Table 1 Components and scoring of the Conscientiousness Index (CI). All trainees start with 50 points (in line with other work on CI [14]) this prevents negative scores occurring

Sickness/absence

If the trainee was off sick or absent and did not let department know

−10 for each occasion

Audit meeting attendance

Percentage of audit meetings the trainee could have attended but missed

The percentage was divided by 5 to reduce the weighting of this component on the overall CI score. This value was then deducted from the total CI score

Appraisal documentation

Did they submit appraisal documentation within requested timescale? And complete?

0 if all submitted and on time

-5 if not submitted on time or incomplete

-10 if not submitted on time AND incomplete

Short notice requests

Requested change in rota or ‘not-on call’ or holiday request less than 6 weeks in advance (School policy states requests should be made more than 6 weeks in advance of any requested change)

Sliding scale:

Request made more than 6 weeks in advance; 0 points

5–6 weeks in advance -1

4–5 weeks in advance -2

3–4 weeks in advance -3

2–3 weeks in advance -4

1–2 weeks in advance -5

Less than 1 week in advance -6