Article in Anaesthesia: "An analysis of the delivery of anaesthetic training sessions in the United Kingdom"
June 2017
Anonymous data from Rotamap's CLWRota system for anaesthetics has been analysed to form the basis of an article by A. Green, K. C. Tatham, S. M. Yentis, J. Wilson and M. Cox in the journal "Anaesthesia". The article, entitled "An analysis of the delivery of anaesthetic training sessions in the United Kingdom" was published in Volume 72, Issue 11 of "Anaesthesia" of November 2017.
The group analysed 2.7 million sessions of activity delivered over two years in 89 departments to determine levels of supervised training.
The analysis concludes that there was considerable variation in the number of supervised sessions worked by trainees, with senior trainees more likely than junior trainees to be supervised for fewer than the "...three sessions per week mandated by the Royal College of Anaesthetists".
The article raises important questions about recommended levels of supervision and also records a changing landscape of service delivery at UK trusts including a majority of departments having to "cover gaps in the trainee rotas more frequently than once a week", with the increasing necessity for rota cover corresponding to reduced theatre time for, for example, ST7 grade trainees.
The publication held two accompanying editorials: "Time spent in the clinical environment is the most important aspect of medical education - we need to protect it" by A England and B Jenkins and "Time for training" by N Penfold and C Carey.
The article can be found on the Wiley Online Library here.