Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what training and professional development is given to (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) mental health professionals on (i) conflict resolution, (b) methodical empathy and (iii) mental self-care.

Ben Gummer

It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This may include training on conflict resolution, empathy, mental self-care and managing own stress.

Health Education England has a leadership role in ensuring the service continues to invest in the ongoing education and training of all staff and a shared responsibility for investing in continuing professional development to promote service innovation and transformation. However, employers are ultimately responsible for continuing professional development of their employees.

Employers also have a responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of their staff.