Executive summary

NHS England Workforce Training and Education Yorkshire and the Humber (NHS England WT&E YH) would like to thank the education and senior leadership team representatives for attending this Senior Leader Engagement (SLE) meeting. The main findings are:

• NHS England WT&E YH gave an overview of the standards of education and training delivered, as part of the Quality Framework, working in partnership to assure and improve the quality of education and training.
• NHS England WT&E YH thanked the trust for a positive meeting and stated that the trust has taken significant measures to improve the education and training of all professional groups.

Review overview

Background to the review

SLE meetings aim to strengthen working relationships with senior leaders, to develop an understanding around the commitment to the education and training quality agenda.

Evidence:

• 2024 NETS
• 2024 General Medical Council (GMC) National Training Survey (NTS) Scores and Ranks
• 2024 Trust Self-Assessment
• 2024-25 Tariff Summary
• 2025 Quality Intelligence Summary
• 2022 Quality Interventions Review Report
• 2023 Quality Interventions Review Report
• 2024 Guardian of Safe Working Hours (GOSWH) Report October-December
• 2025 Trust Good Practice
• 2024 England Deans Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee Summary
• 2024/25 PARE Data
• 2025 Freedom to Speak up Guardian (FTSUG) Report

Who we met with

Trust attendees

• Director of Medical Education
• Postgraduate Medical Education Lead
• Freedom to Speak up Guardian
• Lead for Non-Medical Education
• Associate Medical Directors for Postgraduate Education
• Medical Directorate Business Manager
• Interim Head of Learning and Development

Senior Team

• Chief Executive Officer
• Chief Medical Officer
• Interim Chief People Officer
• Chief Nurse and Director of Quality and Professions

 Review panel

• Education Quality Review Lead, Muzzammil Nusrath, Quality Associate Dean 
• Speciality Expert, Alex Pavlovic, Psychiatry Head of School
• Specialty Expert, Lyndsay Murden, Regional Head of Allied Health Professionals
• Speciality Expert, Victoria Bagshaw, Deputy Director Workforce and Education
• Speciality Expert, Anthony Hann, Education, Investment and Commissioning Lead
• Education Quality Manager, Louise Westley, Quality Coordinator
• Lay Representative, Clement O’Donovan
• Supporting Role, Michele Hannon, Quality Administrator   

Review findings

At the last Senior Leader Engagement visit in June 2023 the trust performed well overall in the learner feedback and were commended for the excellent amount of work undertaken and for the improvements made. The trust informed us that they were working towards Teaching Trust status and Trauma Informed status. The trust is welcoming and supportive with a desire to improve education offered to Postgraduate Doctors in Training (PDiT), also having close links to the Higher Education Institutions (HEI).

In December 2024 we met with the trust to discuss the progress they had made towards closing an open requirement which was open at the Intensive Home-Based Treatment Team (IHBTT). Following a comprehensive action plan being undertaken, the trust had put close local monitoring and mechanisms in place, and it was agreed that it should be closed with continued internal trust monitoring. There are now no open requirements, or speciality concerns on the Quality Management System.

The trust was proud to announce that it has recently been awarded. Teaching Trust status.

Trust Strategic Priorities for 2025/26

The trust continues to strive for excellence and be a great place to work and learn whilst keeping a key focus on maintaining a welcoming and supportive environment for continuous learning and development. It encourages involvement from all levels of medical and non-medical professionals to support education programmes and initiatives. The trust is committed and open to accepting opportunities of expansion by increasing and improving on its educational offer and encouraging staff to become trainers and educators within the organisation.

GMC NTS 2024 results

The trust continues to score and rank well across all indicators. The trust received an above outlier (green) for workload with only 20% of trainees describing the intensity of their work as being too heavy, a very good score for this indicator. The trust had one of the best scoring General Psychiatry programmes in the country. The programme had two above outliers (green) for clinical supervision out of hours and reporting systems. All trainees would recommend their post to a friend for training and all trainees thought that the post would be useful for their future career. The trust had very few concerns in the survey and only one programme had a below outlier (Psychiatry F2, handover). Although there is no outright concern to note, a possible area for improvement would be Old Age Psychiatry.

GMC NTS 2025 – Patient Safety Concerns

The trust had one patient safety concern raised, in relation to General Psychiatry at Fieldhead Hospital, raised by a Foundation PDiT in relation to bed pressures compromising patient safety. The trust stated that it actively manages bed pressures and patient flow through improvement programmes and a dedicated working group. Patients and carers are informed about bed use during overnight leave, advised to take belongings home, and provided with crisis plans. There are no known discharge-related incidents, with strong compliance to 72-hour post-discharge reviews. Robust community support is available, including home treatment and third-sector services. The trust has a working group to address and improve patient flow.

NETS 2024 results

The trust received very good results for this survey. The Yorkshire & Humber (Y&H) mental health trusts generally perform well in NETS and, like its peer trusts, the trust has outperformed the benchmark across all indicators.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

The trust’s approved EDI strategy is being actively implemented, with a Medical Workforce Race Equality Standard (MWRES) lead addressing disparities among trainees. The “Fair to Refer” initiative is being used to review against any disproportionate referrals. Recruitment practices are supported by the Race Equality and Cultural Heritage (REACH) network, promoting diverse interview panels and reciprocal mentoring. Staff are encouraged to join networks such as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning and Intersex+ (LGBTQ+) and REACH. Quality improvement (QI) projects are viewed through an EDI lens, including efforts to reduce the disproportionate detention of Black and Asian men and to amplify the voices of service users, particularly those with learning disabilities. Complaints involving protected characteristics are reviewed weekly, and a microaggressions guide is in development. The trust is also part of the national QI programme “Culture of Care” and reports stronger metrics on raising concerns than peer trusts. Community engagement is strengthened through partnerships and leadership from an Executive Director with EDI responsibilities.

Workforce – Multiprofessional

The trust is currently undertaking work to substantiate fixed term and temporary posts, to reduce its reliance on costly agency locums and to stabilise the workforce as a whole. Substantive recruitment and retention ensure the trust has a range of staff who are able to provide supervision of learners, in both formal and informal arrangements.

The trust encourages learner feedback to drive improvements and offers opportunities to engage in trust-wide projects, including policy reviews, quality improvement and peer teaching.

Involvement with HEI’s

The trust has close working relationships with 34 HEI’s in the UK and 1 in Finland.

Over the past 12 months, 30 research and development projects have been conducted, led by a medical or non-medical principal investigator. All PDiTs and medical students are encouraged to be involved in these projects. The trust recently piloted a research and development workshop designed specifically for medical students, addressing their current project needs. By engaging directly with students and incorporating their feedback, the trust was able to offer tailored advice and guidance to support ongoing research. Building on the success of this pilot, the trust plans to introduce additional workshops at the start of the academic year in September, aligning with the commencement of the students’ 18-month Enquire-Dissertation (formerly Extended Student-led Research or Evaluation) project. The trust has appointed two higher trainees as Research and Development Ambassadors.

Support for International Medical Graduates (IMG)

The trust is working closely with the GMC and the West Yorkshire (WY) Integrated Care Board (ICB) to find ways to better support IMGs. This includes improving the help and resources available to them, such as pastoral care and learning opportunities. A colleague from the WY ICB is leading this work as part of a one-year fellowship project. The trust has introduced tailored support for IMGs, including mentoring, buddying and a bespoke induction programme, with career development guidance. This work has all been recognised by WY ICB and the GMC following recent visits.

Facilities and IT provision

The trust has recently upgraded all facilities on site, including the mobile phone provision. All PDiTs requiring the use of a mobile device have been provided with one. There is an ongoing review of on-call rooms, including working closely with domestics to ensure rooms are kept to a high level of cleanliness. All medical students are provided with access to lockers across the sites.

GOSWH

The trust reported that the GOSWH is stepping down, with recruitment underway. Exception reporting remains low, with 19 reports this year and fewer than 80 overall since the contract began. Most reports relate to working over hours, with no recurring themes. Preparations are ongoing for the formal rollout of the revised exception reporting process in September, including testing. Efforts to centralise and streamline systems with medical Human Resources (HR) and e-rostering are progressing, though some challenges remain across the four localities. The GOSWH maintains high visibility through inductions, committee meetings and webinars, and also chairs the Local Negotiating Committee (LNC), ensuring strong engagement with staff concerns. The Resident Doctor Forum now aligns with academic sessions, with 40 PDiTs attending the last meeting in February, despite space limitations.

Safe Learning Environment Charter (SLEC)

The trust has signed up to the NHS England SLEC and is collaborating across departments with an action plan, learner and supervisor surveys, and a maturity matrix to track progress. This work is being aligned with the ongoing Culture of Care programme due to shared themes. The trust has a Sexual Safety Oversight Group in place and, while previous incidents have occurred, related QI projects did not involve PDiTs. The trust is enhancing physical safety measures, including safe spaces, gender-based provisions, and reviewing facilities such as toilets and single chairs.

Areas that are working well

Good practice

Report approval

Report completed by: Louise Westley, Quality Coordinator
Review lead: Muzzammil Nusrath, Quality Associate Dean 
Date approved by review lead: 24 July 2025

NHS England authorised signature: Jon Hossain, Quality Deputy Dean
Date authorised: 16 July 2025

Final report submitted to organisation: 26 August 2025