In 2010, the Clinical Audit Support Centre set up a clinical audit competition for junior doctors after we received feedback from a number of local clinical audit teams that the standard of junior doctor audit was largely unsatisfactory. Therefore, by inviting juniors to submit their audit work we would gain an insight into both the quality of projects and the appetite for clinical audit. In addition, setting up the competition seemed a logical undertaking to carry out given that junior doctors involvement in clinical audit and quality improvement is compulsory. The competition proved an instant success and has since become an annual feature on the clinical audit calendar. Indeed, since the competition was launched in 2010, the number of entries to the clinical audit competition alone has exceeded one thousand. Click here to read our timeline history of the competition.
In 2013, we decided to extend the competition to include a quality improvement category. Of course, we fully appreciate clinical audit is a quality improvement technique, but not all quality improvement carried out by junior doctors is clinical audit (many use PDSA, Model for Improvement, LEAN approaches, etc.). To clarify, entries that measure care against agreed standards, no matter how many times they do this are classified as clinical audit. The section below, provides details and posters of all the previous winners in the junior doctor clinical audit competition since 2010. Note: we added the Martin Ferris Award in 2011 so there are many great examples of award-winning clinical audit projects carried out by junior doctors listed below:
2017
Martin Ferris Award winner
Improving the medical and surgical handovers
Walsh C, Yeomans J
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinical Audit of the Year winner
Improving smoking cessation services for “forgotten smokers” on old age psychiatry
Sim P, Ansah-Palmer G, Adelman S
Highgate Mental Health Centre, London
2016
Martin Ferris Award winner
An audit of haemoglobin assessment after post-operative blood transfusion in patients with hip fracture
Llewellyn O, Barnes P, Nadimi J, Yates J, McCann J
Warrington Hospital
Clinical Audit of the Year winner
Improving inpatient sleep on an acute medical ward Zou D, Chin A, Atkins J, King A Nottingham University Hospital2015
Martin Ferris Award winner
Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy and the need for routine group and save
Wardle S, Lyons S, Gopalswamy S
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
Clinical Audit of the Year winner
Improving the quality of discharge summaries on the stroke unit
Mehta P, Bailey J, Khadjooi K
Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge
2014
Martin Ferris Award winner
Curing the delay to diagnose hip fracture
Richardson R, Mohammed Z, Brennan N
The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust
Clinical Audit of the Year winner
”Chase CRP, Review Patient”: Improving the quality of out-of-hours medical handover
Saifuddin A, Magee L, Barrett R
Charing Cross Hospital, London
2013
Martin Ferris Award winnerVerifying death, implementing a successful change in practice
Wakefield D, Osbourne G
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Clinical Audit of the Year winner
Don’t be a clot – ensure the prescription of out-patient VTE prophylaxis following lower limb arthroplasty
Evans J, Evans C, Armstrong A
Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
2012
Martin Ferris Award winner
Night time emergency department secondment
Williams R, Hope A
Royal Navy and Royal Air Force
Clinical Audit of the Year winner
Falling rates or falling flat?
Gibson R, Heaney A, Hull K
South Eastern and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland)
2011
Martin Ferris Award winner
Great cocktail without the hangover
Lees D, Harrison W, Reed M
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Clinical Audit of the Year winner
An apple a day keeps VTE at bay
Maughan E, Eyre K, Hanna L, Fawcett N, Reckless I
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
2010
Clinical Audit of the Year winner
Improving DVT prophylaxis using a “lean” approach: a new solution to an old problem
Kreckler S, MacQueen A, Catchpole K, Handa A, McCulloch P
John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford