'Cutting red tape' | NHS England to strip back L&D to improve medics' working lives

The amount of time doctors have to spend on mandatory training will be cut back in a bid to improve the working lives of NHS England’s medical professionals.

First reported by The Guardian, the L&D shake-up comes amid concerns that doctors are snowed under with too many compulsory training modules, which includes workplace topics such as diversity & inclusion, fire safety, patient safeguarding and conflict resolution.

The Guardian reported that medics can be required to complete up to 33 of these training sessions per year, with courses ranging from 30 minutes to several hours in duration. But the time taken up by the training sessions is being looked into by bosses, who are considering whether having fewer modules will help improve the working lives of NHS pros who are already considerably overworked.

One idea under consideration, the Guardian says, is to allow employees to complete the 11 courses over a two year period, instead of annually, which would see them recoup half a day a year. They are also looking into the fact that junior doctors, who frequently move from site to site, currently may have to repeat the courses they have already completed, whenever they are relocated.