Locally employed doctors (LED)
![A doctor standing in the doorway of a hospital treatment room.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_image_mobile/public/2021-07/Doctor-treatment-room.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=mtmuKfXb)
This article explains what these job roles are about, what that means for employers and resources to support their implementation.
Locally employed doctors (LEDs)
LED is a catch-all term used to refer to doctors employed by an NHS trust that are not on one of the nationally negotiated contracts.
Instead, LEDs are employed by a trust or provider on a local contract, which may and often will mirror one of those sets of terms and conditions of service (TCS) or might be a modified version.
For instance, only doctors in an approved national training post can be appointed onto the 2016 TCS for doctors and dentists in training, but doctors may be locally employed on TCS which mirror those.
LEDs can be found in any specialty and go by a range of titles including trust grade, trust doctor, clinical fellow, FY3, research fellow, and many others. LEDs play an essential role within the medical workforce.
They have diverse backgrounds and skills as well as a wide range of reasons for working in an LED role. Likewise, there are a range of reasons why employers might employ LED roles within their workforce.
Additionally, many LEDs are international medical graduates (IMGs) for whom an LED role may be their first experience working in the NHS.
LED FAQs
Find answers to popular questions and further information about locally employed doctors (LED).
We would love to hear from your about employment of LEDs.
If you would like to share local practices or discuss this topic in more detail please contact the medical workforce team.