SP5.11 Reducing Female Misidentification: A Closed-loop Audit of Low Resource Interventions on FY1 Doctors in General Surgery

Aims We sought to quantify the issue of misidentification of female F1s as non-doctor roles within their general surgical rotation during the 2023-2024 year. We aimed to use this feedback to measure the effect of crowdsourced low resource interventions by re-audit. Method A survey was emailed to rotating female F1s on General Surgery to quantify those experiencing misidentification of their role by patients, and to crowdsource solutions. We implemented two interventions. Firstly, we centralised the application process so all new FY1s had “Hello my name is …” ID badges with “Dr. lastname” on them. Secondly, we encouraged senior staff to introduce FY1s as doctors during the ward round. We then surveyed the next group of female FY1s to assess the uptake and impact. Results In both cycles, we had a 100% response rate. 84% of the pre-intervention group reported being misidentified by patients. Everyone in the post-intervention group had received name badges with “Dr *lastname*” on them yet 86% reported having their role misidentified. 72% reported that role introduction by seniors was done regularly. Despite this, 100% of responders subjectively felt the name badges reduced misidentification. In both cohorts, there were 15% who never experienced role misidentification. Conclusions Name badges and role introduction by seniors did not reduce the absolute percentage of female F1s experiencing role misidentification on their surgical rotation. However, the qualitative feedback indicates that the badges helped in at least some instances.