Digital alerts for sepsis: a qualitative study (DiAlS Qual).

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Digital alerting to improve sepsis detection and patient outcomes in NHS Trusts: a qualitative study (DiAlS Qual).

  • IRAS ID

    313699

  • Contact name

    Sarah Tonkin-Crine

  • Contact email

    sarah.tonkin-crine@phc.ox.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Oxford / Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 10 days

  • Research summary

    Sepsis is a serious disease, most often caused by a bacterial infection, and can be treated with antibiotics. Identifying patients with sepsis as early as possible means treatment with antibiotics can be started earlier. To identify patients who may have sepsis, measurements such as high or low temperature and fast breathing rate are used to create a score showing the possibility of sepsis. Electronic health records (HER) in hospitals contain the information needed to create a score and can alert a doctor or nurse that a patient may have sepsis. Research has shown that more patients get antibiotics earlier because of hospitals using this type of digital alert. Different hospitals have used different methods to create a score and use different types of digital alerts. This research wants to find out what hospital doctors and nurses think about digital alerts for sepsis and how they use them. We also want to find out what patients who have had sepsis think about hospitals using these digital alerts. Understanding how these digital alerts are used and how they affect patient care can help us to see how they could be used better so patients can benefit.

  • REC name

    London - Central Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    22/PR/1020

  • Date of REC Opinion

    21 Oct 2022

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion