P349 A regional perspective of endoscopy administration and clerical teams workforce, education and training challenges

• Published in: Gut Vol. 72; no. Suppl 2; p. A233
• Main Authors: Capille, Jane, Smaldon, Chrissie, Dodds, Phedra, Dunckley, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Society of Gastroenterology 18.06.2023; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Endoscopy; Meetings; Motor skill learning; Poster presentations; Roles; Teams; Training
• ISSN: 0017-5749; 1468-3288
• DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2023-BSG.413

IntroductionThere is a lack of formal national training for endoscopy administrative and clerical (A&C) teams. The newly formed Endoscopy Training Academy needed to develop an understanding of A&C job roles and activities, existing training, views on role integration, & understanding of wider endoscopy issues, so that strategies could be formulated to better support teams and services.MethodsUniquely, the Endoscopy Training Academy employed an A&C lead. Between May and September 2022 they visited 15 Endoscopy booking teams in the region. Interviews were held with variety of A&C staff including managers and band 2 & 3 booking staff, each team was questioned about ten domains. These were collated to enable a regional view of training, service opportunities and challenges. How the endoscopy training academy could facilitate the advancement and opportunity of skill acquisition was explored.ResultsConsistently, we found inexperienced staff working in A&C roles due to a high turnover of staff and lack of retention. There were no trainers for Endoscopy specific roles and most learnt by shadowing existing staff and ‘on the job’ training without the understanding or explanation of wider endoscopy issues. Half of the booking teams were located separately from the Endoscopy Department, teams felt segregated, and this led to poor communication and a sense of isolation. Poor IT systems and data were identified to be the most frustrating part of the role. Staff often had to double or triple enter referrals and use spreadsheets as waiting lists. This increased workloads and created risk. Due to pressures within the teams and roles team meetings, 1–1 meetings and appraisals tended to be omitted or rushed. Staff felt unsupported and undervalued.Abstract P349 Table 1% compliance with the 10 domains are shown as: Domains % of 15 A&C teams Workforce establishment vacancies (B3 & B2) 24.57% Dedicated endoscopy teams 80.0% Understanding of national targets (diagnostics) 86.0% Understanding Joint Advisory Group (JAG) 20.0% Capacity and demand management 6.6% Waitlist management involvement 46.60% Multiple duplication entry on I.T. systems 100% Electronic referral booking 53.0% Current training - endoscopy specific 47.0% Involvement in relevant meetings 20% ConclusionsEvidence gathered highlights a need to provide an endoscopy specific training package for A&C teams. The next step are to further develop & implement a new bespoke competency framework, education days and e-learning modules to support band 3 or equivalent A&C staff development. The inclusion within the endoscopy academy team of an A&C lead proved to be an especially important connection with teams.