A Better Working Pattern for Specialist Registrars

A better working pattern for Specialist Registrars that meets training needs, service demands, and EWTD requirement.

Training Needs (4 theatre sessions & 3 clinic sessions/week)

SpR

Service provision (meeting department and patient demands)

EWTD (48 hours/week)

A photograph showing a Consultant, an SpR, a Fellow and a scrub-nurse in theatre.

Figure 1

Overview of the Project

My service improvement project is on changing the current working pattern of Specialist Registrar (SpR) in order to meet their training requirements, to improve patient care and increase productivity, and to remain compliant with the European Working Time Directives (EWTD). These competing project imperatives need to be met by the new working pattern and are illustrated the Figure 1 above. Specialist Registrars (SpRs)/Speciality Trainees (STs) are career middle-grade doctors who are training to be consultants. SpRs/STs need to fulfill their training requirements set out by the Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC) quality assurance framework.

Leadership Challenges
Managing the human dimension of change is extremely important. Careful stakeholder analysis and regular clear communication were paramount to the success of my project. I have also learned about the importance of organisation culture and managing transition during my project implementation. A transformational and distributive leadership style appeared to be most effective in disconnected hierarchy typical in professional organisation such as the NHS. Through these leadership styles, we had buy-in from stakeholders. We were able to secure the 3 wins proposed by Simon Dodds win for quality, win for performance, and win for motivation!

Contact Information Mr. Chee-Yean Eng FRCS(ORL-HNS) Head and Neck Interface Fellow cyeng@doctors.org.uk +44 7887 881188