Health and social care - everyone matters pulse survey: national report 2020

Career Development 

In response to the open question about worries, 3% of staff express concern that the COVID-19 pandemic is damaging for their career. This may be a direct or indirect result of the changes to working practices or redeployment to other roles. These concerns highlight the need to continue to support career development in order that staff do not feel they are being restricted because of emergency COVID-19 measures. Linked to this is a concern among 4% of staff who say, in the open question, that they are not able to fully use their skillset. Again, this is typically either because they are not using all their skills as their current role has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic response, or they have been deployed to another area away from their core skillset.

Conversely, for many staff there have been opportunities to develop personal and professional skills through the COVID-19 pandemic as illustrated in many Staff Experience Stories including several from Foundation Interim Year 1's who started their careers before finishing their university courses.

Medical Directorate – FiY1 Reflective Group

"The Medical Directorate worked to support interim foundation doctors during the Covid pandemic by setting up weekly reflective practice groups. FiY1s said the sessions had provided “a forum to meet their peers and to normalise the difficulties they were experiencing."

NHS Lanarkshire

Foundation Year 1 Experiences

Two NHS Forth Valley FY1 doctors tell their personal stories on film, talking about the challenges and daunting nature of starting their careers early. They also talk of the support they had from others and the learning and impact it will have on them long into the future.

NHS Forth Valley