QI 1292 Improving Junior Doctor Confidence in Managing Patients with Eating Disorders

Abstract

Aim: To improve doctors’ confidence in managing physical complications of eating disorders in inpatients at the Aspen Centre (specialist eating disorders unit) out of hours.

Patients with severe anorexia nervosa are often medically complex due to the consequences of malnutrition and compensatory behaviours. The Managing Medical Emergencies in Eating Disorders (MEED) guidance was published with the aim of increasing awareness and knowledge of clinicians across care settings. Despite this, medical school teaching on eating disorders is still sparse with studies consistently finding that doctors outside of the sub-speciality lack confidence in managing eating disorders. Resident doctors at CWPT provide medical cover for the Aspen Centre out of hours, but anecdotally describe anxiety in doing so.

Tools Used: Driver Diagram - https://aqua.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/qsir-driver-diagrams.pdf. PDSA Cycles - https://aqua.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/qsir-pdsa-cycles-model-for-improvement.pdf. Staff Survey.

Project Impact: 75% of doctors who provided feedback felt that the out of hours handbook was a helpful resource.