SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) is the NHS-standard communication tool for clinical handovers and escalating concerns to seniors. While not always tested as a standalone question, it frequently comes up when the panel asks how you would escalate a clinical concern, hand over a patient, or communicate with a colleague. Being able to reference SBAR naturally in your answers demonstrates that you communicate in a structured, NHS-aligned way.
S — Situation: Identify yourself, the patient, and the reason for your call. “Hi, this is Dr [Name], the JCF on MAU. I’m calling about Mrs Smith in bed 12 who has acutely deteriorated.”
B — Background: Relevant clinical background. “She was admitted yesterday with community-acquired pneumonia. She has a background of COPD and type 2 diabetes.”
A — Assessment: Your clinical assessment of the current situation. “She is now tachycardic at 120, hypotensive at 85/50, febrile at 39.2, and her oxygen saturations have dropped to 88% on 4L. I’m concerned about sepsis with possible deterioration.”
R — Recommendation: What you are asking for. “I’ve started the sepsis protocol, given a fluid bolus, and taken blood cultures. I’d like you to come and review her please.”
When to reference SBAR in interviews: During clinical scenarios when asked “who would you call?”, teamwork questions, communication skills questions, and any scenario involving patient handover. Simply saying “I would use an SBAR structure when contacting the registrar” scores well.
- Exercise: Write 3 SBAR scripts for different clinical scenarios and practise delivering them in under 60 seconds.