The influence of key clinical practices on the knowledge of first year doctors about the patients under their care

M Naqvi, S T Ward, G Dowswell, J Donnelly, West Midlands Research Collaborative, SWIFT group collaborators

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Aims:  In 2009 in the United Kingdom the 48-h working week was introduced for junior doctors. To comply with this traditional working practices have changed. This study aims to assess how much first year (FY1) doctors know about the acute surgical patients they manage and how this is influenced by changes in key working practices. Methods:  Surgical FY1s working in NHS hospitals answered 16 clinical questions about a standard acute surgical patient under their care 48 h after admission. Scores were analysed according to how long the FY1 had been looking after the patient, whether they had clerked the patient in, attended the post take ward round (PTWR), used a handover sheet to answer the questions and had sole or shared responsibility for the patient. Results:  Two hundred and seventy-four FY1s (92% response rate) from 36 hospitals were surveyed. The overall median score was 11/16 (inter-quartile range 8-13). Only 8.4% (23/274) FY1s had clerked in the patient and 58.4% (160/274) had attended the PTWR. Clerking patients and attending the PTWR resulted in significantly higher test scores compared to FY1s who did not perform these activities (p = 
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)181-188
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Clinical Practice
Volume67
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

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