TY - JOUR T1 - Challenges in conducting quality improvement projects: reflections of a junior doctor JF - Future Healthcare Journal JO - Future Healthc J SP - 333 LP - 334 DO - 10.7861/fhj.2022-0076 VL - 9 IS - 3 AU - Alpha Madu Y1 - 2022/11/01 UR - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/9/3/333.abstract N2 - KEYWORDS:Quality improvement (QI) in healthcare dates back to the mid-19th century.1–3 It has now evolved into a very systematic and structured approach for improving the safety and effectiveness of patients’ care and has become a mandatory requirement for many healthcare professions.4While the importance and relevance of QI are well established, not much experience has been shared about real-life challenges encountered while conducting them. This article is a personal reflection of the learning experiences of a junior doctor while conducting QI in the NHS and contains useful personal hints to ease the task of doing QI. It should be helpful for novices to QI in health settings (such as foundation year doctors) and may also inform decision making at managerial level (such as training committees and hospital managers).Organisational rigidityMy first and most important lesson while doing QI projects (QIPs) was the realisation of an inherent resistance to change ingrained in complex organisations, such as health systems.5 While organisational rigidity may pose a challenge at any stage of a QIP, its impact is most felt at the implementation stage.One example comes to mind in a project I conducted with my colleagues to improve the … ER -