Engaging, empowering and educating junior doctors in quality improvement (QI) to improve patient safety: a trust-wide junior doctor forum
Aims
An initial survey of junior doctors revealed a disparity between their desire to be involved in QI and awareness of opportunities. A project to establish a junior doctor forum was initiated, aiming to provide knowledge regarding the science of QI, awareness of ongoing projects, opportunities to present work and mentoring support.
Methods
All junior doctors were invited to attend after-work QI sessions. These comprised group activities, presentations of QI theory in context, projects by junior doctors and QI opportunities within the trust. Senior hospital leaders and clinicians were engaged in the development of the programme and participated in its delivery. A structured evaluation form was developed and attendees were encouraged to complete these at the end of each session. Feedback was reviewed in formal debriefs and used to inform improvements to subsequent sessions. The evaluation form was kept consistent in order to monitor feedback over time.
Results
The three words most commonly chosen by attendees from a ‘word cloud’ to describe the sessions were: ‘useful’, ‘interesting’ and ‘thought-provoking’. All attendees were either satisfied or completely satisfied with the session overall and would either be likely to or would definitely recommend the session to colleagues. All attendees stated they gained a greater understanding of QI by the end of the session. Free text qualitative feedback included statements such as: ‘Well informed, interactive and engaging’ and ‘Empowering and enjoyable’. Attendance was monitored over the three workshops. In total 59 doctors in training from a full range of training grades and hospital and primary care specialties attended at least one session. After the workshops, at least 21% of attendees went on to be involved in QI projects. Feedback was sought from senior leaders; the director of quality stated ‘this is most definitely one of the best ways to reach a previously “hard to reach” group’. The chief executive said ‘This type of work is beneficial for junior doctors for their future in quality and service improvement’.
Conclusions
We believe that this project demonstrates that establishing a junior doctor QI forum is a successful and valuable way of engaging junior doctors in QI work. Working collaboratively creates an effective culture of innovation and safety. This is beneficial for the trust and helps junior doctors to become better clinicians and medical leaders within the NHS. Increased engagement of junior doctors in QI work has potential to improve patients’ clinical outcomes.
- © Royal College of Physicians 2016. All rights reserved.
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