‘I Did No Harm’

Abstract

Objective: To assess the performance of our urology team against GMC guidelines for using chaperone during intimate clinical examination. Background data: intimate physical examination is an integral part of our urological practice. There is a paucity of literature regarding the use of chaperones among urologists. Given the importance of this topic for both patient safety and providing support for the urologist, we decided to assess our performance as per the GMC guidelines for good medical practice. Methods: We completed an audit loop to evaluate the performance of 12 members in our urology team as regards compliance with GMC guidance for the documentation of chaperone use in urology clinic. Based on our scoring system, we objectively assessed both overall team performance as well as individual scores for documenting chaperone use. Results: There was a significant improvement in the overall documentation rate in both clinical notes (+9.85%) and clinic letters (+36.65%). Raising awareness among team members managed to increase the individual performance scores as well. Conclusion: This is the first report using a scoring system for objective assessment of a pertinent topic such as the use of chaperone and its documentation. This managed to achieve a significant improvement in our practice.