Designing Improved Surgical Care for Older people
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Designing Improved Surgical Care for Older people (DISCO) using system wide data analysis and a stakeholder led design process
IRAS ID
243410
Contact name
PJ Clarkson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 24 days
Research summary
Increasing numbers of older patients are having surgery. Those who have other health problems and undergo major operations are more likely to develop complications and fail to make a full recovery. Healthcare is a ‘complex system’ which requires interaction of multiple individuals, institutions, and pieces of equipment. This recognition has led to attempts to understand and improve healthcare using analytical tools developed for other safety critical industries such as aviation. We believe that adopting this approach will allow us to design improved systems of care for the older person having surgery.
Modern medical care generates large amounts of data which could help us understand clinical problems and suggest potential solutions. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) routinely uses a comprehensive electronic record for all patients who undergo an operation as part of their care. Our project aims to use data from these records to identify targets for designing improved processes of care for older surgical patients.
Our project consists of three stages. In the first we will conduct serial rounds of questionnaires with NHS staff to identify variables felt to identify a ‘high-risk’ surgical patient. We will then use anonymised data from CUH's electronic record to explore which of these factors are related to an older patient suffering a poor outcome when admitted for surgery. In the final stage, we will explore the results of this analysis in interactive workshops, to identify ways of bettering the wider system of surgical care for older people.
REC name
London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1648
Date of REC Opinion
6 Nov 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion