Development of a model to predict security incidents in care.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of a model to predict security incidents in high secure psychiatric care.
IRAS ID
177087
Contact name
Naomi Jones
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
The prevalence of security incidents (incidents involving harm to others, harm to self, escape incidents and rule breaking) in high secure psychiatric care is a problem in regards to maintaining the safety of patients and could be considered to have a negative effect on patient's engagement in positive behavioural change. There is some research to suggest that levels of these incidents may be mediated by the culture of a ward and security procedures. However, research is lacking in this area as it does not identify specific factors that predict security incidents in high secure psychiatric care.
The proposed research aims to develop a preliminary model which can be used to predict security incidents based on the culture of a ward and security factors. It is hoped that this can be used in the future to reduce the prevalence of security incidents in high secure psychiatric care. During the first stages of the study a systematic literature review will be carried out in order to investigate links between the culture and security of wards and the prevalence of security incidents already in the literature and important culture themes will be examined via interviews with security staff at a secure psychiatric hospital (Ashworth Hospital, Mersey Care NHS Trust). Secondly, it will be investigated how well the themes identified by the review and the interviews predict positive and negative behaviour within the hospital, and questionnaire packs will be handed out to patients and staff on six wards at the hospital in order to do this which will include questions about the culture of the ward and levels of security. In addition, incident data will be collected using TILT and PACIS incident records (used at the hospital to record security incidents happening on the wards). Associations within this data will be analysed.
REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/WM/0178
Date of REC Opinion
5 Jun 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion