Following a General Medical Council survey in 2024 that highlighted concerns around rotas and estates, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust established a formal resident doctor strategic oversight group to lead improvements.

Practical changes have included appointing a dedicated rota coordinator, renovating rest facilities, providing lockers where doctors said they wanted them, and ensuring on-call doctors can access designated car parking. The trust has also improved mandatory training record transfers, strengthened exception reporting with greater confidentiality assurance, and ensured course fees are paid directly for locally employed resident doctors.

Bi-monthly forums and peer group meetings give resident doctors a regular voice, with peer leaders feeding directly into board-level discussions including the Workforce Assurance Committee and Clinical Advisory Committee. The trust’s Guardian of Safe Working chairs resident doctor forum meetings and reports directly to the board.

Senior leaders personally welcome each new rotation, and the deputy medical director, medical director and chief executive all meet regularly with peer leads.

Looking ahead, the trust will focus on improving handover, overnight cover, and inpatient care models to support increasingly complex oncology treatments. Work will also continue to help locally employed doctors gain additional specialty experience and access to research and quality improvement opportunities.

The trust believes that listening carefully, acting quickly, and giving resident doctors a genuine voice makes meaningful change possible.