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

Series of films to support overseas nurse transition

Health Education England (HEE) has launched a series of films for overseas nurses and their trainers to help support transition and integration into UK practice.

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.

The nursing workforce

The Health Select Committee has published its nursing workforce inquiry.  This report highlights the importance of improving staff wellbeing and development to allow the NHS to retain the valuable experience and skills of its current nursing workforce.

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.

Service redesign training for finance professionals

NHS Improvement is offering a quality, service and redesign practitioner programme specifically for finance staff in collaboration with Healthcare Financial Management Association and Future Focused Finance.

This five day programme (over five months) is free of charge to NHS finance professionals attending with a clinical or service management colleague with whom they're working on an improvement project.

Demand and Capacity Trainer Programme

The Demand and Capacity Trainer Programme is a free, accredited, six-month programme designed to support organisations to develop internal capability and skills in demand and capacity modelling.

The approach will equip staff to train others in demand and capacity and thereby spread this knowledge more widely at a local level. As a result local areas are better equipped to develop credible activity plans that support the delivery of reduced waiting times for patients.

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.

Horizon scanning future health and care demand for workforce skills in England

This WHO briefing outlines the findings of a horizon scanning exercise, carried out by the Department of Health, which has informed workforce planning for the future health and care workforce and the skills needed to keep pace with changing health needs.

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.

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.

New training scheme for surgeons of the future opens for applications

The Royal College of Surgeons has announced that applications for the first Improving Surgical Training (IST) programme for trainee surgeons are open. The innovative pilot training programme will provide surgical trainees with a better balance between training and service provision and professionalise the role of the surgical trainer.

The programme will be piloted in general surgery, and from August 2019, will also be open to applicants to urology and vascular surgery. The programme will be open to all trainees applying for core-level surgical training posts through the 2017/2018 national selection process.

Launch of advanced clinical practice framework

The new national multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England has been launched by Health Education England.

Protect trainee doctors to protect patient safety

Annual trainee quality panels can help address bullying and other cultural and safety issues within local hospitals and training posts, say Zoe Oliphant and Iona Thorne

The Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) has recently highlighted the widespread bullying of surgical trainees and its impact upon patient safety. RCSEd reported that around the time of an operation, disruptive behaviour contributes to 67 per cent adverse events, 71 per cent medical errors and 27 per cent perioperative deaths.

The Daily Telegraph has reported that trainee surgeons are being assaulted and that one in six surgical trainees suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.

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

NIHR Signal Early discharge ‘hospital-at-home’ gives similar outcomes to in-patient care

Supported early discharge, where patients receive on-going hospital-level treatment in their own home, had no effect on mortality compared with standard in-patient care. Patients had shorter hospital stays, were more likely to be satisfied and less likely to end up in residential care.


This updated Cochrane review identified 32 international trials comparing early discharge hospital-at-home with hospital in-patient care. Most evidence related to people recovering from a stroke, where NICE already recommends supported discharge if this is appropriate. Other patient groups included those recovering from orthopaedic surgery and older people with various conditions. Trials were relatively small and the overall evidence quality was moderate to low.


The review aimed to see whether early discharge has an effect on NHS costs, but found insufficient evidence. Training, staffing and equipment costs need to be measured against patient outcomes in different therapy areas. Early supported discharge needs to be driven in areas where it can make the most difference and give the greatest benefit.


From NIHR Dissemination Centre

GMC position statement: Conditions for less than full-time training

The GMC has updated its position on less than full-time (LTFT) training for doctors working towards a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).

This revises its 2011 statement and sets out conditions to make sure that the duration, level and quality of LTFT training, is not less than that of continuous training.

Mandatory training costs 2017

This paper, from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, sets out the mandatory costs of training involved in College enrolment fees, examination costs and GMC fees. It also provides links to College websites where information will be available on further professional development and additional non-mandatory costs.

It has been compiled to help pre-specialty doctors make fully informed career selections, with a clear understanding of the mandatory costs of their future training pathway. It has been produced with the combined information and support of the Royal Colleges via the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

Healthy Workplace Toolkit for an Agency Workforce

This toolkit, from the RCN, has been developed following focused discussions with employment agencies and agency nursing staff. It provides a voluntary framework for organisations to follow in order to support the development and promotion of a healthy workplace.

Prevent Training and Competencies Framework

This document is to support organisations in determining the level of Prevent training and the competencies that are required for staff in the health sector.