Evaluation of improvements to NHS orthopaedic care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mixed methods evaluation of the Getting it Right First Time programme: improvements to NHS orthopaedic care in England
IRAS ID
210181
Contact name
Helen Barratt
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCL
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2016/08/05, UCL Data Protection Registration, health research
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
The Getting it Right First Time project (GIRFT) aims to deliver improvements in quality and reductions in the cost of NHS orthopaedic care across England. It involves three core strategies: (1) feedback of performance data to hospitals; (2) tailored written feedback to underperforming hospitals; and (3) changes to the way hospitals are paid, to encourage improvement. The GIRFT approach will in due course be rolled out across nine other NHS surgical specialities.\n\nWe will evaluate the planned changes to orthopaedics to identify lessons to inform future efforts to improve the organisation and delivery of services. We will study documents relating to the changes and interview a wide range of stakeholders (hospital staff, commissioners, and national project team) about how the changes were implemented and what impact they have had. We will analyse performance and cost data before, during and after the changes to assess whether the GIRFT programme has a) reduced variations in both the cost of care and the way it is delivered and b) improved patient outcome measures. We will also conduct focus groups with patients and members of the public to explore their perceptions of the planned improvements to care.\n\nEvaluation will enable us to understand better what works, at what cost, but also to study how changes of this kind are implemented and sustained. We will provide feedback to change leaders and decision-makers, locally and nationally, as well as identifying lessons to inform future efforts to improve care. We will produce ’lay’ versions of our reports for patients and the public, as well as management briefings for NHS policy makers, managers and clinical leaders. We will also disseminate findings through academic and professional journals, and presentations at conferences.\n
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0654
Date of REC Opinion
26 Aug 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion