Self-development time (SDT) was introduced in England in 2018 to allow foundation doctors (FDs) time to work on their professional development outside of their clinical duties and study the foundation curriculum. Local audits carried out in hospitals demonstrated that FDs often did not receive the SDT they were entitled to, and so this project was suggested to establish if this was a national issue that we could address.
Note that SDT is now also available to FDs in Northern Ireland and Wales. This project focuses on the experiences of FDs working in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Contact Dr Devon Ward (2025-26 UKFPO Fellow) for queries: ward.devon.99@gmail.com
Project summary
SDT is provided so that FDs have time to work on their professional development and non-clinical duties when it is less appropriate to carry these out in the clinical environment. Local audits had demonstrated that FDs were often not receiving SDT in some hospitals and specialties, and that raising awareness initiatives helped to address this. This project aimed to establish current SDT access across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, identify areas of best practice and areas to improve it.
Two questionnaires were sent out via UKFPO channels and advertised at the National Foundation Doctors Presentation Day 2026 and Foundation Doctors Advisory Board meetings. The first questionnaire was sent to FDs with questions on self-reported SDT access, SDT uses and preferences for SDT allocation using multiple-choice questions and free text boxes. The second questionnaire was sent to postgraduate departments with questions on SDT allocation, SDT awareness and methods for ensuring SDT was accessed.
766 eligible responses from FDs were received from all 17 eligible foundation schools, and a split across FY1s and FY2s. Positive outcomes were that only 10 (1.3%) FDs didn’t know what SDT was, 497 (64.8%) had an introduction to SDT during induction, and 559 (72.9%) FDs were assigned SDT in a way that met their national recommendation.
104 eligible responses were received from postgraduate departments from 14 foundation schools. The primary reported ‘raising awareness’ initiative with FDs was induction lectures (80.7%), and raising awareness with staff was through emails (74.0%). Half of postgraduate departments had reported complaints about SDT access (52, 50%).
Interventions
While 72.9% are allocated SDT in an appropriate way, that still leaves 27.1% of FDs struggling to access SDT. Therefore, our proposed plan is to continue to raise awareness of SDT. This will be multifactorial:
- Improve SDT signposting on UKFPO website
- Share the results of the study with foundation schools and trusts/health boards
- Share local infographics that can be tailored to local trusts/health boards to raise awareness with FDs, answering the following questions:
- What is SDT?
- What is SDT used for?
- Who allocates SDT in my hospital?
- Who do I speak to if I can’t access SDT?
Get involved
If you’re interested in getting involved to improve SDT access in your local area, please fill in the SDT Expression of Interest form.
Alternatively, contact Dr Devon Ward (2025-26 UKFPO Fellow) with any queries: ward.devon.99@gmail.com