Placement during the Junior Doctor Strikes Q&A
During the strikes from 13-15th March the general consensus for the University of Leeds Medical School is you should go to placement as normal, unless you have received comms from your placement provider telling you otherwise. For example: Mid Yorks Hospitals have cancelled all placement for years 4 and 5 and Calderdale Hospital has cancelled placement for all years (we believe, please check your emails to confirm).
Why has this decision been made?
We know lots of you may disagree with this decision by the university, but ultimately they are just trying to ensure we don’t miss out on placement time and learning opportunities, and only a handful of medical schools around the country have cancelled placements during the strikes with this being due to situations unique to each district. Furthermore, there is the possibility of more junior doctors strikes and missing multiple days of placement may begin to affect some students chances at completing DOPs and WBAs before the deadline. The medical school are working with placements to try and arrange recovery time for students if needed, and to replace any missed teaching sessions.
So unless you have been told otherwise by your placement, you should be attending placement on the strike days.
What if I attend and there is no support or supervision?
If you attend and find there is ‘no effective support or supervision’ in place then you need to notify the university via the Microsoft form circulated in emails to students on 01/03/23 and let your placement provider/supervisor know you are returning home. The university will then contact you regarding this and to possibly arrange recovery time. Students do not need to arrange recovery time themselves.
What if my placement has been cancelled?
If your placement has been cancelled, please use this time to work on SDL resources provided by placement and contact the university if you feel you have missed out on opportunities to complete specific DOPs and they will try to provide extra time for you to do this or extend deadlines if required. You also need to notify the university using the Microsoft form. Your attendance will not be affected by your placement telling you not to attend.
I’m worried about being asked to do things outside of my competency or being used as an F1
Remember you are a medical student, and on strike days you should only be doing tasks you would normally do on placement and skills you are trained to do. As hard as it may be, stay firm and resist any pressure from staff to act outside of your role as it may not be safe. Patient safety and your own safety and competence are of the utmost importance here. Please also be aware that the usual levels of support and supervision may not be available due to low staffing, and act accordingly, as much as you may want to help. If you are asked to do tasks outside of your competency please refuse and inform your clinical supervisor if you have one. If you still feel under pressure, please inform the placements team at medicine-placements@leeds.ac.uk.
Can we support the strikes as medical students?
The university has said we can support the strikes after placement hours and should not skip placement for this. They would also like to remind students we are not legally involved in this dispute, but MSRC understand 4/5th year students especially will have strong feelings about the strikes which many of us share, and understand that what you do with your free time is completely up to you.
I’m going to / may miss my placement sign off during the strikes
Please contact your head of year if your ability to complete your end of placement form is affected.
We hope this answers some of your questions. Please search in your emails for official communications from the university (sent by Samantha Gravells) for more information.
Below, you will find the link to the Notification of Placement Disruption Form which you should fill in if:
you have been asked by your Provider to not attend placement due to the Industrial Action
OR
you have had to leave placement as there is not effective support, supervision and assessment in place for you to continue.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=qO3qvR3IzkWGPlIypTW3yxCCnj7jKUpDuNcJumD9qwBURVNORTEzTTROVkVUQzVIS1ZMWjBCSVA3Wi4u
Best wishes
MSRC
