Centre for Remediation Support and Training
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Centre for Remediation Support and Training
Improving Health and Wellbeing – Making the NHS the Best Place to Work
In a significant number of cases, the issues surrounding poor performance often relates to both clinical practice and professionalism including team working, communication, interpersonal skills and leadership. There is, at present, no formal mechanism for addressing these concerns, and Trusts will request neighbouring Trusts or other centres to provide the retraining and address issues around professionalism.
There is, therefore, a total lack and a huge gap, in any provision for following up the implementation and delivery of any retraining needs identified and ensuring a safe return to clinical practice.
The Centre of Remediation Support and Training recognises the increased vulnerability of certain groups of doctors, especially those from a BME background, sessional and SAS doctors, locum and locum peripatetic doctors, and will therefore embed and deliver on the principles of equality, fairness and inclusion in all aspects of its work and delivery.
The Department of Health survey 2009 found that up to 1000 remediation cases are being dealt with at any one time in England and that around 2800 doctors had been investigated in the previous 12 months, equating to roughly 2% of all doctors working in the NHS in England.
Due to the inconsistencies in the process of individual Trusts, doctors in difficulty don’t have fair and equitable access to remediation, and providing suitable remediation packages can be challenging, difficult and very expensive (NHS Confederation 2011). A key recommendation from the Department of Health’s remediation steering group 2009 therefore states that a single organisation is required to advise and, when necessary, to coordinate the remediation process and case management to improve consistency across the service.
The benefits of mentoring doctors are well-recognised (NHS Mentoring Framework 2009, GMC Modernising Medical Careers survey 2011, NHS Guide to Mentoring 2014), with mentorship identified as beneficial for doctors internationally and across specialities. A review of the literature suggests that mentoring can dramatically enhance both technical and non-technical skills of the mentee, with many well-documented benefits for all involved, including the employing organisation, overall.
