SP3.09 Promoting Good Clinical Practice Certification Amongst Resident Doctors in a Major Surgical Emergency Unit: a Quality Improvement Project

Aims The Surgical Emergency Unit (SEU) promotes research literacy and involvement amongst Foundation doctors and higher trainees, including through weekly resident-led Research, Audit, and Presentations (RAP) meetings and mandatory completion of NIHR Good Clinical Practice (GCP) online training, which familiarises professionals with international standards for clinical research. This quality improvement project (QIP) aimed to promote GCP training amongst new SEU resident doctors from August-October 2024. Methods This two-cycle QIP aimed to increase the proportion of residents that had completed GCP training. Cycle 1 involved an instructional email alongside verbal instructions in a morning handover, morbidity and mortality meeting, and weekly RAP meeting. Cycle 2 involved a reminder email to individuals who had not completed training alongside a reminder in the departmental newsletter. Results 43 resident doctors worked on SEU over this period. Prior to cycle 1, 37.2% had completed training. Completion rose to 51.2% after cycle 1 and to 62.8% after cycle 2 (p=0.001). Including only full-time SEU staff (n=27), completion was 48.1% prior to cycle 1, 63.0% after cycle 1, and 77.8% after cycle 2 (p=0.008). Amongst Core Trainees, completion was 100% after cycle 1. Commonly reported reasons for training non-completion included insufficient time and clinical pressures. Full qualitative analysis of these reasons using thematic analysis is planned. Conclusions The SEU encourages a culture of involvement in clinical research amongst residents, including through regularly scheduled, resident-led research meetings. In this context, encouraging completion of GCP training through departmental meetings, newsletters, and direct emails was effective in significantly improving compliance.