HealiCo app project
Research type
Research Study
Full title
TITLE: EVALUATION OF A DIGITAL WOUND ASSESSMENT TOOL
IRAS ID
255513
Contact name
Jeanette Milne
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Northumbria Heathcare NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Introduction: The 2015 Burden of Wounds study estimated that the cost of wounds to the UK NHS was £5.3 billion per year and provided evidence that wound care for many patients was suboptimal, resulting in poor outcomes and cost to the NHS. Healico is a software tool designed to support nurses in the assessment and treatment of wounds. We propose an evaluation of the Healico wound assessment tool to measure clinical acceptability (to staff and patients) and patient outcomes within the UK NHS.
Aims: The aim of this evaluation is to assess the tool in a routine clinical setting, against a number of identified criteria, the usability and performance of the Healico supported treatment tool when compared to current standards of care.
Methods: The study will be split into five workstreams (WSs), with the first (WS1) and last (WS5) WSs involving questionnaire completion by key stakeholders regarding their expectations and experience of using the app. WS 2-4 will each last for 8 weeks and involve baseline (WS2, use of app but without diagnostic/referral/treatment plan functionality enabled), intervention (WS3, use of app with full functionality) and post-intervention data collection (WS5, use of app but without diagnostic/referral/treatment plan functionality enabled). Feasibility will be assessed in relation to a number of criteria, including patients recruited, time taken for assessments, data quality and acceptability to patients and nurses. The primary clinical outcome of interest will be reduction in wound size. All data will be collected by the community research nurse team from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and analysed by a qualified bio-statistician. The evaluation will also allow the tool to be improved.
Future work: Beyond the scope of the study described here, if the tool proves acceptable to patients and clinicians, we plan to conduct a larger study focused on clinical utility.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NE/0029
Date of REC Opinion
19 Feb 2019
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion