HCSA has told NHS England that current practices on supervision of associate professionals risk patient safety and has restated its call for a universally agreed single scope of practice.

In a meeting with senior NHSE leaders, representatives from HCSA laid bare their concerns, relaying that members have come to the union for advice after being asked to supervise associate professionals when they do not feel safe doing so.

Often the competencies of the individual are not known to the doctor, and the employer has made little effort to invest adequate time, resource and training to ensure supervisors can carry out their work safely, HCSA warned.

HCSA President Dr Narayanan said: “Our position is clear – junior doctors must not be allocated to supervise associate professionals, and any senior doctors carrying out this role should have willingly agreed through a job planning process, with ring-fenced time and pay, and a clear scope of practice to refer to”.

HCSA also raised concerns on this year’s foundation allocation system after receiving a number of reports of trainees being given low-preference places.

Junior Doctor Committee chair Karim Salem said: “While we support the shift in focus towards geographical preference, we are hearing of significant negative impacts with trainees ending up in places they had ranked low. This process must be speedily amended so that the substantial anxiety and distress caused by this summer’s allocation problems is not repeated going forward.

“It is also telling that we have seen medical school applicants drop this year. Reforms are required to training across the board to improve wellbeing and restore the impression of medicine as a desirable career path.”