Social justice and medical leadership: what is preventing trainees in the East Midlands from accessing leadership training?

Abstract

IntroductionHealth inequality is a problem worldwide, with life expectancy decreasing in parts of the UK. Social justice requires effective leaders. Doctors can engage with their patients to understand how social determinants of health affect them and use their leadership skills to create meaningful change.The East Midlands Leadership and Management Programme (LMP), run by NHS England (NHSE) East Midlands, teaches trainees the grounding principles for effective leadership and management. Many trainees struggle to access the course; therefore, we created a survey to determine the barriers for access.MethodsThe survey was sent to all applicable trainees in the East Midlands. 210 of 3000 trainees responded (7%). The questions were both qualitative, analysed using thematic analysis; and quantitative, which were descriptively analysed.Results90.5% of trainees said leadership training was somewhat or very important; however, only 52.4% had accessed training. The top barrier was not knowing what training was available (54.3%), followed by a lack of time or study leave (48.6%), and being unable to get a place on a course (46.7%). Concerningly, 3.8% thought leadership training to be of little or no importance.DiscussionDespite most trainees acknowledging the importance of leadership training, barriers to access exist. Of concern, some thought leadership training to be unimportant.Leadership is vital for social justice and to enact positive changes within our communities. The LMP provides tools for doctors to help them achieve this. Our work documents the perceived barriers our trainees have to accessing leadership training, alongside proposals for change and further research.