In March 2020, Health Education England (HEE) issued a letter to all junior doctors in England that the planned April junior doctors' rotations had been frozen. This meant that no doctors would move into their planned rotation and therefore would miss out on educational opportunities for the third rotation. There was disappointment amongst many juniors but we adapted and accepted that it was the best option for patient care in the midst of the pandemic.

Fast forward to May, it appears that we have overcome the peak, with numbers of Covid-19 admissions consistently decreasing and ITU departments going back to usual capacity and status. Most trusts are planning to resume teaching sessions for junior doctors soon.

Under these circumstances, many juniors, including foundation doctors, GP trainee doctors, and Core/ Internal medical doctors, have expressed wanting to move onto their planned rotations, to increase their exposure to different specialties and gain additional skill sets. In addition, many were concerned that they are becoming de-skilled in their current post. This is all based on the background that Covid-19 related admissions are reducing and there is the capacity to safely induct doctors, so they can be exposed to the planned educational opportunities, as well as ensuring patient safety.

Many juniors have proposed that now is the best time for rotation, as we have overcome the peak, numbers of patients are below usual in most specialties across different Trusts, and the capacity to induct new doctors is adequate. This will also allow doctors the time to settle into their new areas if there was a second peak in a few weeks' time.

These opinions and concerns were shared locally, and some Trusts planned to rotate their trainees with support from their Deanery. However, this decision was opposed by HEE with no clear reasoning. The Foundation school and the GP school have also opposed the idea, as they did not accept less than 4 months as a placement. However, juniors are not requesting this to be recognised as a complete placement, but merely to increase their exposure to different specialties and to improve their educational experience.

Many of us have tried to contact Health Education England with our concerns but have not received a formal response to date.

We the undersigned ask that HEE allow all trainees to move on to their planned April rotations to improve their educational experience and specialty exposure. We believe that now, before the end of May, is the time to do this safely, without compromising patient care.