The RCP has welcomed a commitment from NHS England (NHSE) to work with partners to consider how they can improve the experience of rotations in postgraduate training.
The RCP Trainees Committee co-chairs welcomed measures outlined in a letter to the system as ‘positive’ news, describing it as a ‘good start’, though they warned that there was ‘certainly more to do’.
The letter from NHS leaders came as hundreds of doctors gathered in Regent’s Park this morning for Medicine 2024, the RCP’s flagship annual conference. Speakers this year include shadow health secretary Wes Streeting MP, NHSE chief workforce officer, Dr Navina Evans and NHSE director of education and training, Professor Sheona Macleod.
In his address to conference, Wes Streeting promised delegates a 'decade of renewal' based on a new 10-year plan for health and social care. Describing a disillusioned and disempowered workforce, burdened by moral injury, living through the worst NHS crisis in history, he pledged to work with clinicians to find solutions and ‘get rid of the stupid stuff’. The RCP has previously published a set of short- and medium-term solutions which calls for measures to get the basics right, promote flexible working, provide affordable childcare and facilitate retire and return.
In a discussion about the NHSE Long Term Workforce Plan chaired by The Independent’s health correspondent Rebecca Thomas, panellists agreed that the NHS needs to better value the time that doctors spend on education and training because it improves patient outcomes. The RCP wants to see protected time for education, research and quality improvement for all doctors regardless of training status or career grade, as well as a plan to increase educator and supervisor capacity in the NHS. Dr Navina Evans described the new measures announced today as ‘green shoots of progress’. She emphasised the importance of NHSE working collaboratively with clinicians and called on physicians to help make the Long Term Workforce Plan a reality.
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for health, wellbeing and social care Daisy Cooper MP thanked doctors for their hard work and sacrifice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Noting that the cost-of-living crisis has revealed the real impact of health inequalities, she told conference delegates that ‘improving the health of the nation has to be a national priority.’ The Inequalities Health Alliance, a coalition of organisations convened by the RCP, has long campaigned for a cross-government strategy to reduce health inequalities.
RCP president Dr Sarah Clarke said:
‘The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan is an important first step towards a sustainably staffed NHS.
‘In June 2023, following a long campaign, the RCP welcomed the announcement of an expansion of medical school places and postgraduate training places, as well as a commitment to workforce planning based on independently verified projections that will be refreshed every two years. We now need to see the detail on these proposals and their implementation. Many doctors are feeling frustrated. Transparent delivery of the long-term workforce plan will be crucial to maintaining the confidence of the profession in the direction of travel.
‘In the meantime, we urge NHS England to engage more effectively with clinicians and royal colleges on delivering the plan, including funding for the expansion of medical school and specialty training places, improving the granularity of specialty workforce data and other assumptions to inform future staffing projections, and investing significantly in educator and supervisor capacity in the NHS.
‘The next generation of physicians wants flexibility, they want protected time to learn, they want understanding from their employer and compassionate leadership from their seniors. It’s not too much to ask and we need to make it happen.’
Responding to the NHSE letter, Dr Melanie Nana and Dr Megan Rutter, co-chairs of the RCP Trainees Committee said:
‘We welcome this positive announcement from NHS England, detailing some tangible improvements in the working conditions for doctors in training and other rotating staff members. These align with ongoing discussions we are having with Sir Steve Powis, Professor Sheona Macleod, and Sir Chris Whitty.
‘The reduction in the burden of mandatory training through avoiding duplication will reduce the pressure on individuals around the time of rotations, as will the clear directive that it should not fall to doctors in training to undertake this in their own personal time. Initiatives such as reversing the system for paying course fees, so that doctors in training don’t face financial hardship whilst awaiting reimbursement, and developing set timescales to rectify pay errors, will also have an immediate positive impact.
‘While there is certainly more to do, this is a good start. We look forward to the swift introduction of these measures and will continue our collaborative discussions with NHSE and the DHSC about further strategies to improve the working conditions and training experience of doctors within the NHS.’