Warning: A poor induction programme can seriously damage your health!

According to figures that have been widely circulated this week, the average death rate in hospitals increases during the first week in August - coinciding with the time that junior doctors join their new hospitals. This article in Management Today suggests that the NHS may need to improve its induction or onboarding programmes.

Patient groups are convinced that junior doctors are just thrown in at the deep end without sufficient training, supervision or handover notes from the previous incumbents - all three of which should be central to any decent induction programme.

As the Management Today article states, these statistics serve as a warning to the business world. Although a bad induction might not have equally dire consequences for private sector firms, its importance - both in terms of employee morale and retention, and the client/ customer experience - shouldn’t be underestimated.

Poor inductions can be a killer