I am a junior doctor and I like clinical audits! There, I said it.
Just to be clear, it was not always the case. In fact when I first started working in the NHS, like most of my colleagues I thought audit was just another box that had to be ticked. On top of that I had graduated from France, where the concept of audit is as foreign as sunny weather in Britain, so I did not feel in any rush to get started.
One year goes by and I still had no idea what an audit was, much less how to get involved in one. I briefly recall it being mentioned during our hospital induction, but that’s about it. As I started applying for speciality training, I realised just how important it was to the portfolio, and how much it can affect my overall score.
So I decided to do something about it and signed up for an audit course, with the Clinical Audit Support Centre in Leicester. It was a one-day course and I was the only doctor there, which was a bit intimidating. Even the other participants seemed surprised that a doctor wanted to learn more about audits!
We started by going through the basics of clinical audit, from its conception to what its future would look like. Then, each phase of the audit process was dissected and discussed, with fun workshop sessions amongst the participants. At the end we were asked in groups to create a poster that represents the audit cycle in a creative way, which was a fitting exercise to consolidate our newly found knowledge.
The course was extremely helpful and opened my eyes up to a world of possibilities. I could not wait to get involved in audits, and even come up with a few projects of my own. This made me realise that audits are not marketed properly to junior doctors; they come across as mind-numbing exercises required for our appraisal, instead of showcasing them as essential skills that will help us improve.
As doctors, we strive to become the best version of ourselves and offer the best care and service to our patients and being able to apply self-reflection through the practice of audit plays an integral part to that.
In addition, there is something very satisfying about identifying an area that needs improvement and implementing measures with positive outcomes. It does not have to be a revolutionary idea, no one expect you to re-invent the wheel. At its core, audit is about making sure that good practice is actually being implemented and maintained.
My advice to you (and to my past self) would be - learn the basics of clinical audit, then start with a simple idea and execute it well. I’ve already undertaken two closed loop audits and am planning my third. Soon enough you will get hooked to the process and dream bigger!
Written by Dr. Oussama Aloulou
PS Please note that from 2010 to 2019 CASC ran a junior doctor clinical audit competition for junior doctors. Sadly that comes too late for Oussama but you can see the outputs of this here via a short document reviewing the 10 years of the competition.