The safety of trainees is a key concern within any psychiatric training scheme. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has suggested respective national standards.

To audit compliance with standards related to the safety of psychiatric trainees within a Mental Health Trust in the United Kingdom.

All trainees working within the Mental Health Trust were identified. A questionnaire was developed based on nationally suggested standards and sent to all trainees. To obtain the optimum response rate and ensure ease of distribution, a web-based survey tool was used.

44 responses to the questionnaire were received from 70 trainees (response rate 63%). Most trainees (62%, n = 26) had received information on local safety policies. Largely the participants (64.3%, n = 27) had guidance on maintaining personal safety, and 78% (n = 32) carried an alarm when in inpatient areas.

It is recommended that psychiatrists should not visit private dwellings alone if an emergency, and never at night. Most trainees (90.2%, n = 37) had not being asked to do an emergency assessment alone.

With regards to interview rooms both in and out of hours, most areas met the required standards.

Our survey showed that although most standards related to the safety of trainee psychiatrists were met, there was scope for improvements in induction, training and the use of monitoring arrangements and alarm systems in outpatient settings. The survey designed for this study has scope for replication in other psychiatric and non-psychiatric (accident and emergency) settings, where doctors’ safety may be a concern.