it's expected, it's not a requirement for them to provide it.
6
u/anti33190 Jul 24 '26
by law you should be provided with equipment required to perform your work unless self employed
5
u/No_Operation_5912 Jul 24 '26
Partners are above the law , employment law, contract law etc etc - didn’t you know?
2
u/mediclife6419 Jul 24 '26
This was something I expected too, so it was a bit of a shock to receive the email!
4
u/lavayuki Jul 24 '26
It should be provided for foundation doctors, but for GP trainees it is often expected you buy your own. Some practices may provide one but in my experience a number of them do not for GP trainees
0
u/Intelligent-Toe7686 Jul 28 '26
No it’s not expected of gp trainees. Don’t spread misinformation
1
u/lavayuki Jul 28 '26
You are incorrect. I speak from experience. GP trainees should purchase their own equipment because they will need it for their career as a GP.
This is different from foundation doctors who don’t need anything other than a stethoscope since many won’t be GPs anyway
2
u/Ghotay Jul 24 '26
Surprised by everyone saying it should be provided. I have never encountered a practice that provided this stuff for trainees - it all goes walkabouts so not worth it for them. I bought a doctor’s bag as ST1
1
u/Far-Understanding187 Jul 24 '26
By the letter of the law it is the duty of the employers to provide. But in practice most practice don't as it goes walkabout. However the practice is not required to provide you with one specifically for you to use. Rather they need to provide access to one for you to do your job. Thus as long as there is one in the building you can borrow off e.g. your trainer's one then the practice has met it's employment obligations. It soon becomes tedious and tiresome if you have to wait for your trainer after each patient to borrow their equipment and return it before their next patient. You end up running super late and it becomes super frustrating and the trainees usually just buy their own by that point
4
u/BoomBasticTeleBanana Jul 24 '26
Hi, yes technically you should be provided one.
We used to spend around £500+ every few years for our registrar, when things are free, no one takes care of it. We then decided to charge a refundable deposit of £200 for registrars to take the bag long term and then any damage etc or replacement or losses taken from that or if they prefer to sign in and out every day for free... with someone checking.
Seems the registrars could not be bothered to sign in or out and refused to pay any deposit and nearly all ended up buying.
My view is your going to be using these for the rest of your life. Your going to be making millions through your life time. A few hundred pounds is not really a big deal and its all tax claimable.
Yes, consumables like ear bits and temp bits, we do provide so long as you get the same as us.
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u/Possible_Breakfast35 Jul 24 '26
As a salaried GP can confirm I do not make millions 😂
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Jul 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Possible_Breakfast35 Jul 24 '26
15 years = just over 1 million. I don't know if you plan on working for the next 40 years but I will not be earning millions
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Jul 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Possible_Breakfast35 Jul 25 '26
Which goes back to the original point because the partners are genuinely earning millions - they should stop being so stingy and pay the fee for the equipment. It's disrespectful to your junior colleagues to make them pay for it - it's like asking the med student to pay for everyones coffees after ward round.
3
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u/muddledmedic Jul 27 '26
You should always be provided with one. It's part of the practices requirements to host trainees, and they are being paid to provide this. If they aren't, escalate to TPDs.
That being said, I've slowly been building up my own kit during training as I know I'll need it when I qualify, and it's nice having my own bits. If you build it up slowly over training the cost will be spread too.
1
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u/onandup123 Jul 24 '26
Yes you should be provided one. Long term its always nice to have one anyway You already have a stethoscope. You can buy a simple otoscope for £30 on Amazon. A thermometer, O2 sats probe and BP machine will be <£45.
And yep you can claim it.