Gauri Sankhe

First SAS Advocate in England

Dr Gauri Sanke was a wellbeing champion in the anaesthesia department – one of 300 such champions for the 13,000 trust staff – when the trust advertised for a SAS Advocate. Her first thought was whether she could advocate effectively for the 146 SAS doctors employed by the trust.

Gauri Sankhe

Before deciding, she spoke with her clinical lead, the trust Medical Director and BMA representatives to understand the drivers underpinning the role.

“I didn’t know I was the first SAS advocate, but when I googled it, I could not find anybody. So, I thought that before jumping into this role, I really need to speak to somebody.”

Gauri applied and was appointed. “The SAS advocate role is for SAS doctors, and I’m just the representative,” says Gauri, emphasising the importance of engaging a group for whom engagement can be challenging at times. She works closely with the two SAS Tutors and the Local Negotiating Committee (LNC) representative, and together they signpost SAS doctors to the right source of support.

She has three main areas of focus: health and wellbeing (autonomy, belonging, culture, inclusion); bullying and harassment; conflict resolution and mediation. In the first six months, she received four or five queries from SAS colleagues that crossed all three areas. One example concerned a SAS doctor who approached her after a night shift ended in conflict with a colleague on the ward. Gauri spoke to both staff members and was able to restore the working relationship. She said: “There was miscommunication caused by burn-out. Everybody was stressed. I sat with them, and we resolved the matter. If we hadn’t, it might have become a complaint, which could have had an adverse effect on their wellbeing.”

The SAS Advocate role reports to the Medical Director. Gauri attends quarterly trust Board meetings and presents a report. She described this as daunting initially but has been well supported by the medical leadership team.

The trust Chair, Dr Kathy McLean, is particularly committed to the SAS Advocate role and has supported this nationally. The trust held a health and wellbeing day with some educational components in 2022, with an ambition to be one of the leaders in the country on how to bring health and wellbeing to the fore of this staff group.

Gauri advocates the benefits of being a SAS doctor. She has been able to develop a sub-specialty focus and attain educational development while balancing her clinical commitments with raising a family and pursuing a personal interest in fine art. She believes leadership opportunities within the trust are developing, and there is growing interest amongst SAS colleagues. She points out that help is available to get SAS doctors on the leadership ladder and to develop the confidence to apply. She says, “We have to groom doctors to be the leaders, to be in that role, and that’s what our trust is trying to embed into the culture.”

Advice on becoming an SAS Advocate

  • Go for it – “I would encourage everybody to go for a leadership role” says Gauri.
  • Make sure you fully understand the job description of any leadership role before you apply.
  • Be open about your strengths and areas of weakness so that you can secure mentoring or coaching right from the start.
  • Seek advice from your SAS Tutor, who might be able to provide access to training to support you in a leadership role.

Interested in becoming a SAS Advocate?

  • BMA SAS advocate guidance sets out the purpose of the role and the competencies needed to be effective. NHS Employers gives similar guidance.
  • The SAS Advocate should work with the Medical Director to improve the working lives, health and wellbeing of SAS doctors/dentists (Academy of Medical Royal Colleges).
  • SAS Tutors and SAS Advocates can help raise awareness of the SAS career trajectory (Academy of Medical Royal Colleges).
  • SAS leadership roles (SAS Tutor, SAS Advocate and SAS LNC representative) should be carried out only by SAS doctors/dentists (this already occurs in all nations apart from England), according to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
  • Every health board in Wales should have a SAS advocate whose role is to promote and improve support for SAS doctors’ health and wellbeing. The SAS Advocate, SAS Tutor, and CESR lead for each health board should work together to support SAS doctors locally, coordinating local SAS networks, mentoring opportunities and regular meetings where SAS doctors can share experiences and support each other (Royal College of Physicians).