London Deanery website judged No.1 by BMA Junior Doctors

The London Deanery website has been judged equal best in England for ease of use and access to information about flexible training. London Deanery shared first place with Yorkshire Deanery.

The Junior Doctors Committee of the British Medical Association carried out a first survey round in 2008 with a follow up in 2011.  London Deanery improved from equal third place in 2008 to equal first in 2011 with a score of 16 out of 16.

A BMA survey of junior doctors in 2008 found that one of the main barriers to flexible training was access to information about the application process.  As a result of this finding the BMA Junior Doctors Committee carried out a survey, between July and September 2008, of information available on applying for less than full time training on the English Deanery websites. Using three specific hypothetical scenarios they assessed each website for accessibility of information, quality of information provided, and stated availability of access to less than full time training. 

Hypothetical examples used for the survey

A – ST4 Psychiatry trainee with terminally ill parent (category 1)
B – ST2 GP trainee on maternity leave with first child (category 1)
C – FY2 currently training for the 2012 Olympics (category 2)

They gave each Deanery website a score and formulated a ‘league table’ of the websites according to how easy it was to access information on training flexibly and whether the website stated there was access to flexible training.  Survey results were sent to each Deanery, discussed at the less than full time training forum and presented at the Medical Women’s Federation Conference in November 2008.

In February 2011 the survey was repeated using the same scenarios and scoring system.  The repeat survey showed that the quality of information provided had increased on all websites, and that even the lowest ranked Deanery in 2008 had an adequate score in 2011.

In 2008 the average score was 9.5 (range 1-16) and in 2011 it rose to 12.4 (range 8-16).  Websites where information was considered “very hard” or “impossible” to find fell to zero (2011) from 5 (2008); only one website still does not provide contact information.