Aims Leadership competencies and quality improvement skills are becoming an increasingly important element of junior doctor training curricula. How we support our junior doctors to develop these skills must therefore advance to match this.

This work aimed to take a blended learning approach, using eLearning modules alongside a real-world project, to develop quality improvement (QI) capability amongst Foundation Year (FY) doctors.

Methods Four eLearning modules were created by Health Education East of England Leadership Fellows, which covered all the core components of completing a quality improvement project (QIP). A Leadership Fellow then engaged six FY doctors, who collaborated on four QIPs, which aimed to increase the number of Fit Notes issued to patients upon discharge from a large teaching hospital.

They received direction from the eLearning modules, in addition to light-touch supervision from a Leadership Fellow (specifically an initial meeting, 4-6 weekly catch-up emails, and ad-hoc troubleshooting).

Results 100% of the FY participants who responded to the post-project evaluation survey (n=4) either agreed, or strongly agreed, with the following:

• I now have a greater understanding of how to complete a QIP.

• The amount of supervision I received was appropriate.

• I would recommend this model of learning to a colleague.

Each QIP demonstrated a positive impact on patient care, and included all of the core elements necessary to meet QI curriculum requirements.

Conclusion This work demonstrates how a blended approach can drive the development of QI skills to the point of expected competency, while also delivering successful QIPs that result in improved quality of patient care.