17.07.12
Junior doctors coping with increasing pressure
One in 20 junior doctors surveyed by the GMC noted concerns about patient safety in their workplace while around a sixth said they were dealing with clinical issues beyond their competence.
The GMC’s National Training Survey found it was a particular issue in A&E, where doctors are under pressure to work at speed.
The survey showed overall satisfaction with doctor training had increased from 78% rating their training as good or excellent in 2011, to 80% this year.
Over 50,000 junior doctors completed the survey.
The results showed 8,000 felt forced to cope with clinical problems beyond their experience or competence, and almost a quarter were concerned about handover arrangements. 21.4% said these were informal and 1.8% said no handovers occurred.
Another area for concern was feedback from senior clinicians. Just over 30% rarely or never had informal feedback on their performance, something the GMC has pledged to address.
GMC chief executive Niall Dickson said: “Trainee doctors are delivering much of the frontline care to NHS patients. Making sure they are properly supported and supervised is vital for patient safety as well as for effective training.
“These findings tell us that while overall satisfaction with their training is increasing, these doctors have a number of concerns. The issues they raise must be urgently addressed.
“We need to study the results in more detail but the early signs are that we are continuing to see pressure on doctors in key specialties, and this cannot be good for them or their patients. We will do all we can to work closely with those at local level who have the responsibility for managing and delivering training for these doctors to address these issues.”
Dean Royles, director of the NHS Employers organisation, added: “Support for junior doctors has improved but they report clear gaps in their supervision and quality of handover arrangements. This will be a concern for consultants and employers and clearly needs to be addressed to ensure patients receive safe, high quality care.”
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