Junior doctors – time to lead

There has never been a more urgent need for junior doctors to lead. FMLM’s Trainee Steering Group (TSG) is currently recruiting regional representatives for Wales, North of England, Scotland and Armed Forces. The TSG represents junior doctors on the FMLM Council, driving forward the vision to professionalise medical leadership and management.

The TSG’s two most recent recruits, Dr Grainne Donaghy and Dr Rachael Hutton, who jointly represent Northern Ireland, were interested in learning more about medical leadership. They are both Clinical Leadership Fellows participating in the inaugural year of ADEPT (Achieve, Develop, Explore Programme for Trainees) – a 12 month fellowship in clinical leadership and quality improvement facilitated by Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency.

Below they outline what motivated them to join the TSG and some of the work they’re doing with the Faculty.

Why us, why not?

As joint regional representatives of FMLM in Northern Ireland (NI), we also represent two very different specialties – psychiatry and urology. However, we share many overarching aspirations as we work towards consultant practice. We wish to work within a health and social care system which holds safety, quality and innovation at the heart of everyday working. We want healthcare to be delivered by the best possible practitioner, in the best possible place in a culture promoting continuous learning. We want people living in Northern Ireland to have access to world class services providing the best achievable outcomes. We believe NI is well on its way to achieving these goals, but recognise none of these things happen automatically. As trainees it is easy to sit back and think this is someone else’s job. However the truth is, quality improvement, regardless of scale, is everyone’s business.

We see the need for medical leaders to work alongside non-clinical teams to shape the services we deliver to the people of NI and beyond. This year we have stepped forward, out of our speciality bubble, willing to learn and do what we can to improve the care that we will deliver to the next person we see, irrespective of clinical problem.  The FMLM TSG has enabled us to share our successes, as well as our failures, learning from other interested trainees, working towards a common goal.

What we’re working on

We got involved with FMLM by supporting some of the Faculty’s regional projects. Last year, we joined the organising committee for the FMLM Regional Conference in Northern Ireland and helped produce the highly successful event attended by 140 delegates, which took place at Belfast Castle in November 2015. The theme was ‘Learning to improve’, with keynote speeches from Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, and Mr Simon Hamilton MLA, the Health Minister for Northern Ireland, amongst others.

We have also collaborated on an FMLM Think Tank project exploring the views of trainees on their experience of quality improvement within the UK, which led to the publication of a new report Trainees leading quality improvement. The report contributes towards a review of training on quality improvement through the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and the data will also be reviewed to explore potential improvements within the Northern Ireland Deanery.  

Since becoming FMLM trainee regional representatives, we are working closely with the TSG and the Northern Ireland regional team to improve medical leadership and promote excellence in this field. In particular, we are keen to engage with trainees to raise the profile of medical leadership and management and empower trainees to take an active role in quality improvement.

We want to raise the profile of FMLM in Northern Ireland, and develop networks with FMLM across the rest of the UK. We are currently looking at making more FMLM events available within Northern Ireland, beyond the annual regional conference and continuing to highlight the leadership opportunities that are available to trainees across the region.

Dr Grainne Donaghy, ST4, General Adult Psychiatry, Clinical Leadership Fellow in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust

• Has led on the development of 'First Steps to Leadership', a leadership and QI training programme for foundation doctors
• Currently involved in STEP, a leadership and QI training programme for specialty registrars.

Dr Rachael Hutton, ST5, Urology, Clinical Leadership Fellow with the Northern Ireland eHealth and Care Team and the Board Liaison Group

• Currently leading a project to produce a unified care professional noting system and standardised pre-operative assessment system for Northern Ireland
• With NIMDTA, she is also outlining a strategy to improve recruitment and retention of trainees.

To find out more about the positions available on the FMLM Trainee Steering Group, visit the Project Bank.