A review of the clinical assistant workforce during COVID-19 at a district general hospital
Introduction
COVID-19 forced UK medical schools to suspend teaching, placements and exams in March 2020. Left with months of free time, a significant proportion of medical students joined the NHS.1 At Northampton General Hospital (NGH), a new workforce of paid clinical assistants (CAs) were quickly trained to contribute to the pandemic response from April 2020. This project aimed to explore both participants’ and clinicians’ perceptions of this novel scheme.
Materials and methods
Two separate questionnaires were designed for CAs and clinicians, investigating their ideas of the scheme’s successes, failures and impact on medical education using a mixture of open and closed questions. Additionally, CAs were asked to self-assess their confidence with practical procedures and ward-based tasks before and after working at NGH using Likert scales. Data collection took place between June and July 2020. Data analysis was carried out using MS Excel and SPSS Statistics.
Results and discussion
Forty-nine CA responses were received: 40 (82%) were medical students and the remainder were international medical graduates without General Medical Council (GMC) registration, with one pre-registration physician associate. Sixty clinician responses were received; 54 (90%) were junior doctors.
Key findings included 36 (74%) CAs felt they always or often provided continuity of care for patients by working in one ward or specialty on a regular basis; 53 (88%) clinicians agreed with them. All CAs felt often or always included as part of the clinical team; and 98% of clinicians agreed. 70% of CAs agreed that the CA role could be incorporated into the medical school curriculum before final year; 95% of clinicians agreed the CA role could be incorporated into medical school curriculums, with the majority reporting the best time would be in the clinical years. Finally, a statistically significant improvement after working at NGH was noted in all tasks undertaken by the CAs (Tables 1 and 2). Medical students often have a poorly defined role on short traditional clinical placements which don’t generally allow them the opportunity to be directly involved in patient care.2,3 This creates challenges in actively engaging with the clinical team and the lack of opportunity to gain the skills and competencies expected of a foundation year-1 (FY1) doctor. Consequently, newly qualified doctors feel underprepared to start work.4 CAs at NGH worked over a longer period of time, allowing them to become directly involved in patient care and integrated into the clinical team. The results suggest that medical students see value in roles which allow greater integration into the day-to-day working of a ward, and gain confidence and preparedness for practice.
The incorporation of such an approach during the student years might significantly help students manage the transition into practice by giving confidence in skills necessary to perform their clinical roles.
Conclusion
The clinical assistant role may help bridge the gap between medical school and qualification.
Conflicts of interest
None declared.
- © Royal College of Physicians 2021. All rights reserved.
References
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- Kinder F
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- Illing J
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- Monrouxe LV
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