SAS Service Management
As service delivery and improvement are integral components to your role, there will be opportunities available to you to work on projects, quality improvement and innovation of the service that you are operating in. If this is an area of interest to you, take time to think about the contribution that you would like to concentrate on within service management and planning. There will be opportunities for you to be part of divisional meetings, clinical policy forums, committee memberships as well as staff interviewing and shortlisting.
The Guardian of Safe Working Hours has been introduced to protect patients and doctors by making sure doctors are not working unsafe hours.
The role acts as a champion for overseeing compliance with the safeguards outlined in the 2016 terms and conditions of service for doctors and dentists in training.
Dr Tracy Langcake is a specialty doctor in Anaesthetics at Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust. Dr Langcake has been a SAS doctor for 14 years and initially started her educator career as an education supervisor and then became an appraiser. Dr Langcake has two senior SAS doctors who mentor and support her development and they initially highlighted the Guardian of Safe Working Hours role. After successfully interviewing for this position, Dr Langcake started it in January 2020 and ended her tenure in November 2022. When she began the guardian of safe working role it was a steep learning curve as everything needed to be developed from concept through to implementation. Although the role doesn’t sit within the management structure, Dr Langcake would meet with the CEO and Chairman of the Board to highlight the working conditions and issues that junior doctors have identified. As a SAS clinician she is in an ideal position as she works alongside her junior doctor colleagues on the rota and can understand the plight and problems at first hand as well as having the seniority to communicate this to the management. Dr Langcake has recently handed this role on to her successor – a SAS doctor.
The Guardian of Safe Working Hours, opened up other opportunities as she worked closely with the medical education department. Dr Langcake is a SAS Tutor for 85 SAS clinicians and organises leadership and professional development opportunities as well as being a SAS Committee member. Last year she took up one of four Foundation Training Programme Director roles and has approximately 30 trainees that she supports. With the FTPD role, she has mid-year reviews to learn more about the trainees experiences at the Trust as well as helping them to secure taster days and develop and enhance their portfolio.
Top tips
- Dr Langcake has had to work to cultivate these opportunities and at times has been asked ‘Can you do it?’ she cited a great quote from Dr Anushka Aubeelack, SAS Associate Medical Director, ‘Keep volunteering for roles even when you haven’t been asked.’
- Often when you take on an additional role, it enables you to meet with other clinical and non-clinical professionals outside of your speciality and department. This can help you to see a broader picture of what is happening in your NHS Trust and of course expand your professional network.
- Do take time to think about what you do want to say yes to in terms of projects, activities or new initiatives. This will help you to be clear on your focus and direction.
Learn more
Information for guardians of safe working hours | NHS Employers