Evaluating feasibility of a preoperative checklist

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Evaluating feasibility of a preoperative checklist for opportunistic long-term health promotion in people with undergoing elective surgical care in the NHS

• IRAS ID

  346200

• Contact name

  Dion Morton

• Contact email

  dion.morton@uhb.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Birmingham

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 8 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Background: Patients with more than one long-term health condition needing surgery are increasing in the NHS. This is called multiple long-term health conditions (MTLC). Since it affects 1-in-3 patients undergoing surgery, who come from diverse communities, caring for them should be a focus for all healthcare professionals, including surgical teams. Elective surgery pathways represent a teachable moment at a fixed point in time to intervene to address MLTC better, to improve long-term health.

  Aim: To evaluate the feasibility of a structured pre-operative checklist within elective surgical pathways to address people with and without known multimorbidity

  Objective 1: Determine the feasibility of the overall intervention.
  Objective 2: Evaluate the feasibility, and acceptability of the intervention delivery and content to patients and clinicians
  Objective 3: To understand key barriers to delivering the intervention by healthcare professionals and refine implementation strategies for improving intervention delivery
  Objective 4: To define how well the intervention is maintained in the current elective surgical pathways of patients, including primary care
  Objective 5: To study the mechanisms by which the checklist may influence change in current pathways
  Objective 6: Determine the acceptability of chosen outcome measures

  Methods: We will deliver a mixed-methods feasibility study across two stages. In stage 1, we will evaluate the use of the checklist in two NHS sites in the surgical clinic. In stage 2, we will explore acceptability to patients and clinicians and define ways to improve implementation of the intervention through semi-structured interviews.

  PATIENT & PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT: Ten patients in my advisory group with MLTC and lived experience of major surgery have been involved in the design of this feasibility study, advising on the relevant topic guides for clinician and patient interviews.

  IMPACT AND DISSEMINATION: This research will bring together a diverse community of clinicians and patients to address a growing, major health and social care burden in NHS, to design a clinical trial.

• REC name

  Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  25/YH/0045

• Date of REC Opinion

  27 Feb 2025

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion