• J P Greenwood, S J Lindsay, P D Batin, and M B Robinson.
• St James's University Hospital, Leeds.
• J R Coll Physicians Lond. 1997 Nov 1; 31 (6): 648-51.

ObjectivesTo assess the extent of junior doctor involvement in clinical audit, the degree of support from audit staff, and the perceived value of the resulting audits.DesignPostal survey of National Health Service (NHS) junior doctors.Subjects And Settings704 junior doctors in central Leeds hospitals, June 1996.ResultsQuestionnaires were returned by 232 respondents (33%), 211 (31%) were completed; 157 respondents (74%) had personally performed audit. Mean (+/- SD) duration since last audit project was 14.9 (14.1) (range 0-84) months. Of the respondents who had personally performed audit, 88 (56%) did not use the hospital audit department, 60 (38%) received no guidance and only 19 (12%) were involved in re-auditing the same project. Mean (+/- SD) time spent per audit project was 27.8 (37.7), (range 2-212) hours. Seventy-five junior doctors (48%) were aware of subsequent change in clinical practice, 41 (26%) perceived a negative personal benefit from audit, 33 (21%) perceived a negative departmental benefit, and 42 (27%) felt that audit was a waste of time.ConclusionsA large proportion of junior doctors are involved in audit projects that do not conform to established good practice and which have a low impact on clinical behaviour. Although junior doctors feel that there is inadequate assistance and poor supervision whilst performing audit, they still support the principle of audit. There is a need to improve the quality and supervision of audit projects performed by junior doctors.

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