Recent trends, future needs: management training for consultants

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Medical Education
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Hospital consultants are increasingly involved in management roles.
• Previous surveys indicated a need for management training among consultants.
• Evolving responsibilities necessitate updated management skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess changes in hospital consultants' management roles and training needs.
• To identify barriers and incentives related to management training uptake.
• To inform policy for consultant management development.

Main Methods:

• Postal questionnaire survey of 1,383 hospital consultants in the UK's North Western Region (1994).
• Comparison with a similar 1987 survey.
• Inclusion of open-ended questions on training barriers and incentives.

Main Results:

• Increased management responsibility and earlier assumption of roles by consultants in 1994 compared to 1987.
• A rise in the proportion of consultants needing management training, from 62% (1987) to 73% (1994).
• Local budgeting and business planning identified as most useful training; access issues were commonly reported.

Conclusions:

• Growing management responsibilities require enhanced training provision for hospital consultants.
• Addressing barriers to training access is crucial for consultant development.
• Policy interventions are needed to support consultants in fulfilling their management potential.