Prescribing Support for Doctors Rotating Through Child Health
Introducing an induction talk for FY1/2 and SHO doctors, including a short assessment to check they can prescribe and feel confident in doing so.
The Problem
Junior doctors often make prescribing errors and don’t always receive training in paediatric prescribing. The project aims to support junior doctors in safe prescribing for children and to check they are able to do so at the start of their rotation in paediatrics.
Making the Case for Change
We introduced a presentation and short assessment into induction for all juniors rotating through child health. Over the years we have demonstrated improvement in prescribing ability with increased scores. The project has been sustained by now embedding it in the induction programme.
Learning and Next Steps
- Work with pharmacists.
- Be enthusiastic.
- Don’t blame but support doctors encountering problems.
- Have a few people who can deliver this in person. Junior doctors then understand its importance and it is not just another electronic tick box.
Our local health board are supportive of our work and it was presented at an RCPCH scientific meeting.
Project lead: Dr David Tuthill
Organisation: Children’s Hospital for Wales