New research aiming to learn more about the experiences of risk holding in medical training is getting under way, in a project co-sponsored by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) and Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT).
Resident doctors (RDs) in specialty training and recently appointed consultants (RACs) in the UK are invited to take part in the study, led by Michael Ayres, a specialist registrar in anaesthetics in West Yorkshire, and National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow working with the GIRFT Clinical Fellowship Programme.
The study will generate insight into how specialty trainees and newly qualified consultants feel their training prepares them for holding risk as a new consultant. It is hoped the findings will help to shape the future of medical training by providing recommendations on how to train doctors to hold risk, ultimately improving safety for both patients and doctors.
The first part of the study invites RDs in specialty training and RACs to complete a survey. Those taking part (by 9th March 2026) will have the opportunity to enter a prize draw for one of six £50 online shopping vouchers.
The survey will be followed by remote interviews with a sample of participants working in general practice, general surgery and geriatric medicine.
Risk-holding describes the preparedness of doctors to accept responsibility for the risk of a bad outcome, however small, every time they make a treatment decision about a patient or perform procedures.
While trainee doctors are supervised by consultants, when they qualify and begin working on their own there is an increase in risk holding, which – if they are not well-prepared – can affect patients and their own mental health.
Dr Jeanette Dickson, chair of the AoMRC, said:
"Holding risk is central to being a doctor and is part of a doctor’s professional identity. We would be grateful if as many trainees and newly qualified consultants as possible could complete this survey so that we can better understand experiences of holding risk in specialty training and inform how we can effectively prepare the consultants of the future.”
Professor Tim Briggs, GIRFT programme lead and NHS England National Director for Clinical Improvement, Elective Recovery and UEC, said:
“This first-hand data on how trainees and recently appointed consultants feel about risk holding will offer us some valuable insight which, further down the line, can help to improve the wellbeing of our doctors and the safety of patients. Please take the time to complete the survey and share your views.”
