Postgraduate Teaching Programme in Psychiatry in North Wales- a Regional Quality Improvement Project 2022-2023

AIMS: We aimed to arrange the local Postgraduate teaching in psychiatry as per the Deanery requirement/ HEIW requirement. We aim to achieve a better target with regard to local teaching as noted from the previous year's GMC trainee survey METHODS: The project started in 2019. 3 sets of audits and PDSA's were done- one each year, before the final PDSA. During these 3 audits, only non-consultants were participants. During the 4th PDSA, in 2022-2023, a purposive sample was selected to provide the best information possible for the audit. It included Consultant Psychiatrists from all three sites in North Wales, Trainees( Junior/ Senior), SHO, speciality doctors, FY2, GP trainees and Clinical fellows. The criteria for participation were that the doctors should be working in Psychiatry and should have attended the local postgraduate programme. Access to the internet and appropriate device was mandatory as an add-on availability. An online questionnaire was emailed to the participants. There were only 3 questions for the Consultants and 5 for the non Consultants’ group. 2 weeks window was offered to fill out the forms. RESULTS: The 3 audits done initially revealed that consistent formal teaching was not provided. The candidates also found the current programme not fulfilling the criteria laid by the deanery and that their educational needs were neglected. The summary of the old audits suggested that the teaching had worsened eventually. The final PDSA was done in 2022-2023. The overall time to fill out the form was 1.43 minutes. An equal number of Consultants and Non-consultants filled out the form. 31 Consultants rated the new programme as 4.23 for 5. The 31 non-consultants rated the programme 3.68 out of 4 and 95% identified that the new postgraduate programme covered the core trainees' requirements as per the MRCPsych Handbook from the Deanery. CONCLUSION: Prioritisation of the most important facilitators and identification of ‘easy wins’ are important steps in this process. 1. identify important barriers and facilitators of learning in clinical environments and 2. indicate priority areas for improvement. Our overarching objective was to provide information to guide policymakers and those tasked with the delivery of graduate medical education in tackling the provision of high-quality clinical learning environments in challenging time;