i-SAMPLE: Improving blood sampling for AMS (Parts 1c & 2)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Getting the bloods to the laboratory: developing interventions to improve the blood culture pathway for patient safety and antimicrobial stewardship (Parts 1c & 2)
IRAS ID
332310
Contact name
Carolyn Tarrant
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 2 months, 30 days
Research summary
When a patient is admitted to hospital with suspected severe infection or sepsis, they will usually be given broad spectrum antibiotics (antibiotics that treat a range of infection-causing bacteria). A sample of the patient’s blood should be collected. The blood is analysed in a microbiology laboratory to test for bacteria in the blood, and find out which antibiotics will kill the bacteria. The tests can take 2-3 days. The results are sent to the hospital doctor caring for the patient to guide their treatment, meaning that: life-threatening infections can be treated effectively; patients can get the most effective antibiotics; antibiotics can be stopped if they are not needed. Around half of emergency patients don’t have samples taken when antibiotics are started, and when blood samples are taken they don't always meet quality standard. This means the tests are less likely to give accurate results. Improving blood sampling is a priority for NHS England.
This project will find out why blood sampling is not done well in hospitals, and will design ways of helping hospitals and their staff to improve.We will:
- Use hospital electronic records in 3 hospitals to find out if blood sampling is affected by factors like time of day, or the patient’s symptoms (part 1a)
- Survey hospital staff nationally to find out their views on blood sampling, and what would improve it. (part 1b)
- Visit 3 hospitals to do observations and interviews with staff (part 1c)
- Hold meetings with staff and patients to co-design new approaches to improving blood sampling. And test the approaches for a 3 month period, holding interviews and workshops to find out how well they work in practice.This application refers to Part 1c and Part 2 only
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/SW/0030
Date of REC Opinion
25 Apr 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion