scholarly journals Addressing recruitment and retention in paediatrics: a pipeline to a brighter future

Author(s):  
Peter Mallett ◽  
Andrew Thompson ◽  
Thomas Bourke

BackgroundIn the UK, the number of junior doctors completing foundation programme, and the number of trainees applying to paediatrics has been in decline in recent years. The NHS is at ‘breaking point’, exacerbated by workforce shortages, chronic underfunding, increasing service demand and poor job satisfaction within healthcare workers. Issues in recruitment and retention of paediatricians ‘threaten the safety of our children’s health’, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.AimTo explore what strategies have been described in the literature to enhance recruitment and retention in paediatrics.MethodsA scoping review methodology was conducted, employing a qualitative approach to review the literature. The studies included were English-language studies. 16 full-text articles were reviewed and analysed.Study findingsThere is a paucity of data in the literature that describes evidence-based approaches to enhancing retention and recruitment in paediatrics. The most important strategies employed to help are identified and grouped into six main themes. These include professional advocacy, workforce diversity, mentorship, improving working conditions, career flexibility and enhancing educational opportunities. The authors have created a ‘paediatric pipeline’ paradigm of ‘identify, engage, recruit, retain and champion’, which allow us to present these themes in a pragmatic way for paediatricians and policymakers.ConclusionsWhile some issues share similarities with other specialties in difficulty, much of the context and potential remedies within paediatrics are distinct. A strategic, multi-agency collaborative approach is required urgently to address the significant issues that face both paediatrics and the healthcare system.

2008 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-26
Author(s):  
GO Hellawell ◽  
SS Kommu ◽  
F Mumtaz

The training of junior doctors in the UK is undergoing an evolution to ensure that those concerned are adequately trained and specialised for current and future consultant practice. The implementation of this training evolution is currently widespread at the foundation level (SHO-equivalent) and will expand to specialty training programmes as foundation programme trainees complete their training in 2007. Urology has led the change to the specialty training, with three-year trainees having entered the specialty in 2005. The emergence of urology as the lead specialty for change originated in part from a meeting in 1998 that addressed the future of urology and training, the summary of which was published later that year.


English Today ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Kingsley Bolton ◽  
David Graddol ◽  
Rajend Mesthrie

ABSTRACTAs English Today notches up a century, it's high time to acknowledge Tom McArthur's inimitable contribution to the study of English worldwide.Tom McArthur's contribution to English language studies has been immense, and has had a powerful impact at a number of levels. Tom started his life as an educator, gaining crucial exposure to English across the globe very early in his career, when in one of his first jobs teaching English at the Cathedral School in Bombay (Mumbai). After a varied academic career, which included a post at the University of Quebec, Tom returned to the UK to start a new journal for Cambridge University Press, English Today. Tom's brief at that time was to be the founding editor of a journal that would inform a wide readership about the highways and byways of the English language, during an era when English was becoming a global language at an unprecedented speed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Thwaites ◽  
Anh B Tran ◽  
Sue Mann

ObjectivesProvision of immediate postnatal contraception, including long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods, is increasingly identified and endorsed as a key strategy for reducing unplanned and rapid repeat pregnancies. This literature review aims to evaluatethe views of women and healthcare professionals regarding the receipt, initiation or delivery of these services.MethodsDatabases (Embase, Medline, CINAHL, HMIC) were searched for relevant English language studies, from January2003 to December 2017. In addition, Evidence Search, Google Scholar and Scopus (citation search) were used to identify further literature. Other relevant websites were accessed for policies, guidance and supplementary grey literature.ResultsThere is clear guidance on how to deliver good-quality postnatal contraception to women, but the reality of service delivery in the UK does not currently meet these aspirations, and guidance on implementation is lacking. The available evidence on the provision of immediate postnatal contraception focuses more on clinical rather than patient-centred outcomes. Research on postnatal women’s views is limited to receptivity to LARC and contraception counselling rather than what influences their decision-making process at this time. Research on views of healthcare professionals highlights a range of key systemic barriers to implementation.ConclusionsWhile views of postnatal women and healthcare professionals are largely in support of immediate postnatal contraception provision, important challenges have been raised and present a need for national sharing of service commissioning and delivery models, resources and evaluation data. Provider attitudes and training needs across multidisciplinary groups also need to be assessed and addressed as collaborative working across a motivated, skilled and up-to-date network of healthcare professionals is viewed as key to successful service implementation.


Author(s):  
David Metcalfe ◽  
Harveer Dev

The SJT questions were created following the professional attributes identified from the FY1 job analysis. Questions were written by volunteers at a series of dedicated workshops. The volunteers were not all doctors but should have been familiar with the FY1 role and have worked with junior doctors within the previous two years. The ISFP Project Group employed 89 people to write SJT questions, of whom 69 (77.5%) were senior doctors, two (2.2%) were lay representatives, and the remainder were undeclared. In terms of background, 59 (66.3%) were from a range of acute specialties and 12 (13.5%) from community specialties. This team created a bank of 453 possible questions. These were scrutinized by a team of psychologists who accepted 360 questions as passing this initial stage. A select few writers were asked to moderate all questions to ensure that scenarios were realistic and the terminology was in use across the UK. This group eliminated additional questions, leaving a total of 306. A series of focus groups was then held with foundation doctors who scrutinized the test instructions and up to 20 questions each. They proposed a number of amendments and whittled down the total question bank to 275 items. Once a question bank was established, it was trialled using a panel of subject ‘experts’, i.e. people with similar qualifications to the question writers. Questions survived this process if they achieved a satisfactory level of concordance, i.e. enough experts independently arrived at the same answer under test conditions. A total of 200 questions went forward to be used in the SJT pilots. The SJT model underwent two pilots. The second and larger of these took place in 13 UK medical schools, involving 639 final- year students. Students reported that the content seemed relevant to the Foundation Programme (85% agreed) and that the questions were fair (73.3%). The reasons for understanding how questions are created are to appreciate the following: ● A lot of thought has gone into every question. There should be no ambiguities (unless intended) or ‘tricks’. ● They are written (largely) by senior doctors who are presumably interested in medical training and development.


2021 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2021-140284
Author(s):  
Helen Grote ◽  
Flora Greig

Purpose of the studyTo ascertain factors influencing referral to, and outcomes from medical tribunals for junior doctors with less than 7 years of postgraduate training.Study designA mixed methods analysis of 49 publicly available determinations from the UK Medical Practitioner Tribunal Service (MPTS) between 2014 and 2020 was undertaken. Data on demographics, training grade, type of case and outcomes from the tribunal were recorded. A qualitative thematic analysis of the determinations was also undertaken, with themes being identified based on frequency and pertinence to the process of determination.ResultsThe largest group of junior doctors referred to an MPTS tribunal (38%) was those on the foundation programme; in their first 2 years postgraduation. Fifty-three per cent of all junior doctors referred to a tribunal were erased from the medical register. Erasure from the register was significantly associated with male gender, less than 4 years postqualification, non-attendance at the tribunal hearing, lack of legal representation and lack of insight or remorse at the tribunal hearing. Several cases involved dishonesty in relation to academic achievements and workplace-based assessments.ConclusionConsideration should be given as to how best to support the transition in professional identity from student to doctor. Teaching medical professionalism should be a priority in undergraduate and early postgraduate education, with lessons from fitness to practice tribunals shared for educational purposes.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1373-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary-Ann Carter ◽  
R Edwards ◽  
L Signal ◽  
J Hoek

AbstractObjectiveThe current systematic review aimed to identify and critically appraise research on food environments in sports settings, including research into the types of food and beverages available, the extent and impact of food and beverage sponsorship and marketing, and views about food environments among key stakeholders.DesignA systematic review. Fourteen English-language studies (two were papers describing different facets of the same study), published between 1985 and 2011, were identified from searches of electronic databases and bibliographies of primary studies.SettingMost studies originated from Australia (n 10), with the remaining studies originating in the UK (n 1), New Zealand (n 1), the USA (n 1) and Canada (n 1). Data were collected from observations in stadia, websites and televised sports events, through in-depth interviews, focus groups and surveys with sports club members, parents and quick serve restaurant managers.ResultsLiterature exploring food environments in sports settings was limited and had some important methodological limitations. No studies comprehensively described foods available at clubs or stadia, and only one explored the association between food and beverage sponsorship and club incomes. Club policies focused on the impact of health promotion funding rather than the impact of sponsorship or food availability in sports settings.ConclusionsFurther research, including comprehensive studies of the food environment in sports settings, is required to document the availability, sponsorship and marketing of food and beverages at national, regional and club levels and to estimate how sports settings may influence children's diets.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e027522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Vance ◽  
Sharmila Jandial ◽  
Jon Scott ◽  
Bryan Burford

ObjectivesTo examine what activities constitute the work of Foundation doctors and understand the factors that determine how that work is constructed.DesignCross-sectional mixed methods study. Questionnaire survey of the frequency with which activities specified in curricular documents are performed. Semistructured interviews and focus groups.SettingPostgraduate medical training in the UK.ParticipantsDoctors in their first 2 years of postgraduate practice (Foundation Programme). Staff who work with Foundation doctors—supervisors, nurses and employers (clinical; non-clinical).ResultsSurvey data from 3697 Foundation doctors identified curricular activities (41/103, 42%) that are carried out routinely (performed at least once or twice per week by >75% of respondents). However, another 30 activities (29%) were carried out rarely (at least once or twice per week by <25% respondents), largely because they are routinely part of nurses’, and not doctors’, work. Junior doctors indicated their work constituted three roles: ‘support’ of ward and team, ‘independent practitioner’ and ‘learner’. The support function dominated work, but conflicted with stereotyped expectations of what ‘being a doctor’ would be. It was, however, valued by the other staff groups. The learner role was felt to be incidental to practice, but was couched in a limited definition of learning that related to new skills, rather than consolidation and practice. Activities and perceived role were shaped by the organisational context, medical hierarchies and through relationships with nurses, which could change unpredictably and cause tension. Training progression did not affect what activities were done, but supported greater autonomy in how they were carried out.ConclusionsNew doctors must be fit for multiple roles. Strategies for transition should manage graduates’ expectations of real-world work, and encourage teams and organisations to better accommodate graduates. These strategies may help ensure that new doctors can adapt to the variable demands of the evolving multiprofessional workforce.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-60
Author(s):  
Eirini V Kasfiki ◽  
◽  
Mamoon Yusaf ◽  
Jivendra Gosai ◽  
Makani Purva ◽  
...  

In the UK, postgraduate training for doctors has undergone significant changes over the past decade general practice, etc. During this period, hospital admission rates and bed occupancy have also increased.


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