New GMC survey questions ask doctors about burnout

New GMC survey questions ask doctors about burnout


The General Medical Council (GMC) is to ask doctors about the impact of burnout and exhaustion on their medical education and training.


Read more at: https://www.gmc-uk.org/news/31459.asp

A just culture guide

A just culture guide


This guide encourages managers to treat staff involved in a patient safety incident in a consistent, constructive and fair way. It supports a conversation about whether a staff member involved in a patient safety incident requires specific individual support or intervention to work safely.


See the guide at: https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/just-culture-guide/

Academy of the Medical Royal Colleges / CoPMED statement on reflective practice

The Academy/CoPMED statement on reflective practice is now available to download from http://www.aomrc.org.uk/statements/academycopmed-statement-reflective-practice/

5 years on: responses to Francis: changes in board leadership and governance in acute hospitals in England since 2013

This report, written by the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham in partnership with the University of Manchester and the Nuffield Trust, reveals that hospital boards report that they are placing a high priority on care quality and safety, and many invested significantly in nurse and medical staffing in the wake of the Francis Report. However, some hospital boards reported feeling that quality assurance as a pressure, as the demands of multiple external regulators was reported to sometimes feel burdensome, threatening to distract from a focus on the actual work of service improvements.

Interventional radiology leaders release guidance to help speed up rollout of vital life-changing stroke treatment

The Supplementary Guidance to Facilitate the Training of Interventional Radiology Consultants to Undertake Stroke Thrombectomy has been produced by The Royal College of Radiologists, the British Society of Interventional Radiology, the British Society of Neuroradiologists and the UK Neurointerventional Group, to help hospitals train more specialist radiologists to perform life-changing stroke thrombectomy treatment.

Workload and wellbeing quarterly survey

The BMA keeps track of doctors' workload and wellbeing with the BMA quarterly survey (formerly known as the omnibus or tracker survey).

Each quarter the survey focuses on topical issues as well covering questions on workload, morale and work-life balance, which are repeated every quarter.

Key findings from our most recent survey:

• 71% of hospital-based respondents reported rota gaps in the departments in which they work. This figures remains consistent.
• 65% of hospital speciality respondents reported that there are medical doctor vacancies in their departments, while 47% of GPs had GP vacancies in the practice where they work.
• 89% of respondents believe their contribution to the NHS was valued by patients and 62% believed it was valued by managers, but only 17% felt valued by the government and politicians.

CQC and guardians of safe working

Information on guardians of safe working and exception reporting will now be collated by The Care Quality Commission (CQC) as part of its well led domain of inspections.

The CQC has begun a soft rollout for this process, and some interviews on inspection have already been carried out. In the future, employers can expect to be asked for some of the following things in advance of their inspections:

• quarterly GoSW reports
• the trust’s quality account, including the annual report on rota gaps and the plan for improvement to reduce these gaps
• exception reports issued to the board by the GoSW regarding escalation of and serious issues unresolved.

HEE launches supported return to training strategy

Health Education England has launched a strategy and investment plan which details ten commitments to ensure that trainees are supported on their return to training pathway.

There are more than 50,000 doctors undertaking postgraduate training in England. At least 10 per cent of these will need to take time out of their programme for a variety of reasons such as parental leave, sickness or bereavement, to gain additional experience or training outside of the postgraduate training programme, to conduct academic research, or to take a career break.

Fatigue and sleep deprivation – the impact of different working patterns on doctors

This briefing from the British Medical Association highlights why doctors are at risk of fatigue and the acute and long-term impacts this can have. It also presents a framework for how Government, organisations and doctors themselves can manage this risk.

The state of medical education and practice in the UK 2017

This report from the General Medical Council, which analyses data on the medical workforce across the UK, warns that the UK’s medical profession is at ‘a crunch point’ and will suffer increasing pressure over the next 20 years unless action is taken. It identifies a raft of challenges facing the medical profession today against a backdrop of an increasing and older population, and highlights four priorities for the UK’s governments and agencies responsible for medical training and workforce planning.

AoMRC Medical Associate Professionals consultation

The AoMRC's response to the Department of Health’s consultation on the regulation of Medical Associate Professionals (MAPs).

GMC begins work to deliver Medical Licensing Assessment

The General Medical Council (GMC) has approved the initial model for a two-part Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) that will provide more consistency in the ways doctors enter UK practice.
GMC consults on plans for medical licensing assessment

The GMC is making plans for a medical licensing assessment (MLA) that will provide a single route to the medical register for all doctors who wish to practise in the UK.

The proposals aim to address the current variation in arrangements for medical students across the country and those wishing to join the register from outside the UK.

General Medical Council approves new internal medicine curriculum

A new internal medicine (IM) curriculum has been approved by the General Medical Council.

IM stage one training is a new three year programme and will replace core medical training (CMT) from August 2019.

A report on the welfare, morale and experiences of anaesthetists in training: the need to listen

In a report released by the RCoA, anaesthetists in training are shown to be experiencing high levels of stress and fatigue due to system pressures, inflexible working patterns, and inadequate facilities for rest and catering. These issues are impacting on patient care and contributing to doctors of all specialties quitting the medical profession.

Connected: Improving the Patient-Physician Relationship – And Health Care Itself – Through Communication

This paper from the Beryl Institute explores the value and impact of patient-physician communication in health care. 

Framework of principles for mentoring

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has published 'Framework of principles for mentoring.' The aim of this document is to promote and ensure best practice for mentoring using a framework of principles that are consistent in values yet flexible in adapting to local demand, need and resources.

Training environments 2017: key findings from the national training surveys

This report from the GMC outlines the findings of an annual survey of doctors in training and trainers on the quality of UK medical training and training environments. The report warns that medical education and training is too reliant on the goodwill and sacrifices made by senior colleagues who act as trainers. The report also highlights the challenges faced by trainees who report that heavy workloads threaten the time that they have for training.

Quarter of hospital patients denied rapid review – even on weekdays

More than one in four patients do not see a medical consultant within 14 hours of being admitted to hospital – even on weekdays, new data from NHS England reveals.

The information shows that on weekdays across all trusts, 73 per cent of patients see a consultant within the period, which is a key requirement under national “seven day service” standards.

The figure is even lower – 70.3 per cent – at weekends.

To obtain this article copy and paste the post into an email and send to: libraryw@uhcw.nhs.uk

STPs: destined to fail or the road to better care? - the hospital doctors’ view

This report from the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association aims to contribute to existing debates, setting out HCSA members’ experience and views of STPs. The key themes covered in this research were: hospital clinicians’ knowledge of the STP process; clinicians’ engagement in the STP process; and clinicians’ views on the impact of STPs.

66 Benefits of delivering integrated in-house leadership and management training for registrars

BMJ Leader 2017;1:A28-A29.

 

In the UK, leadership and management skills have traditionally not been prominent in medical curricula. Formal leadership training for doctors is usually, undertaken outside their place of work, completed just prior to obtaining a CCT when their focus is on consultant interviews. Learning of knowledge without any practical, experiential application or follow up reduces embedding of the learnt skills in to practice. Benefits of leadership and management training within the workplace increases local networking opportunities and has advantages in breaking down silos and reducing local cultural divides between managers and clinicians. Locally supported leadership and management programs are vital to create a motivated, valued workforce for the NHS of the future and increase the talent pool within the organisation.

UHCW Research: Clare Ingram, Chris Turner and Meghana Pandit