Project description:Medicine is becoming increasingly protocol driven. This provides a standardised format for doctors to deliver best practice, especially in the acute setting. 40 junior doctors were asked to locate three Trust guidelines: venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis; antibiotic prescribing; and management of upper gastrointestinal bleed (UGIB). For each doctor the time taken and number of mouse clicks to access each guideline was recorded. Following successful redesign of the Trust intranet we completed a re-audit. Initial results showed 48% of doctors were unable to locate the UGIB or the VTE guidelines within 5 min. For those who were able to locate the guidelines it took an average of 111 sec and 17 mouse clicks. 100% of doctors were able to locate the antibiotic guidelines in 12 sec and with two clicks. These are accessible via a single port of access. Following our redesign of the Trust intranet 100% of doctors located all three guidelines in an average time of 7.2 sec and in 2.1 clicks. Improvement in access to VTE prophylaxis and UGIB was statistically significant (p=0.001). Redesigning our Trust intranet homepage has significantly improved the accessibility of acute surgical and medical guidelines.
Project description:BackgroundThe aim of this survey was to determine the level of awareness and understanding of peer review and peer review models amongst junior hospital doctors and whether this influences clinical decision-making.MethodsA 30-question online anonymous survey was developed aimed at determining awareness of peer review models and the purpose of peer review, perceived trustworthiness of different peer review models and the role of peer review in clinical decision-making. It was sent to 800 trainee doctors in medical specialties on the University College London Partners trainee database.ResultsThe response rate was (178/800) 22%. Most respondents were specialist registrars. Checking that research is conducted correctly (152/178, 85%) and the data interpreted correctly (148/178, 83%) were viewed as the most important purposes of peer review. Most respondents were aware of open (133/178, 75%), double-blind (125/178, 70%) and single-blind peer review (121/178, 68%). 101/178 (57%) had heard of collaborative, 87/178 (49%) of post publication and 29/178 (16%) of decoupled peer review. Of those who were aware of double-blind, single-blind open and collaborative peer review, 85 (68%), 82 (68%), 74 (56%) and 24 (24%), respectively, understood how they worked. The NEJM, Lancet and The BMJ were deemed to have most trustworthy peer review, 137/178 (77%), 129/178 (72%) and 115/178 (65%), respectively. That peer review had taken place was important for a journal content to be used for clinical decision-making 152/178 (85%), but the ability to see peer review reports was not as important 22/178 (12%). Most felt there was a need for peer review training and that this should be at the specialist registrar stage of training.ConclusionsJunior hospital doctors view peer review to be important as a means of quality control, but do not value the ability to scrutinize peer review themselves. The unquestioning acceptance of peer review as final validation in the field of medicine emphasises not only the responsibility held by medical journals to ensure peer review is done well but also the need to raise awareness amongst the medical community of the limitations of the current peer review process.
Project description:Hospital at Home (HaH) provides hospital-level care within patients' homes. With services expanding, a London HaH service embedded new junior doctor posts. Currently, gaps exist in the under- and postgraduate curriculum to develop clinical skills required to deliver care in this context. HaH simulation (HaH-SIM) was developed, through a multi-cycle QIP, to improve early-career doctors' confidence in providing care in this unfamiliar environment. Surveys before and after HaH-SIM assessed confidence in practical, clinical and communication skills; ranked concerns; rated sessions and gained qualitative feedback. 41 doctors participated over 2 years. It currently includes six low-fidelity stations and three high-fidelity stations. Confidence improved, particularly in managing end of life, decision-making around hospital admission and administering intravenous medications/fluids. High-fidelity scenarios, practical skills and prescribing stations were most highly rated. As HaH services expand, HaH-SIM is a feasible, effective and transferable way of improving early-career doctors' confidence and skills to provide care in patients' homes.
Project description:BackgroundThe extent to which medical residents are involved in the teaching and supervision of medical procedures is unknown. This study aims to evaluate the teaching and supervision of junior residents in central venous catheterization (CVC) by resident-teachers.MethodsAll PGY-1 internal medicine residents at two Canadian academic institutions were invited to complete a survey on their CVC experience, teaching, and supervision prior to their enrolment in a simulator CVC training curriculum.ResultsOf the 69 eligible PGY-1 residents, 32 (46%) consenting participants were included in the study. There were no significant baseline differences between participants from the two institutions in terms of sex, number of ICU months completed, previous CVC training received, number of CVCs observed and performed. Only 16 participants (50%) received any CVC training at baseline. Of those who received any training, 63% were taught only by senior resident-teachers. A total of 81 CVCs were placed by 17 participants. Thirty-two CVCs (45%) were supervised by resident-teachers.ConclusionsResident-teachers play a significant role both in the teaching and supervision of CVCs placed by junior residents. Educational efforts should focus on preparing residents for their role in teaching and supervision of procedures.
Project description:To ensure systems in hospitals improve to make patient care safer, learning must occur when things go wrong. Incident reporting is one of the commonest mechanisms used to learn from harm events and near misses. Only a relatively small number of incidents that occur are actually reported and different groups of staff have different rates of reporting. Nationally, junior doctors are low reporters of incidents, a finding supported by our local data. We set out to explore the culture and awareness around incident reporting among our junior doctors, and to improve the incident reporting rate within this important staff group. In order to achieve this we undertook a number of work programmes focused on junior doctors, including: assessment of their knowledge, confidence and understanding of incident reporting, education on how and why to report incidents with a focus on reporting on clinical themes during a specific time period, and evaluation of the experience of those doctors who reported incidents. Junior doctors were asked to focus on incident reporting during a one week period. Before and after this focussed week, they were invited to complete a questionnaire exploring their confidence about what an incident was and how to report. Prior to "Incident Reporting Week", on average only two reports were submitted a month by junior doctors compared with an average of 15 per month following the education and awareness week. This project highlights the fact that using a focussed reporting period and/or specific clinical themes as an education tool can benefit a hospital by promoting awareness of incidents and by increasing incident reporting rates. This can only assist in improving hospital systems, and ultimately increase patient safety.
Project description:The transition period for new junior doctors is a daunting and challenging time, as vast amounts of information specific to each hospital, ward, and job must be learnt while maintaining patient care standards.[1] In NHS Tayside, Scotland, tips and guidance for each job are informally handed over from previous junior doctors to the next, resulting in an unreliable and unsustainable handover of information. Time must then be spent by new doctors learning the intricacies and practicalities of their new job, rather than spending time focusing on patient care. Our aim was to improve this transition period for new junior doctors to NHS Tayside through the creation and implementation of a junior doctors' handbook, which would provide information and practical advice on day to day life as a junior doctor. We hoped to implement this project by August 2015 to coincide with the arrival of these new doctors to NHS Tayside. Through repeat PDSA cycles we created a sustainable and reliable junior doctors' handbook, containing a centralised hub of information for doctors that was accessible through our health board's website. The junior doctors' handbook has been a highly beneficial resource that has been praised for its detailed information on all aspects of day to day life for doctors in NHS Tayside. Feedback also demonstrated that doctors felt the junior doctors' handbook had improved their efficiency. Our hope is that this project can continue to be developed within our hospital, but also to be used as an idea outside our health board to improve the transition period for new doctors on a wider scale.
Project description:IntroductionIn university hospital settings most prescriptions are written by junior doctors, who are more likely to make prescribing errors than experienced doctors. Prescribing errors can cause serious harm to patients and drug harm differs among low, middle and high-income countries. In Brazil, few studies have investigated the causes of these errors. Our aim was to explore medication prescribing errors in a teaching hospital, their causes, and underlying factors from the perspective of junior doctors.MethodQualitative, descriptive and exploratory study that used a semi-structured individual interview with questions related to the planning and execution of prescriptions. It was conducted with 34 junior doctors who graduated from twelve different universities located in six Brazilian states. The data were analyzed according to the Reason's Accident Causation model.ResultsAmong the 105 errors reported, medication omission stood out. Most errors resulted from unsafe acts during execution, followed by mistakes and violations. Many errors reached the patients; unsafe acts of rule violations and slips accounted for the majority. Work overload and time pressure were the most frequently reported causes. Difficulties faced by the National Health System and organizational problems were identified as latent conditions.ConclusionThe results reaffirm international findings about the severity of prescribing errors and the multifactorial aspect of their causes. Unlike other studies, we found a large number of violations, which, from the interviewees' perspectives, are related to socioeconomic and cultural patterns. The violations were not seen or mentioned by the interviewees as violations, but as difficulties in accomplishing their tasks on time. Knowing these patterns and perspectives is important for implementing strategies to improve the safety of both patients and professionals involved in the medication process. It is suggested that the exploitation culture of junior doctors' work be discouraged and that their training be improved and prioritized.
Project description:BackgroundJunior doctors do most inpatient prescribing, with a relatively high error rate, and locally had reported finding prescribing very stressful.ObjectiveTo develop an intervention to improve Foundation Year 1 (FY1) doctors' experience of prescribing, and evaluate their satisfaction with the intervention and perceptions of its impact.MethodsBased on findings of a focus group and questionnaire, we developed a pocket Dose Reference Card ("Dr-Card") for use at the point of prescribing. This summarised common drugs and dosing schedules and was distributed to all new FY1 doctors in a London teaching trust. A post-intervention questionnaire explored satisfaction and perceived impact.ResultsFocus group participants (n = 12) described feeling anxious and time pressured when prescribing; a quick reference resource for commonly prescribed drug doses was suggested. Responses to the exploratory questionnaire reinforced these findings. Following Dr-Card distribution, the post-intervention questionnaire revealed that 29/38 (76 %) doctors were still using it 2 months after distribution and 38/38 (100%) would recommend ongoing production.ConclusionsFY1 doctors reported feeling stressed and time pressured when prescribing; this was perceived to contribute to error. A pocket card presenting common drugs and doses was well-received, perceived to be useful, and recommended for on-going use.
Project description:ProblemCompliance with UK regulations on junior doctors' working hours cannot be achieved by manipulating rotas that maintain existing tiers of cover and work practices. More radical solutions are needed.DesignAudit of change.SettingPaediatric night rota in large children's hospital.Key measures for improvementCompliance with regulations on working hours assessed by diary cards; workload assessed by staff attendance on wards; patient safety assessed through critical incident reports.Strategies for changeDevelopment of new staff roles, followed by change from a partial shift rota comprising 11 doctors and one senior nurse, to a full shift night team comprising three middle grade doctors and two senior nurses.Effects of changeCompliance with regulations on working hours increased from 33% to 77%. Workload changed little and was well within the capacity of the new night team. The effect on patient care and on medical staff requires further evaluation.Lessons learntReduction of junior doctors' working hours requires changes to roles, processes, and practices throughout the organisation.