Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) recently hosted its Resident & SAS Doctors' quality improvement project presentations as part of the Trust's Learning Round. Held online, the event brought together over 100 colleagues from across the Trust to celebrate the breadth of quality improvement work being delivered by Resident and SAS Doctors. 

Chaired by Director of Medical Education, Dr Sukh Bahia, 12 projects were showcased over the course of the afternoon, spanning themes from patient safety and discharge planning to accessibility, and medication safety.  

Celebrating Our Winners 

Three outstanding projects were recognised for their impact and quality: 

1st Place - Dr Anna Vittoria Porter (FY2) – Improving the recognition and management of menopausal symptoms in female inpatients on a mental health ward.  

2nd Place - Dr Win Min Thet (ST6) – Improving effective assessment and treatment pathway of alcohol dependence patients at New Beginnings.  

3rd Place - Dr Alice Walker (FY1) – Improving audio accessibility for outer borough trainees during foundation year psychiatry teaching sessions: A quality improvement project 

Congratulations to all three winners for their dedication to improving patient care and the trainee experience. 

Showcasing Innovation and Impact 

The remaining presentations also demonstrated a level of commitment to rigorous, patient-centred improvement work, including: 

• Dr Torsten Wrigley, Dr Esme Graham, Dr Amelia Kataria Golestaneh and Dr India Coker – Smart Handover: Digitising clinical handover at CNWL to improve patient safety (Phase 2) 

• Dr Esme Graham, Dr Amelia Kataria Golestaneh, Dr Vaishnavi Sornorajah and Dr Laura Checin – Improving access to physical health guidelines across CNWL 

• Dr Bita Dinarvand – Smarter discharge, better care: Improving timeliness of psychiatric discharge documentation with Anathem AI 

• Dr Zaid Alkayed – Closing the 24-Hour gap: Improving timeliness and reliability of discharge notifications on Eastlake Ward 

• Dr Zaid Elamin – Cardiology In-Reach Service 

• Dr Muhammad Othman – SafeRx: High-risk medication safety 

• Dr Abdul Nadim Asil – Progress documentation for psychiatric patients 

• Dr Janine DesForges & Dr Andrew Sedra – Improving awareness and uptake of VLAIs in CMHT Settings 

• Dr Tahira Bilal – Transition Audit: A service evaluation project 

Each presentation reflected careful use of QI methodology and a genuine focus on improving outcomes for patients and staff, underlining the depth of improvement work happening across the Trust. 

Key Learning Points 

Many projects used technology-driven solutions, including the use of AI-assisted discharge notifications and digitised handover systems, to tackle longstanding challenges in patient safety and communication. Others focused on making services more inclusive through ensuring physical health guidelines are consistently available across sites. 

Several projects also tackled the timeliness and reliability of discharge processes, a recurring priority for patient safety and continuity of care. Across the board, presenters demonstrated the value of using structured QI methodology to understand their systems, using PDSA cycles and clear, measurable outcomes over time, to drive sustainable change. 

Looking Forward 

This event highlighted the impressive dedication of CNWL's Resident and SAS Doctors, and the vital role they play in driving continuous improvement across the Trust. We look forward to seeing how these projects continue to develop and deliver lasting impact for CNWL's patients and services. 

Thank you to everyone who presented, and congratulations to our winners.