Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce workload-related strain on doctors in hospitals.

It is in the first instance for employers to ensure that the workloads and working patterns of all staff are appropriate.

The Department is supporting the National Health Service in reducing workload related strain on all staff including doctors in hospitals through its mandate with NHS England which has a “Commissioning for Quality and Innovation” (CQUIN) incentive programme¹ to improve staff health and wellbeing, and publishes the annual NHS Staff Survey.

NHS England’s CQUIN programme should encourage trusts to, where appropriate, introduce new services for employees to give them the support they need including quicker access to mental health and musculoskeletal services.

The NHS Staff Survey² asks staff a range of questions about their health and wellbeing which helps trusts benchmark against their peers to help inform local improvement plans.

The Department also commissions NHS Employers³, who are working with NHS England, NHS Improvement and Public Health England to help the Service tackle the causes of workload related strain including reducing the likelihood and impact of resultant illnesses through advice, guidance and good practice as well as tools and resources for trusts to use.

National terms and conditions for hospital doctors include provisions on managing work: through job plans for consultants, associate specialists and specialty doctors; and work schedules for doctors and dentists in training. There are limits on working hours in legislation; there are stronger contractual limits in the 2016 contract for doctors and dentists in training and all trusts were required to review and, where needed, redesign rotas to ensure compliance with those limits. There are strong safeguards in place for doctors and dentists in training through a system of exception reporting, with oversight by Guardians of Safe Working Hours and Directors of Medical Education reporting to trust boards. Trusts must provide annual reports on rota gaps, and plans for addressing them, to external bodies including regulatory bodies.

Notes:

¹https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-staff-health-wellbeing-commissioning-for-quality-and-innovation-cquin-2017-19-indicator-1-implementation-support/

²http://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com/Page/1006/Latest-Results/2016-Results/

³http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/health-work-and-wellbeing