Background North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) has a history of poor feedback from junior doctors, in both overall experience and access to non-clinical development opportunities. The advent of Covid-19 led the medical leadership team to seek a new relationship with the junior workforce. This included giving junior doctors the opportunity to lead reorganisation of services and redeployment.

Objective To increase engagement, representation and development opportunities the Junior Doctor Leaders Group (JDLG) was formed. Similar in principle to Shadow Boards seen in the corporate sector, this was designed to normalise junior doctor presence in senior organisational decision making and provide juniors with exposure to leaders and improvement workstreams within the trust.

Method & Results An impact analysis was conducted by reviewing internal KPI’s, identifying improvement initiatives generated by the group, and surveying members of the JDLG. Survey results showed an increase in the voices of junior doctors being heard in the organisation, with 95% of members stating it increased junior doctor representation and 90% agreeing the group made them feel more confident representing colleagues, both of which contributed to cultural and management changes. Increased transparency and trust between junior and senior staff facilitated escalation of concerns from juniors, and implementation of solutions. JDLG members also reported improvements to their work and educational experiences.

Conclusion The JDLG offers a novel approach to junior doctor engagement and can be beneficial to the cohort of junior doctors as well as the wider organisation.