Report by Dr Hor Chee Peng, Dr Ng Rong Xiang, Dr Terence Ong Ing Wei, Dr Irene Looi, Professor Dr Edmund Ong Liang Chai and Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin.
On June 6, 2024, the College of Physicians Malaysia (CoPM) in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) of London, organized the third National Clinical Audit Workshop, at the Cube, Universiti Malaya. This workshop was expanded and conducted in two days with full physical attendance by the participants.
Clinical audit is a cardinal principle underpinning clinical governance. It is a quality improvement process which seeks to improve patient care and outcomes through a systematic review of care against explicit criteria and the implementation of change. It starts with a mindful strategy assessing the performance of one's practices against the standard for benchmarking. Along with this, it is essential to identify pitfalls and their contributory factors, followed by designing a targeted strategy of change and enabling the implementation of change with sustainability to close the audit loop. This process, or “cycle” of quality improvement is designed to be perpetually repeated to improve standards to excellence, transforming the cycle into an upward spiral.
This workshop aimed to provide insight for healthcare professionals about the importance and step-by-step in conducting clinical audits for their daily clinical practice, with hands-on group work with projects to be carried out, to enhance their learning curves. We hope this workshop will become an annual event to allow capacity building to reach a critical mass to instil the spirit of clinical audit for quality improvement for the nation. The spirit of quality improvement is at the heart of every healthcare professional. One of the goals of this workshop is to institutionalize and internalize the concept of “quality” for every participant. We cannot improve what we cannot measure, hence selecting measurable criteria and appropriate standards for clinical audit is important.
The organizing chairperson was Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin, Senior Consultant Geriatrician, Universiti Malaya and Honorary General Secretary, College of Physicians Malaysia. This event was attended by 31 participants from government hospitals and clinics, private hospital, healthcare non-governmental organization, private company, Ministry of Health headquarter and National Institutes of Health. We had a diverse group with wide experience, from Manager of Quality and Risk Management to executive medical audits, from pharmacists to medical/ dental officers and specialists- most importantly they spoke out loud!
The event was again endorsed with an inspirational and motivating welcome speech from the Director General of Health, Malaysia, Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi bin Abu Hassan: “This is now the third consecutive year that the event has happened thanks to the persistence and staying power of all concerned, turning this into an annual occurrence. Since the last training exactly one year ago, the Ministry of Health has seen an injection of new energy in pursuing clinical audits. The Ministry has witnessed a rapid increase in local audits being conducted. With medical advances occurring as fast as they have been, we must regularly examine our practice to ensure patient safety and effective implementation of services. Clinical audit also allows us to examine the nature of our practice to drive new improvements through direct change of practice or providing evidence to seek additional resources to enhance or develop services. I hope you will also consider expanding your audit beyond your hospital to allow for a healthy exchange of information and ideas between hospitals. Eventually, by streamlining data collected by individual centres, we hope to see multicentre, cluster-wide, state-wide and nation-wide audits.”
The programme started with an ice-breaking session among all participants to get to know each other.
Dr Terence Ong Ing Wei, Consultant Geriatrician from Universiti Malaya, started the first lecture on “Introduction to Clinical Audit”. He inspired the crowd by setting the scene from the historical and contemporary perspectives on the values of clinical audit in clinical care. He delineated the differences between research, audit and quality improvement (RAQI). Besides, he shared a great example of drivers for clinical audit and use of the newly launched Management of Geriatric Hip Fracture Clinical Practice Guideline.
Next, Dr Ng Rong Xiang, Internist and Infectious Diseases Physician from Universiti Malaya presented the second lecture on “The Audit Cycle”. He succinctly introduced different parts of the audit cycle, namely the PDSA cycle (Plan, Do, Study and Act), how to select a topic and decide what to audit, how to choose and determine the standards, such as organizational, process or outcome standards, and implementing changes to improve the standards followed by re-audit. He emphasized the importance of forming an effective audit team and identifying the stakeholders.
After a short break, our facilitators led by Dr Hor Chee Peng, conducted the group work on critical appraisal of published clinical audit projects, identifying the strengths and limitations of each example. Active engagement from all groups with group presentations made the session fun for learning.
In the afternoon session, Professor Dr Edmund Ong Liang Chai, Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician and Honorary Professor from Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia and RCP’s International Global Advisor proceeded with the topic “Preparing an Audit Proposal”. The key elements included identifying team members in an audit project and preparing a written proposal with the appropriate methodology, within the feasible timeline and resources available. He illustrated a successful example using the British National HIV Testing Programme, how the programme identified and engaged key stakeholders in the audit process, disseminated the findings and implemented the recommendations to improve care sustainably. He also intrigued the participants with the application of generative artificial intelligence in audits from identifying audit topics to data monitoring and follow-up.
Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin then captivated the participants with her lecture on “Structuring an Audit Proposal with a detailed structural framework in the written proposal, highlighting deficits in current practice, the objective of the audit, proposing standard of the audit/QI project and the governance structure in clinical practice. Approval to conduct a clinical audit can be sought from local institutional authorities and exempted from ethics clearance from the Medical Research Ethics Committee, Ministry of Health, Malaysia.
Following this, the participants were enrolled into seven different groups to structure an audit proposal, which they would present the next day for a competition. Each group was led by a facilitator.
Day 1 of the workshop ended with our honoured guest speaker, Dr Jane Youde, Senior Consultant Geriatrician and former Clinical Director for the RCP National Clinical Audit and Accreditation Programme, joining us virtually from Derby, UK. She amazed us with her dedication and career-long journey in audit to improve care for older persons. She has been involved in the care of older persons with falls and syncope for more than 20 years and has seen first-hand how the RCP national audit for hip fractures has led to quality programmes which reduced the morbidity and mortality from hip fractures. The RCP has hosted various national audit programmes in the UK, including the National Lung Cancer Audit (NLCA), the National Asthma and COPD Programme (NACAP), and the Falls and Fracture Fragility Programme (FFFAP), in which she has been involved in some.
Dr Jane Youde emphasized the power of audit and introduction to quality improvement in the United Kingdom. This should be integral to all aspects of clinical care for all patients and inspire more audit and improvement projects to be undertaken by the multidisciplinary team.
Day 2 of the workshop started with “Data Collection” by Dr Hor Chee Peng, a physician from Kepala Batas Hospital and Clinical Research Centre, Seberang Jaya Hospital, Penang. He shared on audit methodology from sampling to design of simple data collection forms, collecting the data (paper forms versus apps such as Excel, Google forms, REDCap) followed by reflections on the audit.
Professor Dr Edmund Ong then talked about “Data Analysis” to guide the participants on descriptive and comparative analyses, followed by observing deviation from standard and interpreting the data. Dr Irene Looi, Consultant Neurologist and Head of the Clinical Research Centre, Seberang Jaya Hospital, shared the example of the National Stroke Registry and the application of the registry findings as part of audit outputs to improve stroke care for the country. There were hurdles which required multidisciplinary collaboration to overcome and relentless effort to sustain the national programme.
The next agenda was an audit presentation by two of our new fellow facilitators and winners of the audit proposals. Dr Sharmilan Gangatharan from the Department of Emergency and Trauma, Bukit Mertajam Hospital, currently a master student in Emergency Medicine, presented his project titled “Clinical Audit on Adherence to Acute Stroke Activation and Thrombolysis Protocol Target Time in Emergency and Trauma Department of Bukit Mertajam Hospital”. His team won the best audit proposal for the workshop in 2022. was completed after the workshop, and presented at the National QA Convention end of 2023. The project was applauded by the participants for their great effort and stakeholders' involvement across different disciplines. Next presentation by Mr Tan Keat Hin, senior Clinical Pharmacist from Sungai Bakap Hospital on “Clinical Audit on Medication Discrepancies in Prescriptions from Medical Outpatient Department (MOPD), Hospital Sungai Bakap”. Both projects were conducted successfully with clinical impact, and were tied first for the poster prize at the College of Physicians Annual Scientific Congress held in Kuching in November last year!
Following the short tea break, a new and interesting component introduced for this workshop was Closing the Audit Loop Forum by the panel facilitators, moderated by Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin. Examples of successful projects with closing the loop were discussed along with the challenges and uncertainties encountered from individual experience. It takes loads of perseverance and tactful strategies to convince stakeholders to implement changes for good and to make them sustainable.
After the lunch break, the group work resumed. The intense discussion and active participation from every member in each group demonstrated their strong interest in clinical audit. For the 7 groups, hands-on to develop a clinical audit proposal, from ideas to criteria and standard with methodology, with group presentation at the end of the workshop for competitions. Their enthusiasm, passion, focus on intense discussion and furious preparation of PowerPoint presentations were amazing! Great teamwork among newly met friends.
From prescribing errors in the Emergency Department to STEMI network activation, from PEKA B40 outpatient antibiotics prescribing appropriateness to health screening and referral system, from clozapine monitoring to oral health care for palliative patients and medicolegal audits. It was not easy for the judges, Dr Jane Youde and Prof Ed Ong, to select the winner- with some "headache" and debate. All the proposals are doable projects with impacts! Each group received constructive and useful feedback to move forward with their respective projects.
Congratulations to Group 2 on “Clinical Audit on STEMI Network Activation in a non-PCI Capable Centre, Bukit Mertajam Hospital” presented by Dr Ting Kuan Siang and facilitated by Dr Sharmilan Gangatharan as the winner, while Group 5 on “An Audit on Adherence to FBC Monitoring for Patients Taking Clozapine” presented by Dr Tan Chiou Sheue and facilitated by Mr Jason Tan as first runner up. What a coincidence- both facilitators were winners of the past two clinical audit workshops! This workshop is effective in producing leaders and rising stars in clinical audits.
What a fully energized workshop we had! The two-day workshop was full of dynamic interaction, thought-provoking ideas and perspectives, fun and laughter, debate and knowledge sharing.
The workshop ended with a question-and-answer session and reflection of the day by our organizing chairperson, Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin. Many expressed their great interest in echo training in their respective institutions. Heartfelt gratitude to the secretariat of the College of Physicians Malaysia, Ms Siti Adilah binti Abu Bakar, Ms Farhana binti Ahmad Affandi and Mr Muhammad Afiq Mustakim bin Sharudin, who have made this workshop a great success this year!
We sincerely look forward to participants developing their ability to lead key clinical audit projects and apply implementation science practice wherever practical. We aim to organize similar events annually, at a larger scale in years to come. Please get in touch with the College of Physicians Malaysia if you would like to know more.
Report by Dr Hor Chee Peng, Dr Ng Rong Xiang, Dr Terence Ong Ing Wei, Dr Irene Looi, Professor Dr Edmund Ong Liang Chai and Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin
On 8th June 2023, the College of Physicians Malaysia (CoPM) in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) of London, organized the second National Clinical Audit Workshop, at the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, Taman Teknologi Mranti, Bukit Jalil. This workshop was expanded and conducted in two days with full physical attendance by the participants at the College of Physicians, Malaysia, after taking into consideration feedback from the first event last year.
Clinical audit is a key principle underpinning clinical governance. It is a quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care and outcomes through a systematic review of care against explicit criteria and the implementation of change. It starts with a mindful strategy looking at the performance of own practices against the standard for benchmarking. Along this, it is essential to highlight any process that provides a framework to identify pitfalls and enable the implementation of change with sustainability. Findings from clinical audits guide to improve the standard and quality of clinical care. This process, or “cycle,” is designed to be perpetually repeated to forever improve standards, thereby transforming the cycle into an upward spiral.
This workshop aimed to provide insight for healthcare professionals about the importance and step by step in conducting clinical audit for their daily practice, with hands-on group works to enhance their learning curves. We wish that this workshop will become an annual event to allow capacity building to reach a critical mass to instill the spirit of clinical audit for quality improvement in the nation. The spirit of quality improvement is at the heart of every healthcare professional. One of the goals of this workshop is to institutionalize and internalize quality in the health system. We cannot improve what we cannot measure, hence selecting measurable criteria and standards for clinical audit is important.
The organizing chairperson was Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin, Consultant Geriatrician, Universiti Malaya and Honorary General Secretary, College of Physicians Malaysia. This event was well attended by 36 participants, consisting of various specialties, from medical students, pharmacists and doctors, and levels of clinical experience, both from academia and government sectors. Participants came from as far as Kedah, Kelantan, Terrengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.
The event was endorsed with a motivating welcome speech from the Director General of Health, Malaysia, Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi bin Abu Hassan. He reiterated that clinical audit is an indispensable tool to help us determine how well our care delivery adheres to available guidelines and expected standards of care. He emphasized that this is carried out within a blame-free and transparent culture. Deficiencies identified through audit should be addressed positively to drive service improvement efforts. The practice of medicine should go beyond medical knowledge. The modern doctor needs to also possess skills that will help them constantly evaluate their care delivery as well as improve their clinical practice. He wished to see many more clinical audit workshops and completed audits throughout the country in the future.
The programme started with ice breaking session among all participants to get to know each other. Dr Terence Ong Ing Wei, Consultant Geriatrician from Universiti Malaya, started the first lecture on “Introduction to Clinical Audit”. He inspired the crowd by setting the scene from the historical and contemporary perspectives on the values of clinical audit in clinical care. He delineated the differences between research, audit and quality improvement (RAQI). Besides, he shared a sneak peek for future Internal Medicine Postgraduate Training in Malaysia where RAQI project becomes a requirement for candidates undertaking Master of Medicine or parallel pathway.
Next, Dr Ng Rong Xiang, Internist and Infectious Diseases Physician from Universiti Malaya presented the second lecture on “The Audit Cycle”. He succinctly introduced different parts of the audit cycle, namely the PDSA cycle (Plan, Do, Study and Act), how to select a topic and decide what to audit, how to select and determine the standards, such as organizational, process or outcome standards, and implementing changes to improve the standards followed by re-audit.
After a short break, our facilitators led by Dr Hor Chee Peng, conducted the group works on critical appraisal of published clinical audit projects, identifying the strengths and limitations of each example. Active engagement from all groups with group presentations made the session fun for learning.
In the afternoon session, Professor Dr Edmund Ong Liang Chai, Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician and Honorary Professor from Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia and RCP’s International Global Advisor proceeded with the topic of “Preparing an Audit Proposal”. The key elements included identifying team members in an audit project and preparing a written proposal He illustrated successful examples using the British National HIV Testing Programme and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Care Programme, how both programmes identified and engaged key stakeholders in the audit process, disseminated the findings and implemented the recommendations to improve care sustainably.
Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin then shared her lecture on “Structuring an Audit Proposal with a detailed structural framework in the written proposal, highlighting deficits in current practice, objective of the audit, proposing standard of the audit/QI project and the governance structure in the practice. Approval to conduct clinical audit can be sought from local institutional authority and can be exempted from ethics clearance from the Medical Research Ethics Committee, Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Following this, the participants were enrolled into six different groups to structure an audit proposal, which they would present the next day for a competition. Each group was led by a facilitator.
Day 1 of the workshop ended with our honoured guest speaker, Dr Jane Youde, Senior Consultant Geriatrician and former Clinical Director for the RCP National Clinical Audit and Accreditation Programme, joining us virtually from Derby, UK. She amazed us with her dedication and career-long journey in audit to improve care for older persons. She has been involved in the care of older persons with falls and syncope for more than 20 years and has seen first-hand how the RCP national audit for hip fractures has led to quality programmes which reduced the morbidity and mortality from hip fractures. The RCP has hosted various national audit programmes in the UK, including the National Lung Cancer Audit (NLCA), National Asthma and COPD Programme (NACAP), and the Falls and Fracture Fragility Programme (FFFAP), in which she has been involved in some. Dr Jane Youde emphasized the power of audit and introduction to quality improvement in the United Kingdom. This should be integral to all aspects of clinical care for all patients and should inspire more audit and improvement projects to be undertaken not just by the medical team but the multidisciplinary team.
Day 2 of the workshop started with “Data Collection” by Dr Hor Chee Peng, a clinician from Kepala Batas Hospital and Clinical Research Centre, Seberang Jaya Hospital, Penang. He shared on audit methodology from sampling to design of simple data collection forms, collecting the data (paper forms versus apps such as Excel, Google forms, REDCap) followed by reflections on the audit. Professor Dr Edmund Ong then talked about “Data Analysis” to guide the participants on descriptive and comparative analyses, followed by observing deviation from standard and interpreting the data. Dr Irene Looi, Consultant Neurologist and Head of the Clinical Research Centre, Seberang Jaya Hospital, shared the example of the National Stroke Registry and the application of the registry findings as part of audit outputs to improve stroke care for the country. There were hurdles to overcome which requires multidisciplinary collaboration and relentless effort to sustain the national programme.
The next agenda was an audit presentation by Dr Sharmilan Gangatharan from the Department of Emergency and Trauma, Bukit Mertajam Hospital. Other team members, Dr Khor Chin Chuan and Dr Illiana Syahmun Binti Mohd Razally were present together virtually. His team won the best audit proposal for the workshop in 2022. Their project titled “Clinical Audit on Adherence to Acute Stroke Activation and Thrombolysis Protocol Target Time in Emergency and Trauma Department of Bukit Mertajam Hospital” was completed after the workshop, and presented at the National QA Convention end of last year. The project was applauded by the participants for their great effort and stakeholders' involvement across different disciplines.
Following the short tea break, an new and interesting component introduced for this workshop was Closing the Audit Loop Forum by the panel facilitators, moderated by Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin. Examples of successful projects with closing the loop were discussed along with the challenges and uncertainties encountered from individual experience. It takes perseverance and tactful strategies to convince stakeholders to implement changes for good and to make them sustainable.
After the lunch break, the group works resumed. The intense discussion and active participation from every member in each group demonstrated their strong interest in clinical audit. Each of the six groups presented their audit proposal to Dr Jane Youde, who judged virtually from Derby. They received constructive and useful feedback to move forward with their respective projects. The best audit proposal this year was won by Mr Jason Tan who presented the proposal on “Clinical Audit on Medication Discrepancies in Prescriptions from Medical Outpatient Department, Sungai Bakap Hospital”. The group with nominated members were invited to attend the upcoming Annual Scientific Congress of the College of Physicians Malaysia, in November, in Kuching, Sarawak, to receive the prize.
The workshop ended with a question-and-answer session and reflection of the day by our organizing chairperson, Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin. Many expressed their great interest in echo training in their respective institutions. Heartfelt gratitude to the secretariat of College of Physicians Malaysia, Ms Siti Adilah binti Abu Bakar, Ms Farhana binti Ahmad Affandi and Mr Muhammad Afiq Mustakim bin Sharudin, who have made this workshop a great success this year!
We sincerely look forward to participants developing their ability to lead key clinical audit projects and apply implementation science practice wherever is practical. We aim to organize similar events annually, at a larger scale in years to come. Please get in touch with the College of Physicians Malaysia if you would like to know more.
On 11thJune 2022, the College of Physicians Malaysia (CoPM) in collaboration with Royal College of Physicians (RCP) London, organized the first ever “Introduction to Audit and Quality Improvement Workshop”. It is a hybrid workshop, with some participants joining physically at The Cube (Level 4), Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya (UM).
Clinical audit is the heart of clinical governance. It starts with a mindful strategy and executed as planned. Along this, it is important to highlight any process that provides a framework to identify pitfalls and enable changes. Subsequently, this can be incorporated to improve patient care. The keyword that differentiates audit versus research is “improve” for clinical audit while “investigate” is for research.
The obtained results from clinical audit can serve as a guidance to look at area of clinical care that need to be improved, where Quality Improvement (QI) comes in. QI uses different methods to improve patient safety and effectiveness of care by designing, testing and implementing changes using continuous live data.
The aim of the workshop is to provide an insight to the healthcare workers about clinical audit and quality improvement in their daily practice, with the hope to spur an interest. We hope that this workshop will become an annual occurrence to develop the skills of our doctors, ranging from various hierarchy such as house officers, medical officers, specialists, nurses, allied healthcare workers, matron and consultants, in order to ensure continued upskilling of our medical workforce. With the basic knowledge obtained, hopefully, it could ensure the development of effective local clinical audit leading to audit recommendations that change practice and improve patient care in Malaysia.
The organizing chairperson was Professor Dr. Tan Maw Pin. This hybrid event was well attended by 34 participants, consisting of various specialties and hierarchy, both from private and government sectors.
We are honoured to have our guest speaker, Dr. Jane Youde, consultant geriatrician and appointed as clinical director, National Clinical Audit and Accreditation Programme for Royal College of Physicians (2019), London, United Kingdom. She has been involved in the care of older people with falls and syncope for over 20 years and have seen first-hand on how the RCP’s hip fracture audit has transformed care for tens of thousands of patients. It has helped to halve the number of deaths from hip fractures. She overseen a few projects, including the National Lung Cancer Audit (NLCA), National Asthma and COPD Programme (NACAP), and the Falls and Fracture Fragility Programme (FFFAP), which she used to sit on the board of as a representative of the British Geriatric Society (BGS).
The event started with a welcome speech from our president, Prof Dr G R Letchuman Ramanathan, stressing the importance of clinical audit and quality improvement projects for clinical care in Malaysia. He encouraged both audit and quality improvement projects to be done regularly and hopefully, we could organize a national clinical audit conference annually.
Next, Dr. Terence Ong Ing Wei, consultant geriatrician from University of Malaya, started the lecture of “Introduction to Audit”. He provides a clear distinction on research, audit and quality improvement (RAQI) for the participants. Besides, he gives a sneak peek for the future of Internal Medicine Postgraduate Training in Malaysia whereby Master of Medicine candidates and parallel pathway (MRCP holders) will require a RAQI project.
The next talk is followed by Dr. Ng Rong Xiang, internist and infectious diseases specialist from University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). The topic is “The Audit Cycle” with the contents of introducing the different parts of the audit cycle, namely, PDSA cycle (Plan, Do, Study and Act), selecting a topic and deciding what to audit, determining the standards and what are the standards to select, such as (organizational, process or outcome standards) and implementing change and re-audit.
After a short break, our facilitators led the first groupwork involving both the physical and virtual participants with various examples of audit and critically evaluating the post-audit examples, recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of each example.
Keeping in mind of the basic concept of RAQI and audit cycle, the next speaker is Associate Professor Dr. Edmund Ong Liang Chai, Consultant Physician in Infectious Diseases from the Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, with the topic of “Preparing an Audit Proposal”. The emphasis includes identifying team members in a audit/QI project, preparing a written proposal in the form of document or PowerPoint slide, structure of proposal, highlighting deficit in current practice, objective of audit, proposing standard of the audit/QI project and the governance structure in the practice. Following this, the participants are enrolled into different group for the structuring an audit proposal groupwork.
Next, we have a lunch symposium with the theme of audit in anticoagulant practice by Pharma company, Bayer.
The evening session kicked start with “Setting Dateline” for audit/quality improvement projects by Miss Siti Adilah from the College of Medicine, followed by “Data Collection and Data Analysis” by Dr. Hor Chee Peng (Hospital Seberang Jaya). The gist of the talk, consisting of data collection formality, collecting the data (paper forms versus Google forms), analyzing and presenting the data for the audit/quality improvement projects.
The groupworks resumed and the participants continued to prepare the audit proposal after having the structure earlier. Once completed, they presented their proposal to Dr. Jane Youde, connecting virtually from London. They received constructive and useful feedback to move forward with their project. The best proposal selected received certificate for their work.
Finally, Dr. Jane Youde revealed the power of audit and introduction to quality improvement in the United Kingdom. From the projects that she involved and led nationally, the most notable change in practice was reduction in fall rate with hip fracture among elderly and reduction in mortality rate. This would definitely inspire us to work for more audit and quality improvement projects.
The workshop ended with question-and-answer session and reflection of the day by our organizing chairperson, Professor Dr Tan Maw Pin.
For the future outlook, we look forward for the participants to develop their ability to lead key clinical audit and quality improvement initiates and apply implementation science practice wherever is practical. We aim to organize similar event annually, at larger scale to take this forward in 2023/2024.
Please get in touch with the College of Medicine if you would like to know more.
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