It is NIMDTA’s aim that you should receive good training in a safe and supportive training environment.
If you have concerns about patient safety, undermining, bullying and harassment (including sexual harassment) or the quality of the training in your training placement, it is very important that these concerns are raised promptly and we strongly encourage you to raise these concerns at the time that they occur.
Patient Safety. The most effective, efficient and timely way to raise concerns about patient safety is through your placement provider’s clinical governance procedures.
Undermining, Bullying or Harassment. Concerns about undermining, bullying or sexual harassment should be raised with your clinical supervisor or educational supervisor in the first instance. If that is not possible, you should raise the concern with the Director of Medical Education (for placements in a HSC Trust), your Training Programme Director or your Head of School.
Unsatisfactory Training Experience. If you feel your training experience is unsatisfactory (e.g. induction, handover, supervision, workload) you should bring this to the attention of your trainers immediately. You can also escalate your concerns about your training experience to NIMDTA via your Head of School or Training Programme Director.
Escalation of Concerns. If you feel that your concern is not being listened to, you can raise your concern via the NIMDTA’s new confidential Online Portal. Whatever the nature of your concern, we will seek to support you in raising that concern and in following up the concern. However, please note that if there are issues relating to patient safety, trainee safety or undermining, you will need to be identified in order to allow full and proper investigation.
Raising Concerns via the GMC NTS. To ensure that training takes place in a safe and supportive training environment, the GMC shares National Trainee Survey comments regarding bullying/undermining and patient safety with NIMDTA. The GMC does not routinely share your identity when they share comments. However we will ask the GMC for your details if we require further information about your concern to facilitate thorough investigation or if it is essential to address serious patient safety concerns. The GMC will inform you before sharing your identity with NIMDTA. We will take your comments seriously and we will follow up on all issues that you raise.
All healthcare staff have a responsibility to raise concerns at an early stage. Where a trainee raises an issue relating to patient or trainee safety or undermining, it is our expectation that they will need to be identified in order to allow a full and proper investigation. If sufficient information about an issue has not been provided to NIMDTA or a Trust, without your cooperation in the investigation the concerns raised may not be resolved but will have to be closed.
As a dental team member, you have a statutory duty of care to all patients. The nine GDC principles are all equally important and they are supplemented by additional guidance documents which can be found on the GDC website www.gdc-uk.org. As a dental trainee you have a duty to raise concerns when appropriate. The following document although cites the GMC definitions, you will note that they mirror the GDC principles, in particular principle 8 in relation to patient safety.
Access the Online Portal here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/A1PZZQ/