Published 3 April 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1046
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1046

Practice

The Competent Novice

Practising safely in the foundation years

¹ Clinical Safety Research Unit, Imperial College, St Mary’s Hospital, London W2 1NY

Junior doctors are vital to promoting quality of care and safety for patients. This article outlines strategies to reduce errors and subsequent harm

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Adverse events are common, particularly in vulnerable patients such as older people Junior doctors are at the front line of patient care and therefore play a crucial role in reducing harm to patients If a junior doctor is at all worried about a patient, it is their responsibility to seek help Junior doctors should discuss and report adverse events, with the aim of learning from them It is vital that a full apology and explanation be given to the patient when an adverse event occurs

Many junior doctors may not be aware that about one in 10 acute hospital admissions in the United Kingdom is associated with at least one adverse event, occasions on which patients are harmed by their medical management rather than the illness itself.^{1 2} About half of these adverse events are thought to be preventable, and a third are associated with serious disability or death. More commonly, . . . [Full text of this article]

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• Lamb, B. W, Nagpal, K. (2009). Importance of near misses. BMJ 339: b3032-b3032 [Full text]  

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