Most clinicians have, I suspect, experienced a slight 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐬 when facing online mandatory training.

Which of the following statements about mandatory training is correct?

A. It’s a 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, contributing to burnout

B. It can feel like a 𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐨𝐱 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞 with minimal new learning

C. There is little attention to measuring any 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲/𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭

D. NHSE estimates it 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 of training annually

E. All of the above

I welcome this week’s launch of a new NHS agreement around a core list of statutory (required by law) training. https://lnkd.in/dBt2zvCg

So, from next month, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 when moving between Trusts.

This launch also coincides with a 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 (𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥) 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. https://lnkd.in/dtp–iWw.

This requires Trusts to have a 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 (MLOG) which should decide, justify and be held accountable for any additional learning, and assess what can be removed.

This creates a long-overdue 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞.

So, here are my suggestions for more efficient, balanced and beneficial training;

𝐄𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞:

1. that your Trust’s statutory training aligns with the new NHSE recommendations.

2. that there is strong 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 on your local MLOG. This should, in turn, ensure:

a. that any new mandatory topics are clinically scrutinised, assessed against the burden of completion and have clear, measurable outcomes

b. there is an annual review of existing training, removing any that is redundant/overly burdensome

While we are, I suspect, some way off a world where we actively look forward to online statutory/mandatory training, we are at least a step closer to:

1. A 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝-𝐮𝐩 experience for those moving between Trusts

2. Rigorous assessment of 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 of training

3. Stronger clinician engagement, where we have 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰

𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 can so easily become 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐭, stripping away our autonomy around learning and adding to workload without adding value. As such, I welcome these new NHSE initiatives.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲/𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠?

Please share your thoughts