Current debates on the NHS workforce include discussions on the best balance between
- specialists – with highly specialised skills who are brilliant at doing a small number of things extremely well
- and generalists – who can do a wider range of things in less depth
Rising multimorbidity, an ageing population, and the increasing specialisation of medical treatment are all seen as driving the need to increase the number of doctors with generalist skills. Generalists breadth of expertise enables them to manage both acute and chronic health problems and have been put forward as the way to provide better care for the increasing numbers of older and more complex patients requiring emergency medical admission.
A team of researchers from University College London and the Nuffield Trust is investigating the models of medical generalism currently in use in smaller acute hospitals in England and need your help.
A brief survey is asking for patient, professional and service perspectives on the balance of care between specialist and generalist models in hospitals for patients with acute medical conditions.
- If you are a hospital doctor working at a hospital that admits patients with acute medical conditions, please access the online survey here: http://www.dcdo18co.myonlinesurvey.co.uk/
- If you are a patient, carer or a member of the public, you can access the online survey here: http://www.dcpa18co.myonlinesurvey.co.uk/
- If you are a manager working at a hospital that admits patients with acute medical conditions, you can access the online survey here: http://www.dcma18co.myonlinesurvey.co.uk/
We would be very grateful if you could complete the survey within the next three weeks please, and we would like to encourage you to complete it at your earliest convenience. This will ensure we capture your views on models of care in small hospitals. The survey will take at most 5-10 minutes to complete. All responses will be handled securely, kept strictly confidential and anonymous, and stored in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Further details about the study are available here:
https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/project/medical-generalism-in-smaller-hospitals
https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/hsdr/1419502/#/
Your views will provide vital evidence as part of this research, which will impact decision making around ways of working in hospitals relating to
- issues around workforce education
- continuing professional development and contractual arrangements
- and the future of smaller hospitals and their role in the wider healthcare system.
