Junior doctors are being left to run hospital departments unsupervised, GMC warns
BMJ 2017; 359 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j5508 (Published 27 November 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;359:j5508
- Gareth Iacobucci
- The BMJ
Junior doctors in some UK hospitals are being forced to work beyond their capabilities and to run busy departments unsupervised, putting patients at risk, the General Medical Council has warned.
In its UK-wide report on training environments in 2017 the GMC describes examples of trainees being left to deal with “situations beyond their competence” because of an absence of senior supervising doctors.1 This was being driven by recruitment difficulties, the regulator said.
The report was based on the GMC’s annual survey, which is answered by 53 000 junior doctors and 24 000 trainers.
More than a sixth (8256) junior doctors surveyed said that they felt forced to …
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