6765 Interdepartmental civility in a tertiary children’s hospital: examining workplace effects and impact on patient care

Objectives Civility relates to politeness while showing respect to those around us. Incivility therefore implies unsociable speech or behaviour. In the context of civility in hospitals, this means treating colleagues with the respect needed to ensure effective teamwork for excellent patient care. Civility Saves Lives campaigns have illustrated the detrimental behaviour that incivility can have in the workplace, and frameworks exist to combat this to ensure employee protection. This project aims to identify the current state of civility among paediatric departments to identify areas for improvement and highlight if this impacts patient care. Methods An anonymous 30-question survey was created to determine feelings of incivility and sent to medical trainees who had worked within general paediatrics at Noah's Ark Children's Hospital (Cardiff, Wales) within the last 3 years. The survey was designed to allow respondents to candidly discuss experiences they had when contacting paediatric departments and if they faced incivility. Using Likert scales, the questionnaire assessed concerns about contacting departments, if staff felt personally victimised and whether this was due to protected characteristics. Trainees were asked if they had or would deviate from normal practice due to concerns and were able to provide evidence using free text. Results The survey was sent to 240 junior doctors who worked at Noah's Ark for general or speciality paediatrics between 2020–2023 via email. 49 completed the survey (response rate 20.4%). 49% stated they felt personally victimised, with 3 feeling this was due to protected characteristics (2 gender, 1 ethnicity). 32.7% believed feelings about contacting a department have influenced their patient care, and 95.9% agreed care could be improved between departments. Department A caused the most concern, with 34 (69.4%) stating they were concerned (29 (59.2%)), or very concerned (5 (10.2%)) about discussing a patient, with 17 (34.7%) stating this changed patient management. In free text, examples included 'avoidance' and 'delaying contacting'. Other departments, such as B, however, had 0 respondents who were concerned, and 100% hadn't changed practice. Conclusion A significant number of staff flagged that incivility exists within paediatric departments and that patient care could be improved by improving civility. Several expressed apprehensions about contacting others, most concerningly, 3 feel this is based on protective characteristics. The next step is to approach departments with results and provide opportunities for training to minimise incivility to create a better working atmosphere and safer patient care.