Junior Doctor ‘Clinical Audit’ and ‘Quality Improvement Project’ of the Year

Call for Entries – 2018 Competitions

Since 2010 the Clinical Audit Support Centre Ltd (CASC) have been responsible for running the annual‘Junior Doctor Clinical Audit of the Year’ competition. The competition has been a huge success and is now in its ninth year. The CASC team review and assess all abstracts and successful entrants are shortlisted for a Finals Day where posters are displayed. The Finals Day takes place in November.

In 2013 the competition was extended to include quality improvement projects and once again there will be two categories in 2018 – ‘clinical audit projects’ and ‘quality improvement projects’. To clarify, we classify clinical audit projects as standards-based initiatives that measure care against best practice.

Both competitions offer 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards, plus there is the additional ‘Martin Ferris’ Award for clinical audit entries. As in previous years, all winners will be invited to showcase their work after the competition, via a range of opportunities (e.g. presenting their work at a forthcoming national conference, creating a case study of their work for the CASC website).

Details of both competitions are provided within this document and this includes full information on competition rules and how to submit your work.

The format for both competitions is as follows:

1)All entries must be submitted by midnight on 3 September 2018

2)Initial judging will take place in Septemberand we aim to contact all finalists by no later than 21 September 2018

3)Finalists will then be invited to attend the Finals Day conference in Leicester in November.More details will be provided to the finalists.

All finalists will receive a 25% reduction on the Finals Day conference delegate fee. Expert judging panels will assess all entries. Submissions should be emailed toSubmission guidelines are located overleaf. Entries received after 3 September will not be accepted.

GUIDELINES FOR THE CLINICAL AUDIT OF THE YEAR COMPETITION

All submissions should include the following:

  • All submissions should be completed on the attached form, if you cannot use the form provided you must adopt the suggested sub-headings (electronic copies are available via
  • Submissions should include: title, author details (name, job title, organisation), 3 summary bullet points, aim and objectives of work described, methods used, results and/or expected benefits, conclusions
  • Maximum 800 words (longer submissions will not be reviewed)
  • Submissions will be reviewed based on criteria as follows: contribution to clinical audit, knowledge and practice, originality, completeness, comprehensiveness, clarity of aims and objectives, methods, results, conclusions and the impact of the project on improving patient care
  • Format for entry: when emailing please name your word document “Junior Doctor CAOTY” and your full name.

Guidance for the Clinical Audit Project that you submit:

  1. The audit project must be current – i.e. started no later than 2016
  2. It must be a standards-based clinical audit (as opposed to research/other quality improvement projects)
  3. The topic selected is appropriate and relevant
  4. The clinical audit is focused on improving patient care
  5. The criteria and standards are clearly stated, with reference to evidence
  6. The sample size is sufficient to generate meaningful results
  7. The project follows appropriate clinical audit methodology
  8. Results must be clearly displayed
  9. Recommendations and action plans have been produced
  10. Preferably a re-audit has been undertaken and the benefits/outcomes of the project can be quantified.

Submissions can relate to small-scale local audits up to regional and national projects. Projects may be based on pre-existing audit templates (e.g. national audits, NICE guidelines, etc.) or may relate to new projects established by a group of local stakeholders. Failure to follow the above may result in the submission being rejected, regardless of content.

All entries should be emailed . Deadline for submission is 3 September 2018 and accepted authors will be notified by 21September.Only one entry per competition per junior doctor. N.B. Junior doctors are classified as Foundation Year 1&2 and Specialist Registrars.

GUIDELINES FOR THE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT OF

THE YEAR COMPETITION

All submissions should include the following:

  • All submissions should be completed on the attached form, if you cannot use the form provided you must adopt the suggested sub-headings (electronic copies are available via
  • Submissions should include: title, author details (name, job title, organisation), 3 summary bullet points, aim and objectives of work described, methods used, results and/or expected benefits, conclusions
  • Maximum 800 words (longer submissions will not be reviewed)
  • Submissions will be reviewed based on criteria as follows: originality, completeness, comprehensiveness, clarity of aim and objectives, methods/approaches used and description of how the project has been carried out, results, conclusions, improvements in patient care, impact of the project, ability of others to replicate the project
  • Format for entry: when emailing please name your word document “Junior Doctor QIPOTY” and your full name.

Guidance for the Quality Improvement Project that you submit:

  1. The project must be current – i.e. started no later than 2016
  2. It must NOT beor incorporate a standards-based clinical audit or research project. Beyond these limitations, authors are free to submit any work that they have undertaken. As a broad guideline projects may adopt: Model for Improvement methodology, LEAN techniques, follow the PDSA cycle, relate to patient safety and risk management techniques – Root Cause Analysis, Significant Event Audit, incorporate patient survey work,look at service re-design, etc.
  3. The topic selected is appropriate and relevant
  4. Details of how the project has been carried out must be clearly specified
  5. Results must be clearly displayed
  6. The quality improvement project must demonstratetangible improvements
  7. The quality improvement project should be replicable and other NHS organisations should be able to duplicate the improvement project

All entries should be emailed . Deadline for submission is 3 September 2018 and accepted authors will be notified by 21September.Only one entry per competition per junior doctor.N.B. Junior doctors are classified as Foundation Year 1&2 and Specialist Registrars.

Junior Doctor 2018 Competition – Submission Form

Complete this form to enter your project

Title:______

The competition I wish to enter for is: Clinical Audit / Quality Improvement

(please delete one)

Authors Names:
Authors Job Titles:
Organisation:
Contact telephone number:
Email Address:
Summary (3 bullet points):
Aim and Objectives:
Methods:
Results:
Conclusions:

Send to: (name file as per instructions). Before submitting we encourage you to check local information governance arrangements.