The fourth report of the BMA’s Cohort Study, which traces the career progression of 430 medical graduates who qualified in 2006, shows that junior doctors now spend more time carrying out administrative tasks than they do in formal training.
The study asked junior doctors in their first year of specialist training to indicate how much time they spent undertaking different activities at work. While the majority of their time was spent on clinical duties (66%), 14% of their time was spent carrying out administrative tasks which was greater than the time they spent in formal training in a clinical setting (13%). Commenting on the report, Dr Shree Datta, chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctor Committee said: “It is galling to find doctors spending more time filling forms than learning the skills they need to be the consultants and GPs of tomorrow. It is especially worrying, at a time when junior doctors’ working hours have fallen, to see so much of their time taken up on paperwork. Trainees should, first and foremost, be clinicians who are learning their trade. For the benefit of our patients, employers need to look closely at the workload of junior doctors to ensure that their time is being used appropriately.” The cohort study also revealed some worrying findings on the quality of training. It shows that some doctors are not receiving the training they need to undertake the work required of them as specialist trainees. The cohort study found that three in 20 (15%) doctors felt that they had been asked to undertake tasks that were beyond their capabilities with this proportion rising to over one third (36%) for doctors on general practice placements. Many of the doctors surveyed felt there were times when they were placed in clinical situations of which they had no experience. Others felt that they did not have senior colleagues on hand when dealing with complex cases. Dr Datta added: “Junior doctors should always have the appropriate training to carry out the tasks demanded of them. They should not be placed in a position where they are expected to work beyond the level of training they have received. If we don’t train junior doctors properly we risk jeopardising the high standards of medical expertise that our patients deserve.”
