The General Medical Council (GMC) has published the latest results of its annual surveys into medical education and training across the UK.
The national training survey (NTS) sought views from around 55,000 doctors undergoing postgraduate training. In addition around 44,000 trainers – senior doctors responsible for developing the next generation of consultants and GPs – were also surveyed for their views from the education frontline.
Among issues raised by doctors were the pressures of dealing with high workloads, and the fact that there was not always enough experienced staff to ensure patients received the treatment they needed. Preliminary results from the 2016 doctors in training survey (which had a 98.7% response rate) show that across the UK:
- Almost half thought their workload was intense
- Most believe their general training environment is supportive
- Around nine out of ten report that they have good clinical supervision –which includes safe, practical learning opportunities.
The GMC survey of senior doctors who deliver training, found that:
- Around one in seven trainers consider there are not always enough staff to make sure patients are treated by someone with an appropriate level of clinical experience
- For many senior doctors, balancing service provision with education, and using allocated educational time specifically for education, can be challenging
- Most senior doctors who train regard the working environments in their departments as supportive, and they enjoy their roles as educators.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the General Medical Council, said: “These results confirm that doctors are working in what are often difficult circumstances and that education and training is under significant pressure throughout the NHS. We know too that for a variety of reasons many doctors in training feel alienated and undervalued which makes it all the more remarkable that this comprehensive survey shows that they remain largely satisfied with their training – and that is a testament to those who deliver that training and support every day.”
Commenting on the survey, Mr Ian Eardley, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said:
“Doctors in training play a vital role in the delivery of safe, high quality care in the NHS. The recent dispute over the junior doctors’ contract in England shone a spotlight on important issues such as workforce morale, quality of life issues and how junior doctors rate their training. It is therefore concerning that junior doctors across the UK continue to report problems with sleep deprivation and long working hours. We must take these issues seriously alongside the morale of our workforce.
“On a more positive note it is good news that the vast majority of doctors in training rate the quality of their clinical supervision as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’; and felt their working environment was a supportive one where staff respected each other. Patient safety must always be the priority when designing rotas and allocating time for training. Everyone in the NHS needs to take the survey’s findings seriously and review how they can further improve morale and training among our junior doctors, which will ultimately benefit patients.”
The results from the 2016 survey of doctors in training, and the new survey of trainers are available at www.gmc-uk.org/nts. A further report analysing the results from the doctors in training survey will be released later this year.
