Development of an audit toolkit for use in resource-poor countries

Yee Hing Tang, Eugene; Fox, Hannah; Gajria, Camille; Welsh, Victoria K.; Mehrotra, Anushka

Abstract

Dear Editor,

We were interested to read the international series (Education for Primary Care, 2015, volume 26, No. 5) reporting on papers illustrating innovative strategies to ensure the primary care workforce is supported in both clinical and research training in Rwanda. There is a clear emphasis on two aspects from this series that particularly appeal to General Practitioners of the future: international primary care and academia.

Academic primary care is an ever-expanding subspecialty within General Practice (GP) [Citation1] and all GPs naturally utilise research skills when assessing up to date available evidence during counselling or deciding on best treatments for our patients. Similarly, there is an ever-increasing demand for international primary care experiences particularly within Vocational Training Schemes as evidenced by the Global Health Fellowships, which are available this year.[Citation2] These fellowships allow GP trainees to take an Out of Programme Experience (OOPE) within training. OOPEs build on the existing two-week exchanges available through the Vasco Da Gama Movement’s Hippokrates Exchange, which is available to Associates in Training (AiTs) and First5 GPs [Citation3] through the Royal College of General Practitioner’s Junior International Committee.[Citation4] It is clear that there will also be individuals who are keen to pursue both international primary care and academia.

To explore what support individuals working abroad may need we performed a survey of GPs who had previously been on an OOPE. We surveyed 25 GPs from the London Deanery and had a response rate of 20% (n = 5). OOPEs were conducted in South Africa, India, Zambia and Sierra Leone. Two respondents had conducted clinical audits and one had conducted research during their placement. Perceived barriers when conducting any form of academic activity included lack of time, support and experience as well as lack of staff engagement. However, it was clear that the majority of GPs did feel that host organisations would benefit from clinical audits and/or research. Respondents also requested further training particularly in audits with for example an audit toolkit. To ensure that future AiTs and First5s are well supported when conducting audits on OOPEs the Junior International Committee have put together an audit toolkit, which provides useful resources and highlights several issues unique to performing audits particularly in resource poor countries including: (1) why audits are necessary in resource poor settings (2) what challenges GPs may encounter when attempting to conduct an audit (3) resources that GPs could access to assist their audit experience (4) examples of successful audits, which could be used as a template for future audits.

Although research will be difficult to commence, maintain and complete due to perhaps limited time and resources in developing countries, academic activities such as audits could be useful for both the individual performing the audit and the department he/she is contributing to. More support will be needed prior to commencing these exchanges or OOPEs and we hope our simple audit toolkit will be of benefit to interested GPs.

Citation

Yee Hing Tang, E., Fox, H., Gajria, C., Welsh, V. K., & Mehrotra, A. (2016). Development of an audit toolkit for use in resource-poor countries. Education for Primary Care, 27(1), 79-80. https://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2015.1133077

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jan 28, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 2, 2016
• Deposit Date: Dec 1, 2023
• Journal: Education for Primary Care
• Print ISSN: 1473-9879
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-990X
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 79-80
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2015.1133077
• Keywords: Family Practice
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=tepc20