Developing public engagement in the QA of teaching program
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing a patient feedback instrument to allow public engagement in the quality assurance of undergraduate dental teaching programmes at Newcastle School of Dental Sciences
IRAS ID
212179
Contact name
Paula Waterhouse
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle Joint Research Office, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
In order to gain accreditation with the General Dental Council, the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and the BSc Oral & Dental Health Sciences (BSc ODHS) degree programmes at Newcastle School of Dental Sciences are required to meet a set of educational standards. The BDS degree trains dentists and the BSc ODHS trains dental hygienists and therapists.
The set of educational standards stipulated by the GDC have recently been updated. They now require the School of Dental Sciences to collect and use patient feedback from the Dental Hospital clinics and outreach locations (clinical attachment placements) within the local Community Dental Service to inform degree programme development.
The aim of the project is to develop a short patient feedback instrument (questionnaire) about patient experience that can be used as part of a quality assurance system which will inform degree programme development at Newcastle Dental School.Qualitative research (two audio-recorded focus groups of 6-8 patients) will be used to determine which aspects of the BDS and BSc degree programmes patients feel able to comment upon. Patients for the focus groups will be recruited from Newcastle Dental Hospital clinics and from outreach clinic locations within the Community Dental Services. Following thematic analysis of the focus group transcripts, the research team will develop a patient feedback questionnaire.
A patient focus group (of 6-8 patients) will be used to comment on the validity and face value of the questionnaire. A student focus group and a staff focus group (both with 6-8 members) will be used to consider the logistics of the delivery and receipt of the feedback questionnaire to patients. All focus groups will be audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim.Following the study the research team plan to disseminate the results by publication in a journal of medical education, a poster presentation or an oral presentation.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0062
Date of REC Opinion
3 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion