Quality time: The value of consultants - BMA

QUALITY TIME
Now most of the trainees who come through the centre are local NHS staff, including junior doctors, for whom
opportunities for high-quality training are particularly important because of shorter training programmes and
legal limits on working time. ‘There’s no evidence at all that the consultants we’re producing now are less
competent, but they have seen less,’ says Dr Mather. ‘Simulation allows you to build confidence. They will know
the theory and they may have watched a video, but if you do it six or seven times in a simulator, then you’re not
so fazed.’
Initially, Dr Mather and colleagues had no protected time to develop the centre’s work: ‘In the early days, I was
spending anything up to 10 hours a week on my own time,’ he says. ‘We’d sit there from six in the evening until
nine trying to improve the simulators and the software models. None of that was funded.’
He is keen to praise his Trust for its decision in 2009 to take over ownership of the centre, which has meant that
he and other staff working in the centre have their commitments more formally recognised. However, he believes
this is not the case everywhere, and is concerned that cuts to SPA time could make it harder for the NHS to retain
a motivated workforce. ‘Doctors are keen to do the things they do – they’ll still do the work, but not forever.
People are motivated only in so far that they feel valued, and that’s why one of my colleagues pitched off to
Canada. They offered her time and support to develop her ambitions, which at the time wasn’t possible locally.
Unfortunately, it meant that her drive and enthusiasm were lost to the NHS.’
BMA – Quality time 21