Introduction

Sarah Hallett, chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, answers questions on how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect trainees. This is an unprecedented situation for the NHS and it's likely that many staff, including junior doctors, will be asked to take on roles that may be unfamiliar or that they weren't expecting. We know that this is already happening in places where the pressure is being felt. Junior doctors shouldn't be asked to do anything outside of their own competence levels; if you have concerns about where you are being redeployed, you should raise this with your educational supervisor. When working in a different role, you should be supported and always know who you can escalate to. We would also expect any diversions for junior doctors to be for as short a time as possible. It's important, too, that once pressures ease, junior doctors can return to their training posts and trusts should do all they can to make sure this is the case.

Keywords

Clinical aspects, diagnosis, treatment; Epidemiology

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