FLU-CATS: Evaluation & refinement of pandemic ’flu community assessment tools [COVID-19] [UPH]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Real-time refinement and validation of criteria and tools used in primary care to aid hospital referral decisions for patients of all ages in the event of surge during an influenza pandemic. The FLU-CATs study.
IRAS ID
30029
Contact name
Calum Semple
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN87130712
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
ISRCTN87130712, ISRCTN; ISAC approved 29/05/2012, ref: 12_043, Independent Scientific Advisory Committee for MHRA database research (ISAC)
Duration of Study in the UK
6 years, 7 months, 3 days
Research summary
When a pandemic (a disease like COVID-19 that has spread across many countries) occurs health care capacity both in the community and hospitals can be overwhelmed. When this happens doctors need to make difficult decisions about who should be admitted to hospital and who can safely be allowed to stay at home. This process is called triage. Triage tools should help doctors identify which people are most likely to benefit from treatments only available in hospital and which people can safely be managed at home. This study will develop processes that will test how parts of a GP’s questions and assessment of children and adults with flu like illness can predict: who can safely be kept at home; who needs hospital admission; who needs high dependency or intensive care; and who are most likely to die. The study uses the GP’s routine electronic record to capture routine healthcare information and links to the hospital record if the patient is admitted to hospital with COVID-19. These records will be looked at by researchers and will be anonymous (will not identify the patient). The study will develop technology that allows records from about 600 GP surgeries across the UK to be studied automatically every week. The technology is set up in advance of a pandemic by working closely with the GPs that will use these tools. It takes about six months to develop the information technology processes and six months to test the processes. In the event of a pandemic, the processes that have been developed will be used to refine triage tools and check that they are “fit-for-purpose“ in readiness for use if needed during a severe pandemic.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A