Following patient safety concerns and worries about postgraduate medical education, the General Medical Council has placed conditions on the hospital’s anaesthetics training programme.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has placed conditions on the anaesthetics training programme at Basildon University Hospital, part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, following issues relating to patient safety and the quality of postgraduate medical education.

The GMC said that it had taken this action to address a range of issues, including “failures to protect doctors in training from sexual misconduct, misogyny and undermining behaviours, as well as inappropriate staffing levels within the department”.

As a result of these concerns, doctors in training in anaesthetics are currently not working in the department, and the GMC has said that it will require evidence of change before conditions can be removed and before they can return.

“We work to make sure that education and training prepare doctors to deliver good, safe patient care by setting high standards and expected outcomes,” said the GMC’s director for education and standards Pushpinder Mangat.

“We need assurance that the required standards and the conditions imposed are being met, including the creation of a working culture where doctors can raise issues openly, without fear of repercussions,” he said.

The conditions for reinstatement include processes put in place that ensure the department is appropriately staffed with qualified educators; processes put in place to foster a culture where doctors in training can openly and safely raise concerns about patient safety, wellbeing, education, and training without the fear of adverse consequences; appropriate mechanisms in place that ensures doctors in training are not subjected to sexual misconduct; and governance systems which monitor and demonstrate quality in patient safety, education and training with accountability held at board level.