Consultant Level Therapy Practice in Critical Care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Qualitative exploration of Consultant Level Therapy Practice in Critical Care
IRAS ID
340616
Contact name
Paul Twose
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Since 2000, the number of therapists working in ‘consultant-level’ roles has been increasing. The therapists are experts in clinical practice, bringing innovation and influence clinical leadership as well as strategic direction in their field for the benefit of service users. Furthermore, consultant practitioners exercise the highest degree of professional autonomy and decision making, with the prime purpose of improving outcomes for service users and/or communities by enhancing services and quality of care. Within the UK, there are approximately 8-10 therapists working at this level of practice. However, the impact of these roles has not been determined.
The aim of this project is to explore the perceived role of consultant level therapy practitioners working within critical care. We will explore the contributions made, the impact and areas for future development. We will also seek the opinions of the wider multi-disciplinary team in critical care departments with consultant level therapy practitioners.
The study will use a semi-structured interviews with therapy staff working at consultant-level, as well as conducted 2 focus groups with senior medical and nursing staff who work with these practitioners. These interviews and focus groups will be transcribed and thematically analysed. We aim to recruit 6-8 therapy staff who spend at least 50% of their time working within critical care speciality, and 12-16 senior nursing and medical staff. All participants will provide informed consent, with interviews / focus groups being conducted via Microsoft Teams.
The findings of the study will be prepared for publication in a peer review journal and potential conference abstracts. The findings will also be used to support the role of consultant-level therapy practitioners in relevant guidelines and policies.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A