Grass-roots junior doctor communication network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a service evaluation
Background COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic on 11 March 2020. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust provides 1412 inpatient beds staffed by 1200 junior doctors and faced a large burden of COVID-19 admissions.Local problem A survey of doctors revealed only 20% felt confident that they would...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2021-05-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open Quality |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/10/2/e001247.full |
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| author | Nisha Patel Ara Darzi Ruth Brown Georgina Phillips James Kinross Georgina Russell Geiske Zijlstra Arun Sivananthan Matthew Machin Alexander Harris Shiva T Radhakrishnan Peter Crook Max Christopher Denning |
| author_facet | Nisha Patel Ara Darzi Ruth Brown Georgina Phillips James Kinross Georgina Russell Geiske Zijlstra Arun Sivananthan Matthew Machin Alexander Harris Shiva T Radhakrishnan Peter Crook Max Christopher Denning |
| author_sort | Nisha Patel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic on 11 March 2020. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust provides 1412 inpatient beds staffed by 1200 junior doctors and faced a large burden of COVID-19 admissions.Local problem A survey of doctors revealed only 20% felt confident that they would know to whom they could raise concerns and that most were getting information from a combination of informal work discussions, trust emails, social media and medical literature.Methods This quality improvement project was undertaken aligning with Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence 2.0 guidelines. Through an iterative process, a digital network (Imperial Covid cOmmunications Network; ICON) using existing smartphone technologies was developed. Concerns were collated from the junior body and conveyed to the leadership team (vertical—bottom-up using Google Form) and responses were conveyed from leadership to the junior body (vertical—top-down using WhatsApp and Zoom). Quantitative analysis on engagement with the network (members of the group and number of issues raised) and qualitative assessment (thematic analysis on issues) were undertaken.Results Membership of the ICON WhatsApp group peaked at 780 on 17 May 2020. 197 concerns were recorded via the Google Form system between 20 March and 14 June 2020. There were five overarching themes: organisational and logistics; clinical strategy concerns; staff safety and well-being; clinical (COVID-19) and patient care; and facilities. 94.4% of members agreed ICON was helpful in receiving updates and 88.9% agreed ICON improved collaboration.Conclusions This work demonstrates that a coordinated network using existing smartphone technologies and a novel communications structure can improve collaboration between senior leadership and junior doctors. Such a network could play an important role during times of pressure in a healthcare system. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d7d3f0b83057419fb61ebe8fa1c3c9a4 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2399-6641 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open Quality |
| spelling | doaj-art-d7d3f0b83057419fb61ebe8fa1c3c9a42025-08-20T02:10:50ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Quality2399-66412021-05-0110210.1136/bmjoq-2020-001247Grass-roots junior doctor communication network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a service evaluationNisha Patel0Ara Darzi1Ruth Brown2Georgina Phillips3James Kinross4Georgina Russell5Geiske Zijlstra6Arun Sivananthan7Matthew Machin8Alexander Harris9Shiva T Radhakrishnan10Peter Crook11Max Christopher Denning12Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia2 Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UKDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UKDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolic Medicine, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UKDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK1 Department of Respiratory Medicine, St Mary`s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UKDepartment of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UKInstitute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, London, UKSection of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UKAcademic Section of General Surgery, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UKDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UKDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UKDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UKBackground COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic on 11 March 2020. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust provides 1412 inpatient beds staffed by 1200 junior doctors and faced a large burden of COVID-19 admissions.Local problem A survey of doctors revealed only 20% felt confident that they would know to whom they could raise concerns and that most were getting information from a combination of informal work discussions, trust emails, social media and medical literature.Methods This quality improvement project was undertaken aligning with Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence 2.0 guidelines. Through an iterative process, a digital network (Imperial Covid cOmmunications Network; ICON) using existing smartphone technologies was developed. Concerns were collated from the junior body and conveyed to the leadership team (vertical—bottom-up using Google Form) and responses were conveyed from leadership to the junior body (vertical—top-down using WhatsApp and Zoom). Quantitative analysis on engagement with the network (members of the group and number of issues raised) and qualitative assessment (thematic analysis on issues) were undertaken.Results Membership of the ICON WhatsApp group peaked at 780 on 17 May 2020. 197 concerns were recorded via the Google Form system between 20 March and 14 June 2020. There were five overarching themes: organisational and logistics; clinical strategy concerns; staff safety and well-being; clinical (COVID-19) and patient care; and facilities. 94.4% of members agreed ICON was helpful in receiving updates and 88.9% agreed ICON improved collaboration.Conclusions This work demonstrates that a coordinated network using existing smartphone technologies and a novel communications structure can improve collaboration between senior leadership and junior doctors. Such a network could play an important role during times of pressure in a healthcare system.https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/10/2/e001247.full |
| spellingShingle | Nisha Patel Ara Darzi Ruth Brown Georgina Phillips James Kinross Georgina Russell Geiske Zijlstra Arun Sivananthan Matthew Machin Alexander Harris Shiva T Radhakrishnan Peter Crook Max Christopher Denning Grass-roots junior doctor communication network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a service evaluation BMJ Open Quality |
| title | Grass-roots junior doctor communication network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a service evaluation |
| title_full | Grass-roots junior doctor communication network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a service evaluation |
| title_fullStr | Grass-roots junior doctor communication network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a service evaluation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Grass-roots junior doctor communication network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a service evaluation |
| title_short | Grass-roots junior doctor communication network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a service evaluation |
| title_sort | grass roots junior doctor communication network in response to the covid 19 pandemic a service evaluation |
| url | https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/10/2/e001247.full |
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