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Content Article
Everyone deserves to learn and work in a safe, respectful environment. The new Breaking the Silence: Sexual Safety for Healthcare Students and Trainees e-learning offers practical steps to speak up safely, set clear boundaries and get the right support. Feel more confident about what’s acceptable, what isn’t, and what to do if you see or experience behaviour that crosses the line. Understand where to raise concerns and how to support a colleague who shares an experience. Whether a student, trainee, educator, or staff member complete the e-learning to strengthen your own wellbeing and professionalism and help build a culture where harassment is not tolerated. The e-learning is accessed via the NHS learning hub or via the e-Learning for Health platform. Find out more from the attachment below. -
News Article
UK school leavers and new students to be offered meningitis B vaccine
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Teenagers in their final school year and young people starting university will be offered two doses of a vaccine to protect them against meningitis B, the government has announced. The one-off vaccination programme, which will begin in late July, comes after an unprecedented outbreak of meningitis B in Kent earlier this year along with clusters of cases in Dorset and Berkshire that, together, led to the deaths of three young people. While each group of cases involved different strains of MenB, all would have been covered by the vaccine, Bexsero. This is given as two doses at least 28 days apart, and protects against most strains of MenB bacteria, with experts noting the protection is thought to last at least six years. The vaccine will be offered to all young people in the UK born between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008 – teenagers of year-13 age in England and Wales or equivalent school years in Scotland and Northern Ireland – and people under 25 starting university or moving into some residential further education settings for the first time this autumn, including international students. The health secretary, James Murray, said: “The Kent outbreak and recent clusters indicate a possible change to the way MenB affects people. While we assess the latest evidence, we are acting now to help protect young people at highest immediate risk as they enter university and residential colleges this autumn.” Caroline Temmink, the director of vaccination at NHS England, said: “Those eligible will be contacted directly through the NHS app, by text and email, and for those under 25 starting university for the first time they will be able to book their appointment directly with available pharmacies.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 June 2026 -
Content ArticleThis simulation presents the challenge of integrating regional health system payments in a context where parties each operate independently and the social determinants of health are incompletely addressed. Set in New Hampshire, responding to a federal initiative, the simulation features five roles, each essential to the integration challenge. This case provides students with an experiential view on the challenge of breaking down silos in social impact service delivery.
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News Article
Midwives to receive anti-racism training to curb NHS maternity deaths
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Training for NHS midwives will be overhauled to tackle a “national emergency” of racism, which means black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which regulates the profession, is introducing mandatory anti-racism training in degrees to combat “systemic” discrimination. Maternity scandals and reviews have highlighted how racism is contributing to the avoidable deaths of mothers and babies in Britain. Black mothers have been denied pain relief or emergency care by NHS staff after being stereotyped as “tough” or “demanding” and better able to endure pain. The Times revealed that the NHS has been issued with 22 separate safety warnings by official bodies to address racial disparities in maternity care over the past decade, yet the situation has not improved. Under the initiative, all universities offering midwifery degrees will have to update their curriculum to include awareness of racial biases and discrimination. From the next academic year, students will be taught about how racial stereotypes can affect care and how skin colour can affect the presentation of symptoms. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 8 April 2026 -
News ArticleHealth secretary Wes Streeting has described the outbreak of meningitis in Kent as “unprecedented” and warned it is a “rapidly developing situation”. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced a targeted vaccination programme for students living at Canterbury halls of residence at the University of Kent, while 700 doses of antibiotics have been given out. The agency confirmed on Tuesday morning that 15 cases of meningitis have been recorded, an increase of two from Monday, and all those affected were hospitalised. Experts have described the outbreak as “unusual”, with the disease killing an 18-year-old pupil called Juliette and an unnamed 21-year-old university student. Warnings were issued that some pharmacies in the region are running out of the MenB vaccine due to a surge in demand, with some reporting no stock left. Meningitis B has been confirmed as the strain in some cases, with concerns growing in the region after a third school confirmed a case, as well as the university. Read full story Source: The Independent, 17 March 2026
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News ArticleBritish medics will “turn their backs on the NHS” if they are not prioritised for specialty training, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned. Mr Streeting warned the health service must “break our over-reliance on international recruitment”, as he unveiled plans to give UK and Irish medical graduates precedence for these vital training places. Specialty training marks the final stage of a doctor’s qualification, focusing on a specific medical field or general practice. The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill, due for Commons discussion on Tuesday, would also see British and Irish graduates prioritised for foundation training. Setting out the bill, the health secretary said: “We’ve known for years that the treatment of resident doctors is often totally unacceptable and the very real fears about their futures are wholly justified. “Every time I’ve met a resident doctor, either formally or informally, they tell me, without fail, how their careers are blocked because there are far too many applicants for training places. “Not only do I think they have a legitimate grievance, I agree with them.” Mr Streeting warned that if they do not deal with the issue, “the resentment it causes will just get worse” and British medics will “turn their backs on the NHS”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 28 January 2026
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News ArticleProgress has been made in reducing the “collective shame” of disproportionate employer referrals of doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds or who qualified outside the UK, the doctors’ regulator says. The General Medical Council says the proportion of employers with excess referrals in relation to a doctor’s ethnicity or place of qualification has now reduced by 48%—from 5.6% between 2016 and 2020 to 2.9% from 2020 to 2024. The difference in employer referral rates between ethnic minority and white doctors has also fallen by 61%—from 0.28% (0.58% ethnic minority doctors v 0.3% white doctors) to 0.11% (0.26% v 0.15%). For non-UK versus UK graduates, the difference in referral rates has dropped by 69%—from 0.42% (0.28% UK v 0.7% non-UK) to 0.13% (0.15% v 0.28%). The regulator says it is now on track to hit its target of eliminating disproportionate employer fitness to practise referrals by the end of 2026, a goal it set in 2021. Progress on eliminating discrimination in medical schools and training by 2031 has been much slower, however. Speaking to The BMJ, GMC chief executive Charlie Massey said, “Inequality and discrimination are pernicious and we should be ashamed collectively about the level of disadvantage that doctors from particular backgrounds face in the NHS.” He said, however, that the progress made so far is “pretty significant” and shows change is possible. “I don’t think any of us should be complacent. There’s still further distance to travel and we mustn’t let up now,” he said. Read full story Source: BMJ, 15 January 2026
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News ArticleThe General Medical Council (GMC) has placed conditions on the Anaesthetics training programme at Basildon University Hospital, part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, following serious issues relating to patient safety and the quality of postgraduate medical education. As the regulator responsible for setting the standards of postgraduate medical training, and checking they are being met, the GMC has taken this action to address a range of issues including failures to protect doctors in training from sexual misconduct, misogyny and undermining behaviours, as well as inappropriate staffing levels within the department. Doctors in training in anaesthetics are currently not working in the department due to the concerns, and the GMC will require evidence of change before conditions can be removed and before they can return. Professor Pushpinder Mangat, Medical Director and Director for Education and Standards at the GMC, said: ‘We work to make sure that education and training prepares doctors to deliver good, safe patient care by setting high standards and expected outcomes. ‘We need assurance that the required standards and the conditions imposed are being met, including the creation of a working culture where doctors can raise issues openly, without fear of repercussions.’ Read full story Source: GMC, 19 January 2026
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News Article
GMC approves 36 courses to teach more than 1,000 NHS physician associates
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More than 1,000 physician associates (PAs) could begin their careers in the NHS every year after regulators approved dozens of courses to teach them. The General Medical Council (GMC) said it had given 36 courses formal approval to teach PAs and anaesthesia associates (AAs). Overall, these courses had capacity for up to 1,059 PAs and 42 AAs to qualify each year. The GMC said approving training courses would mean that “patients, employers and colleagues can be assured that PAs and AAs have the required knowledge and skills to practise safely once they qualify”. Prof Colin Melville, the GMC’s medical director and director of education and standards, said: “This is an important milestone in the regulation of PAs and AAs and will provide assurance, now and in the future, that those who qualify in these roles have the appropriate skills and knowledge that patients rightly expect and deserve. “As a regulator, patient safety is paramount, and we have a robust quality assurance process for PA and AA courses, as we do for medical schools. We have been engaging with course providers for several years already, and we only grant approval where they meet our high standards.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 30 April 2025 -
News Article
'The NHS can't tell me where my job will be'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Jayne Evans has completed four years at medical school in London - but says she is still being left in the dark about where her first permanent NHS position will be. "I was told that I don't have a job set aside for me," she said. "They've guaranteed we will only be offered jobs other people decline and there's just no sort of timeline that they can give us." Ms Evans has been given a rough idea of where she will be working - the Trent area, which spans almost all of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire - but no further clues. She is one of hundreds of newly-qualified medical students who have not been found a specific job by the NHS yet. Instead they have a so-called "placeholder job", meaning they have only been told the rough part of the country they will be in. Without knowing where they will be living, they say they are not able to start preparations for moving. Ms Evans said it had overshadowed her achievement in qualifying. "I was expecting around this time to feel excited or even nervous, but now mostly I just feel angry and disrespected," she said. "I went into medicine and was told we needed doctors and the NHS needs help but I've been told there is no job for me." Dr Hassan Nassar was one of more than 1,000 medical students in the same position last year. The BMA, the union that represents doctors and medical students in the UK, has accused the government of failing to plan for an increase in resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - after increasing the number of medical school places. "The government has increased the number of medical school places - but not the number of foundation jobs," Callum Williams, the union's deputy chair of education, said. "The government needs to increase that funding - and these jobs should go to UK-trained doctors first." Mr Williams said there was a danger students would move abroad. "It's your first job with the NHS, it is supposed to be exciting and instead it leaves a sour taste in your mouth," he said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 April 2025 -
News Article
‘Culture of bullying and undermining’ uncovered in trust’s maternity service
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Trainee midwives at a struggling trust have raised serious concerns about bullying and feeling afraid to speak up, an NHS England report has revealed. Experiences of pre-registration midwifery trainees at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital and Good Hope Hospital, part of University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust, are detailed in a recent NHS England workforce, education and training report following a visit in January. The report said learners at BHH reported a “concerning culture of bullying and undermining”, with some midwives displaying hostility and rudeness, and one student constantly feeling like they were in “fight or flight mode”. At GHH, students were aware how to raise concerns but described it as a “waste of time”, telling NHSE qualified midwives had informed them they frequently raised concerns about staffing levels without these being resolved. Meanwhile, at BHH trainees said lack of action taken when they tried to raise concerns had created an environment where learners were reluctant to voice fears about patients or seek guidance on patient care. The NHSE report said students provided multiple instances of trying to raise concerns which were either not acted on or they experienced repercussions for having attempted to speak up. One person expressed concerns about a woman who had experienced severe bleeding following birth but their supervising midwife dismissed their concern. They then escalated the matter to another staff member and was taken more seriously, but as a result, the student said their supervising midwife “made my life hell” for the rest of the shift. NHSE said it heard examples where midwives made derogatory comments about students in public, including about one person’s weight, which caused them to leave the building in tears. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 24 May 2024 -
News ArticleTwo of England’s leading doctors are to oversee a significant review into postgraduate training for newly qualified medics. National Medical Director Professor Sir Stephen Powis and Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty will lead the review as part of work to address concerns raised by resident doctors (previously known as junior doctors). The review will be based on feedback from current resident doctors and students, locally employed doctors and medical educators, with a series of engagement events around the country starting from this month. The review will cover placement options, the flexibility of training, difficulties with rotas, control and autonomy in training, and the balance between developing specialist knowledge and gaining a broad range of skills. The national listening events in February and March will be followed by a call for evidence in the spring to ensure the widest possible range of views, experiences and ideas are captured. A report on the review’s findings is due to be published in the summer. Read full story Source: NHS England, 19 February 2025
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EventThis event gives trainees at all levels the opportunity to attend, present and gain feedback on their Audit and QI work. Further lectures will include the McKeown Medal Lecture, a keynote on patient safety and discussion from a Trainee Committee member. Trainees are invited to submit their abstracts for consideration for presentation at this event. Topics for submission: General Surgery, Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery, Specialties & Common Interest and Patient Safety. Register
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Content ArticleOne in three medical students plan to quit the NHS within two years of graduating, either to practise abroad or abandon medicine altogether, according to a survey published in BMJ Open. Poor pay, work-life balance and working conditions of doctors in the UK were the main factors cited by those intending to emigrate to continue their medical career. The same reasons were also given by those planning to quit medicine altogether, with nearly 82% of them also listing burnout as an important or very important reason. The findings from the study of 10,486 students at the UK’s 44 medical schools triggered calls for action to prevent an exodus of medical students from the NHS.
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Content ArticleThe Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA) is a 60-question exam required as part of UK medical training to progress from FY1 to FY2. This independent review into the PSA was commissioned by the Medical Schools Council (MSC) together with the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) in the summer of 2022. It suggests a strategic future direction for the PSA and addresses how the PSA has impacted prescribing assessment and practice for medical students and Foundation Year 1 (FY1) doctors. It is intended to support national decision making about the future of UK prescribing assessment in the context of the imminent introduction of the Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA). Recommendations Appropriate and mandatory assessment of prescribing should remain as a condition of practice for doctors in the UK: evidence of prescribing competence is highly desirable for new UK doctors, and those entering the UK from overseas. The addition of the PSA to the MLA should be considered as a pragmatic suggestion to form a Medical and Prescribing Licensing Assessment (MPLA): this could comprise an additional and separate paper under the umbrella of the MLA. The examination regulations need standardising and publishing: both the PSA and the MLA, when launched (or the MPLA) should publish examination regulations. This will standardise examination delivery between administering institutions and clarify the management of irregularities or appeals. The governance of the PSA should be reviewed to ensure that any examination irregularities are identified and addressed prior to confirming results to candidates. The PSA or combined MPLA should be considered as a requirement for medical practice in the UK: this could be a summative assessment as an exit from medical school or an entry requirement for FY1, and should be required for international medical graduates licensing (IMGs) via the PLAB route for entry at FY1 and FY2. The GMC should have regulatory oversight: the PSA (or MPLA) should be a national requirement for medical practice. As such, it should be subject to regulatory oversight from the GMC. If implemented, the proposed MPLA should be funded in the same way as the MLA: the MPLA should be funded in the same way as the MLA will be funded (by universities). In the case of IMGs, funding would follow the model of the PLAB test (self-funded).
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Content ArticleThe UK government’s long-awaited NHS workforce plan for England outlines a vision to increase the number of nursing staff in England over the next 15 years, with a promise of 170,000 more nurses by 2036/37. This article from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) outlines how the detail of the plan will affect nurses. It argues that the plan fails to acknowledge the financial investment needed if its objectives are to be fulfilled, and expresses the RCN's concern that it does not address financial support for student nurses. Key proposals affecting nursing staff More training places will be offered through degree apprenticeships so staff can “earn while they learn”. Nursing students could take up jobs as soon as they graduate, rather than waiting until September. The plan asks the NMC to consider greater use of simulated learning in order to reduce clinical placement hours for nursing degree students. Investment in occupational health and wellbeing services for staff. Flexible working options will be considered for every job. An intention to reduce reliance on international recruitment from nearly a quarter of staff to about 10% of the workforce. Reform the NHS pension from this year to make it easier to partially retire or return to work. A potential ban on substantive staff working agency shifts.
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Content ArticleThe state of medical education and practice in the UK 2023 is published at a time when the UK health systems face extensive challenges. This report from the General Medical Council (GMC) shares concerning data about the experiences of doctors and the challenges to providing adequate care to patients. In this context, careful and constructive exploration of the practical, evidence-based steps that can be taken to improve the situation is critical – to protect both patients and the doctors who care for them.
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Content ArticleThe UK’s healthcare systems are experiencing a prolonged period of high pressure, with industrial action, backlogs in elective care persisting, and a shortage of doctors that ongoing high vacancy rates evidence. This report by the GMC analyses trends in the medical workforce across the UK. It uses a variety of sources to provide insights for policymakers and workforce planners, as well as offering deeper analysis on specific themes. Conclusions and key insights for workforce planning The number of licensed doctors continues to grow rapidly, with those joining outnumbering those leaving by more than two to one since 2019. However, there are still high vacancy rates and workforce pressure. Over half (52%) of new joiners in 2022 were international medical graduates (IMGs). Even if the ongoing and planned increases to UK medical school places are complemented by a replication of NHS England’s NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) in all UK countries—and if those future UK graduates were to replace future IMG joiners—the UK’s healthcare systems would still need large numbers of doctors to continue joining from abroad. Welcoming, integrating, and retaining all doctors who join from abroad will be crucial to meeting the UK’s future healthcare needs. The proportion of doctors leaving the workforce has only returned to the pre-pandemic level of just under 4%. But there are worrying signs. A growing proportion of doctors plan to leave the profession as a result of high levels of dissatisfaction and high risk of burnout. We may be in a limited window of opportunity to address current issues before they manifest into larger proportions of doctors leaving the profession. The growth in the specialty and associate specialist (SAS) and locally employed (LE) doctors group appears to be mainly driven by those taking up LE roles as opposed to SAS roles. In 2021, there were more than double the number of LE doctors (22,576), compared with SAS doctors (10,349), working in England and Wales. The LE doctors cohort has grown because of both IMG joiners and the increasing proportion of doctors who are taking longer periods of time away from formal postgraduate training after their second foundation year (F2). As well as taking time away from training after F2, there are training stages within programmes that many doctors take longer to complete than the minimum possible time. Our data show that undertaking research and gaining experience in a different post partly explain why some training levels take longer than others. The UK’s healthcare systems must evolve to take advantage of the upsides in the broader range of experiences that doctors are building. Adding flexibility to the evidential requirements for joining the Specialist Register or GP Register will be important and legislative changes mean that is now in progress.
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Content ArticleIncivility in the workplace, school and political system in the United States has permeated mass and social media in recent years and has also been recognized as a detrimental factor in medical education. This scoping review in BMC Medical Education identified research on incivility involving medical students, residents, fellows and faculty in North America to describe multiple aspects of incivility in medical education settings published since 2000. The results of the review highlight that incivility is likely to be under-reported across the continuum of medical education and also confirmed incidences of incivility involving nursing personnel and patients that haven't been emphasised in previous reviews.
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Content Article
In this blog, Professor of Medical Education Kate Owen explains how her team has embedded a session on patient safety in the final year curriculum at Warwick Medical School. Using a real-life story posted on the Care Opinion website, the session gives medical students an opportunity to use investigation tools, understand NHS reporting systems and consider the importance of compassionate communication with harmed patients and their families. Patient safety is a fundamental part of a large proportion of teaching in a medical degree. We found, however, that students were reaching the end of their studies and telling us that they had not been “taught patient safety”. We also realised that students had not had any opportunity to rehearse clinical reporting systems and discuss with their peers some of the challenges around reporting errors and near misses. So we decided to develop a workshop for final year students in their assistantship block, to pull together their learning and discuss how this would apply to their FY1 posts. This has now run for two years and is embedded in our curriculum. I am a patient as well as an educator and am aware that discussing one’s own traumatic experiences can have negative impacts on mental health and wellbeing. I believed it was vitally important to centre the session on patient stories, but without causing additional burden, which is why I decided to work with Care Opinion. I read very many Care Opinion stories before deciding to use this one about an elderly woman who went through a series of near misses because of an initial poor clinical decision. I felt it was important to focus on skills and active learning in preparation for becoming a junior doctor so the session has a series of small group activities. During the session, we split the students into groups and give each group a different tool with which to 'investigate' the episode—Fishbone, Root Cause Analysis, Human Factors, the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework and a SEIPS worksheet. We then come back together and discuss the findings, which are usually very similar between groups. We then discuss saying sorry (using this excellent patient video) and get the students to write a letter to the woman's daughter. Next, we look at reporting including using the Yellow Card system and Datix—we get the students to actually complete a form for the patient we have just investigated so that they have done it once before they may need to do it for real. We finish the session by discussing student concerns about patient safety when they start work, and this has resulted in many useful conversations. Students have fed back that the session really highlighted relevant issues: “I think the patient safety session was interesting to put so close to F1, as it highlighted a lot of the system issues with the NHS and how tough it will be.” Related reading Patient Safety Spotlight interview with James Munro, Chief Executive of Care Opinion -
Content ArticleThis report by the Nuffield Trust looks at workforce training issues in England, arguing that the domestic training pipeline for clinical careers has been unfit for purpose for many years. It presents research that highlights leaks across the training pathway, from students dropping out of university, to graduates pursuing careers outside the profession they trained in and outside public services. Alongside high numbers of doctors, nurses and other clinicians leaving the NHS early in their careers, this is contributing to publicly funded health and social care services being understaffed and under strain. It is also failing to deliver value for money for the huge taxpayer investment in education and training. Key facts More than 83,000 students accepted a place to study an undergraduate or postgraduate clinical degree (including medicine, nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions) across the UK in 2022. £2.6 billion was spent on undergraduate education and training in 2022/23 in England, with a further £2.5 billion spent on postgraduate medicine and dentistry. Only half of nurses, midwives and nursing associates (52%) and two in five doctors (39%) joining the UK professional registers were trained domestically in the latest year of data. Around one in eight nursing (13%) and radiography (13%) students did not gain their intended degree between 2014 and 2020, compared with 5% for physiotherapy. Attrition was on the rise for nursing, physiotherapy and radiography in the two years before the Covid-19 pandemic – for radiotherapy it was up to one in six (17%) in 2018/19 compared with 13% in 2016/17. Only one in 14 nursing graduates (7%) do not begin their career as a nurse after graduating. However, around one in nine midwifery graduates (11%) and one in seven occupational therapy graduates (15%) do not immediately join their respective profession. 6,325 fewer new nurses with a UK nationality joined NHS hospital and community services in the year to March 2022 compared with the two years before that (a fall of 32%). Around one in five radiographers (17%), nurses (18%), occupational therapists (21%) and physiotherapists (21%) have left NHS hospital and community settings within two years… this is broadly twice the level seen for midwives (10%), although some professions have more alternative employment opportunities than others, both inside the public sector (for example, general practice) and outside (for example, private practice and social care). The annual leaving rate from NHS hospital and community services flattens out after five years (leaver rates in the subsequent three years vary from 1 percentage point for nurses to 5 percentage points for occupational therapists). Most medical students successfully graduate and start their first foundation year (which they must complete to become fully registered) but only 30% of those completing foundation training in 2021/22 continued straight into GP or consultant training posts. Fewer than three in five doctors (56%) in ‘core training’ remained (even in a different role) in NHS hospital and community services in England eight years later, with half (24%) of this attrition seen in the first two years.
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News Article
NHS only gains one ‘full-time’ GP for every two trainees, report finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS has to train two GPs to produce one full-time family doctor because so many have started to work part-time, new research reveals. The finding helps explain why GP surgeries are still struggling to give patients appointments as quickly as they would like, despite growing numbers of doctors training to become a GP. The disclosure is contained in a report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank that lays bare the large number of nurses, midwives and doctors who quit during their training or early in their careers. “These high dropout rates are in nobody’s interest,” said Dr Billy Palmer, a senior fellow at the thinktank and co-author of the report. “They’re wasteful for the taxpayer, often distressing for the students and staff who leave, stressful for the staff left behind, and ultimately erode the NHS’s ability to deliver safe and high-quality care.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 September 2023 -
Content ArticleInstitutional racism within the United Kingdom's (UK) Higher Education (HE) sector, particularly nurse and midwifery education, has lacked empirical research, critical scrutiny, and serious discussion. This paper focuses on the racialised experiences of nurses and midwives during their education in UK universities, including their practice placements. It explores the emotional, physical, and psychological impacts of these experiences. The study concludes that the endemic culture of racism in nurse and midwifery education is a fundamental factor that must be recognised and called out. The study argues that universities and health care trusts need to be accountable for preparing all students to challenge racism and provide equitable learning opportunities that cover the objectives to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requirements to avoid significant experiences of exclusion and intimidation.
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Content Article
A ‘Just Culture’ aims to improve patient safety by looking at the organisational and individual factors that contribute to incidents. It encourages people to speak up about their errors and mistakes so that action can be taken to prevent those errors from being repeated. Adam Tasker and Julia Jones are graduate medical students at Warwick Medical School. They wanted to explore doctors’ perceptions of culture and identify ways to foster a Just Culture, so they conducted a qualitative research study at one of the hospitals where they were doing their medical training. We asked them about why Just Culture is important in the health and care system, and what they discovered from their research. -
News ArticleA secret report has warned that the NHS is failing to protect trainee paramedics from widespread sexual harassment and racism at work, The Independent has revealed. A confidential NHS England report uncovered by The Independent has found that “extremely alarming” conduct and undermining behaviour are rife in ambulance trusts across the country, with trainees subjected to derogatory comments about their age, ethnicity and appearance in front of patients. There is a “worrying acceptance” that this is “part of the job”, with students hesitant to raise complaints about sexual behaviour by male colleagues in case it gives them a reputation as “annoying snowflakes”, the report says. The revelations come after a recent NHS staff survey revealed that thousands of ambulance staff had reported unwanted sexual behaviour from colleagues and patients last year. One healthcare leader described the findings as “harrowing”, warning that much more needs to be done to protect junior staff. The national report, which is understood to have gone through several edited versions and is marked commercially sensitive, was not due to be released until The Independent obtained the document through a freedom of information request. It found an “undercurrent” of bullying in some areas, with examples of students leaving their jobs as a result of inappropriate behaviour. Trainees reported feeling undervalued and unwanted while on the job, with one apparently told: “Your concerns don’t matter – we have to meet patient demands.” Ambulance handover delays have also led to student paramedics having less experience and training on the job, prompting fears that newly qualified paramedics do not have sufficient levels of experience in life-critical situations. Read full story Source: The Independent, 19 March 2024
