Accuracy of prescribing documentation by UK junior doctors undertaking psychiatry placements: a multi-centre observational study.

EMRs of 276 participants yielding 780 ward round entries were analysed, 100% of which were completed by Foundation Year or General Practice specialty training junior doctors rather than more senior clinicians. Compared with non-psychotropic drugs, documentation of prescribing rationale for psychotropic drugs was less likely (OR = 0.24, 95% CI 0.16-0.36, p < 0.001). The rate of rationale documentation significantly declined over time especially for psychotropic drugs (p < 0.001). Prescribing documentation of non-psychotropic drugs for people with mental illness is paradoxically more accurate than that of psychotropic drugs. Early-career junior doctors are therefore increasingly shaping EMRs of people receiving psychiatric care.