TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
Mandatory shadowing for new doctors
Plans to improve patient safety during the transition period when junior doctors start work each August could reduce the mistakes
they make by 50%, trials suggest.
Each August, there is a 6% spike in death rates, according to 2009 research by Imperial College London. New medics will now have to shadow their senior colleagues for a minimum of four days before starting work, in an effort to counter this.
Doctors finishing their first year of training will pass on their knowledge and experience to the next generation of junior medics. Trials in Bristol showed that mistakes made by new doctors in their first four months were reduced by over
50% after a week of mandatory shadowing and targeted teaching. The scheme will now be introduced nationally for this year’s trainees.
NHS medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh said:
“There
is some evidence of increased risk to patients as new doctors take their first steps. So, learning from pilots across the country, we’ve agreed that all new first- year doctors should undertake a period of paid shadowing at the end of July, starting this year.”
The Department of Health said in a statement: “Our aim is to ensure that all junior doctors spend a minimum of four working days shadowing the job that they will be taking up and completing trust-based induction.
“This will help them to become familiar with their new working environment and include
However, the 2009 study did not break down the
statistics
into cause of death and did not differentiate between preventable deaths and those which were not.
The researchers assert that further and more detailed studies are needed to draw definitive conclusions about why there are more deaths in the first week of August.
Dr Paul Aylin, senior author of the report noted: “Our study does not mean that people should avoid going into hospital that week. This is a relatively small difference in mortality rates, and the numbers of excess deaths are very low.”
national health executive Jul/Aug 12 | 67
a handover of their clinical responsibilities.
“Evidence from the pilots suggests that shadowing can reduce the number of serious adverse events.”
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