A cross-sectional study of experiences and attitudes towards clinical audit of farm animal veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom

Waine, Katie; Dean, Rachel; Hudson, Christopher; Huxley, Jonathan; Brennan, Marnie L.

Abstract

© 2018 by the authors. Clinical audit is a quality improvement tool used to assess and improve the clinical services provided to patients. This is the first study to investigate the extent to which clinical audit is understood and utilised in farm animal veterinary practice. A cross-sectional study to collect experiences and attitudes of farm animal veterinary surgeons in the UK towards clinical audit was conducted using an online nationwide survey. The survey revealed that whilst just under three-quarters (n = 237/325; 73%) of responding veterinary surgeons had heard of clinical audit, nearly 50% (n = 148/301) had never been involved in a clinical audit of any species. The participants' knowledge of what a clinical audit was varied substantially, with many respondents reporting not receiving training on clinical audit at the undergraduate or postgraduate level. Respondents that had participated in a clinical audit suggested that protected time away from clinical work was required for the process to be completed successfully. This novel study suggests that clinical audit is undertaken to some extent in farm animal practice and that practitioner perception is that it can bring benefits, but was felt that more resources and support were needed for it to be implemented successfully on a wider scale.

Citation

Waine, K., Dean, R., Hudson, C., Huxley, J., & Brennan, M. L. (2018). A cross-sectional study of experiences and attitudes towards clinical audit of farm animal veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom. Veterinary Sciences, 5(4), 84. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci5040084

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 19, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Sep 28, 2018
• Publication Date: Sep 28, 2018
• Deposit Date: Oct 3, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 3, 2018
• Journal: Veterinary Sciences
• Electronic ISSN: 2306-7381
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 84
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci5040084
• Keywords: Clinical audit; Farm animal veterinary surgeons; Quality improvement; Experiences; Attitudes; Questionnaire; Survey
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1144277
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/5/4/84