Doctors and dentists in training - staff experience 2023: independent report

Introduction

Employers in Health and Social Care are committed to improving patient and public services through enhancing staff experience. It is therefore essential that all staff are empowered to have their voices heard and valued, and staff views and actions contribute to continuous improvement in their teams and organisations.

The findings from this report will be used by a range of stakeholders, including:

• Individual Organisations (Health Boards)
• The Scottish Government
• Partnership Groups such as the Scottish Partnership Forum (SPF) and the Scottish Workforce and Staff Governance (SWAG) Committee

Doctors and Dentists in Training (DDiT) participated in a short pulse survey questionnaire in 2021 as a test for change, with the questionnaire being developed using a selection of focussed questions from the wider Health and Social Care Staff Experience Survey (iMatter), which best provided opportunities for sharing experiences from rotational based training programmes. The questionnaire is included in Appendix 1.

The DDiT pulse survey will now form part of an annual programme in understanding staff experiences across Health and Social Care. This approach has been developed in full partnership and results will be used to provide clarity on where to focus efforts for maximum impact, which in turn leads to better care, better health, and better value. Detail of who forms part of the DDiT staff group is included in Appendix 2.

The work to measure and report staff experience within the DDiT staff group for 2023 was commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by Webropol Ltd, an independent company.

The DDiT survey process mirrors that of iMatter, with fieldwork running through September to November 2023. Reports were issued to the organisations in October and November 2023, with Action planning completed within an eight-week window ending on 16^th January 2024.

This report makes comparisons to the previous DDiT surveys (2021 and 2022) and includes data from iMatter 2023*. Due to the small numbers involved with DDiT, and the greater variability of trainee numbers within scope of the survey each year across NHS locations, the report does not provide detailed response information by NHS Board.

Significance testing has been carried out, to establish whether differences in scores are significant or not. A summary of this analysis is contained in Appendix 3.

* Note: Because the DDiT survey differed from iMatter, direct comparisons between the two sets of results should be made with caution as differences in questionnaire content can lead to variations in responses even when the individual questions are the same.