Satisfaction of doctors with their training: evidence from UK

Background This study considers the primary training environment factors affecting the satisfaction of doctors in training with their training. Methods An OLS multiple regression analysis was performed on responses given by doctors in training (trainees) to General Medical Council (UK) National Trainee Survey annually from 2012 to 2015. Two different research models investigate the determinant of trainee doctor satisfaction. The first model includes clinical supervision, feedback, workload, and gender as explanatory variables. The second model adds supportive environment to the first model. Results The GMC survey response rate is 97%. Our analysis shows the key factors that determine trainee satisfaction are strong clinical supervision, frequent and useful feedback meetings, an adequate workload and a supportive environment. Conclusions It is suggested focus on clinical supervision, feedback, workload and supportive environment would increase trainee satisfaction, improve the quality of training and morale, and hopefully, therefore, the quality of care patients receive. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-017-2792-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


OPENQ09
How many hours per week are you contracted to work?
In some weeks you may work more than 48 hours. However, please give your average over your post. 20 or less|21-30|31-40|41-48|49-56|More than 56 Demographic OPENQ10 On average, how many hours per week do you ACTUALLY work in this post?
In some weeks you may work more than 48 hours. However, please give your average over your post.
20 or less|21-30|31-40|41-48|49-56|More than 56 Demographic Thank you for completing the questions about your working arrangements. Click next to move to the next section.
Questions about your post. Estimated time for completion: 10 minutes

GENHQ02
Did you get all the information you needed about your workplace when you started working in this post? In this post, was specialty-specific teaching provided on a deanery/regional/school wide basis?
Yes -all of it | Yes -most of it | No Regional teaching "Yes -all of it" and "Yes -most of it" branch to GENHQ17, "No" branches to GENHQ20

GENHQ17
In this post how frequently was this deanery/regional/school specialty-specific teaching provided?
Weekly | Fortnightly | Monthly | Bi-monthly | Less frequently Regional teaching

GENHQ18
Were you able to attend these whilst in this post? Yes, every time | Yes, most of the time | Yes, some of the time | No | Not applicable -none have taken place yet Regional teaching GENHQ19 How would you rate the quality of this deanery/regional/school specialty-specific teaching for this post?

Raising written bullying/undermining concerns about your training post
What is the process?
1. We require that all concerns will be investigated by your deanery/LETB (LETB is the name for deaneries in England).
2. To investigate your comment, we will share the following with your deanery/LETB: 3. The deanery/LETB will liaise directly with the organisation/trust you are working for (your employer), in order to undertake a thorough investigation, as appropriate.
4. We check each deanery/LETB response, to ensure that we are satisfied with the outcome.

Bullying and undermining
Question Am I guaranteed anonymity? No.
Your individual answers to the multiple choice questions in the survey will always remain confidential.
Concerns about bullying/undermining that you raise within the survey will also be treated as confidential, and will not be made public by the GMC or shared outside the GMC's Education Directorate. However, because of the importance of ensuring a safe training environment, this is subject to three exceptions.
Firstly, as explained above we will share your verbatim comment and other information about you with your deanery/LETB so that they can investigate your concern.
We will not routinely share your identity when we share your concern. However, in some cases, the deanery/LETB may ask who you are so they can ask you for further details about your concern. In this case, we will share your identity. This is because of the importance of addressing any issues that can create an unsafe training environment. We will inform you before we do this.
Secondly, if the concern you raise about bullying/undermining becomes relevant to a fitness to practise investigation then we will share your comment with the Fitness to Practise Directorate. We will inform you before we do this. This could include circumstances where fitness to practise proceedings are taken against a doctor, where there are grounds to believe that doctor has raised a concern that is not honest or made in good faith.
We will share comments with appropriate regulatory bodies where there is a legitimate need to do so In all of the above situations, we expect your full co-operation with the process. We value your openness and transparency and we will support you provided that you act honestly and in good faith.

Raising concerns about a doctor's fitness to practise
It is not appropriate to raise concerns about a doctor's fitness to practise here in the national training survey. Your comment in the survey is not a fitness to practise referral. If your concern is about the fitness to practise of a doctor, please see the guidance on raising concerns on our website, where you can also find details of our confidential helpline.

GENHQ84
Do you wish to raise a bullying or undermining concern here? Yes | No Bullying and undermining "Yes" branches to GENHQ85, "No" branches to GENHQ100

Your bullying or undermining concern
Please use the text box below.
Your comment will be taken seriously and investigated. This means that it is your responsibility to:  write factually and accurately about your own experience, not hearsay  describe specific incidents  describe specific behaviours Please note there is a limit of 2,000 characters within the box. If you exceed the limit, you will encounter an error message.
Once finished, please use the categorisation questions below.
Free text Bullying and undermining GENHQ87 Please specify who has been doing the undermining/bullying described in your concern (please select all that apply)

GENHQ77
Have you used your protected research time to undertake research in the last 12 months?
Yes | No Academic "Yes" branches to academic questionnaire, "No" branches to programme specific questions.
Thank you for completing the questions about your post. Click next to move to the next section.
Closing questions. Estimated completion time: 2 minutes

CLSGQ02
We would appreciate your help in completing the following Equality and Diversity Monitoring questions. Any answers you give will be used to help us to fulfil our statutory duties and our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. For example, your information will help us regulate medical education and training and ensure progression through GMC approved training programmes is fair and free from discrimination. We will aggregate and anonymise any information we publish so that your answers cannot be identified.
What is your ethnic group?

Patient Safety
You now have an opportunity to raise any patient safety concerns about your post.
All doctors have a duty to act when they believe patient safety is at risk, or when a patient's dignity or comfort is being compromised. This includes raising concerns through local channels when they arise.
The organisation where you are currently working may be the most appropriate and effective place for you to raise the concern and this should be your first consideration.
What is the process?
1. We require that all concerns raised in your response to this question should be investigated by your deanery/LETB (LETB is the name for deaneries in England).
2. To investigate your comment, we will share the following with your deanery/LETB:  Your verbatim comment No.
Your individual answers to the multiple choice questions in the survey will always remain confidential.
Concerns about patient safety that you raise within the survey will also be treated as confidential, and will not be made public by the GMC or shared outside the GMC's Education Directorate. However, because patient safety must come first, this is subject to three exceptions.
1. Firstly, as explained above we will share your verbatim comment and other information about you with your deanery/LETB so that they can investigate your concern.
We will not routinely share your identity when we share your concern. However, in some cases, the deanery/LETB may ask who you are so they can ask you for further details about your concern. In this case, we will share your identity. This is because our first priority must be the care of patients. We will inform you before we do this.
2. Secondly, if the concern you raise about patient safety becomes relevant to a fitness to practise investigation then we will share your comment with the Fitness to Practise Directorate. We will inform you before we do this. This could include circumstances where fitness to practise proceedings are taken against a doctor, where there are grounds to believe that doctor has raised a concern that is not honest or made in good faith.
3. We will share comments with appropriate regulatory bodies where there is a legitimate need to do so.
In all of the above situations, we expect your full co-operation with the process. We value your openness and transparency and we will support you provided that you act honestly and in good faith.

Raising concerns about a doctor's fitness to practise
It is not appropriate to raise concerns about a doctor's fitness to practise here in the national training survey. Your comment in the survey is not a fitness to practise referral. If your concern is about the fitness to practise of a doctor, please see the guidance on raising concerns on our website, where you can also find details of our confidential helpline.

What to include in your comment
Please include in your comment (as appropriate):  a clear description of the incident or process giving rise to the risk, including location (for example: ward)  use accurate and factual examples relating to your personal experience, not hearsay  avoid commenting on wider general service issues which do not relate to a specific incident  if appropriate, suggest the improvements you believe would secure the safety of patients When finished, please answer the questions below.
Please note there is a limit of 2,000 characters within the box. If you exceed the limit, you will encounter an error message.
[free text] Patient safety

CLSGQ63
If you work across multiple sites please tell us the Trust and/or Site where the concern applies. Free text Patient safety CLSGQ65 When did you first become concerned about patient safety in your post?
Within the last month | Over a month ago but less than 3 months ago | Over three months ago Patient safety

CLSGQ85
As far as you are aware, has this patient safety concern been reported (for example, to your employer or another body)?
Yes | No | Don't know Patient safety 'Yes' branches to next question

Question number
Question Answers Area Branching

CLSGQ86
Who was the patient safety concern reported to? My employer | My deanery/LETB | GMC | Another body | Don't know Patient safety CLSG84

Thank you for raising a patient safety concern
The safety of patients is our first concern and we will now work with your deanery/local education and training board (LETB) and post provider to review the information you have provided and investigate the problem where appropriate.
Next steps  We will share your verbatim comment with your deanery/LETB within five working days.
 We will not automatically share your identity, but we will tell them your training site, post specialty and training level to help locate the concern  The deanery/LETB will liaise directly with the organisation you are training in, in order to undertake a thorough investigation, if one is necessary.  In some cases we will need to tell your deanery/LETB and your placement provider who you are to enable a thorough investigation of the problem. If we do this, we will let you know by email.
You can read more about what happens to concerns raised in the survey on our website and for more information about confidentiality please read our data protection notice.

CLSGQ87
We keep a list of doctors who are interested in helping us develop improvements to the survey. From time to time we contact people on this list and invite them to comment on our work.
This might be at a meeting or an event, in a phone call or to simply read something we send in an email.
There is of course no obligation for people on the list to participate, and you can be removed from the list upon request. If you're interested in helping us develop the survey, and you want to be on our list of contacts for this purpose, please select the appropriate response below.
Yes, please add me to the list | No thanks Thank you for completing the final questions on the survey. Click next to move to the next screen which will show your completion code.