A who’s who for new junior doctors

Within the NHS many people doing different jobs work together to ensure the smooth running of patient care. As a junior doctor, you will meet hundreds of staff members in every job you do. A basic rule is to be friendly and polite to all: introducing yourself with a smile can go a long way towards getting a working relationship off to a good start. Everyone has their own workload to deal with, as well as other tasks that you may ask them to help with, so have patience. Here are some of the key people you will meet and work with.

These people keep the ward running smoothly. Make sure you help them, and they will help you. Their role includes tasks such as organising patients’ notes, getting old notes from medical records, recording the patients admitted, ensuring discharge summaries are requested, and ordering stock for the ward. Clerks