Improving wellbeing for Doctors in our Trust
Health Education England recently announced that doctors in training, previously known as ‘Junior Doctors’ will now officially have the title of Postgraduate Doctor. The change was made to recognise their experience, skill, and commitment in providing vital care in hospitals throughout the UK.
We spoke to Dr Will Coles, Consultant Rheumatologist and Postgraduate Doctor Wellbeing Champion, who talked to us about the terminology change and his work in improving the welfare of doctors across our Trust.
Dr Coles said: "I started my role as wellbeing champion in June last year working alongside Dr Sakeena Samar. The COVID-19 pandemic shone a light on the psychological needs as well as the physical needs of our doctors. Our doctors work in very challenging environments, and over the last couple of years, those environments have been rapidly changing.
"We want to make sure that we give doctors the tools to manage in these difficult circumstances. Not only is wellbeing essential for looking after our staff, but for our patients too. It is so important that we can create an environment that supports our workforce to be able to do their job as well as they can.”
Collaborating with Psychology at Aston University, Dr Coles and the wellbeing team created surveys to assess the psychological wellbeing of our postgraduate doctors. The wellbeing team then set up regular peer support meetings where colleagues could meet to discuss their work, talk through concerns, and share successes.
The peer support meetings have been shown to improve staff retention, giving doctors a space to get further support for their wellbeing.
Dr Coles added: “We found that having a network of support is really important for our doctors. Teams have become very fragmented over the past couple of years as they’ve had to adapt during the pandemic. It meant that postgraduate doctors didn’t have the face-to-face communication we are so used to.
“It was important for us that there were dedicated spaces for staff to share positive experiences, as well as things that they were finding difficult. Doctors could come along to these meetings and share their stories and talk through the emotional impact that it had.”
“We want our postgraduate doctors to feel welcome and like they belong. It’s that very reason that I work at BWC, there is such a great sense of belonging here, and we want to share that with staff who join us. This is why the change in terminology for our postgraduate doctors is so important, as we want to recognise the essential work that they do in providing care for our women and children.”
Health Education England announced the change of terminology last month (March 2022) and there are currently around 60,000 doctors in approved training posts and almost as many (nearly 50,000) working as doctors but not in training posts. The vast majority are staff, associate specialists, or locally employed Trust doctors.
Dr Coles said: “Junior doctors refers to any doctor who is not a consultant and so covers a whole range of our workforce. The term ‘Junior Doctors’ doesn't do justice to the staff members who have many years of service and experience in the NHS. The term ‘postgraduate doctor’ is a real step in the right direction in making our doctors feel valued and respected.”
If you are a medical professional looking for support, NHS Practitioner Health is a service for NHS staff where they can access resources and a 24-hour phone and text line. Visit their website to access their services: https://www.practitionerhealth.nhs.uk/