Exception reporting

Changes to the exception reporting - February 2026

Improvement of confidentially for resident doctors' exception reports

• Verification manager - will manage TOIL and hours exceptions
• Director of Medical Education - will manage education exceptions
• Guardian of Safe Working - will have oversight of all exception reports

If during the review of an exception report for additional hours worked, HR or the Guardian of safe working hours identifies an educational component to the exception report, they must obtain the doctor's explicit consent before sharing the details of the exception report with the DME. 

 

Stricter timelines

• Onboarding - access to the system within 7 days
• Submission Window - increased to 28 days
• Processing Time - within 10 days
• Time of In Lieu (TOIL) - must be arranged within 10 days of TOIL granted
   

When to use Exception Reporting

Exception reporting is the mechanism used by doctors to inform the Trust when their day-to-day work varies significantly and/or regularly from the agreed work schedule.

Primarily these variations will be: 

1. A breach of the 48-hour average working week (across the reference period agreed for that placement in the work schedule); or
2. A breach of the maximum 13-hour shift length; or
3. A breach of maximum of 72-hours worked across any consecutive 168-hour period
4. Where 11 hours rest in a 24-hour period has not been achieved (excluding on-call shifts); or
5. Where 5 hours of continuous rest between 10pm and 9am during a non-resident on-call shift has not been achieved; or
6. Where 8 hours of total rest per 24-hour non-resident on-call shift has not been achieved
7. Where a concern is raised that breaks have been missed on at least 25% of occasions across a 4-week reference period, and the concern is validated and shown to be correct, the Guardian of safe working hours will levy a fine at the rate of twice the relevant hourly rate for the time in which the break was not taken.

It is extremely important that you flag any variations from your work schedule via the Exception Reporting System as this is how the Trust able to monitor resident doctor experience, and address any concerns raised in a timely manner.

 

Who will see my Exception Reports

• Verification manager: Sara Bullen, Medical Workforce Manager and Sam Burton, Medical Workforce Project Manager
• Director of Medical Education: Dr Bala Ganesan, Director of Medical Education and Dr Emma McPhail, Deputy Director of Medical Education
• Guardian of Safe Working: Dr Anu Priya, Guardian of Safe Working Hours and Claire Ali, Head of Medical Workforce and Recruitment

 

If you have any questions or need to contact the team regarding exception reporting, please email the RD Exception Reporting Team at RDexceptionreporting@nottshc.nhs.uk.