Improving Patient Preparation for Amputation Surgery

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Improving psychological preparedness for amputation surgery: co-designing, implementing and evaluating patient-centred care pathways.

  • IRAS ID

    317146

  • Contact name

    Esmée Hanna

  • Contact email

    esmee.hanna@dmu.ac.uk

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    NIHR300631, NIHR project number

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    Ensuring that patients who are going to have a limb removed by amputation are fully prepared for their surgery is important as this can help patients feel informed about what will happen and help improve how they recover afterwards. Making sure that patients understand the risks of their surgery, are clear about what they are consenting to, and have had the opportunity to think about how their limb will be disposed of can potentially help improve their rehabilitation. From conversations with patients and the public, we learnt that amputation patients would like more information and greater choice about their care. Improving care for patients undergoing amputations is important as this has previously been criticised. Preparation for surgery currently focuses mostly on physical preparation, rather than psychological preparation. The experiences and views of patients are central to the research project so we will work closely with patients, families and staff to develop and try out new ways of preparing patients for amputation surgery. This will involve working with patients and staff in two hospitals to develop ways of improving patient preparation for amputation surgery. This will focus on improving patient information, how the risk of surgery is shared with patients and include giving patients more choice about the disposal of their amputated limb(s). We will then be developing guidelines about best practice for healthcare professionals and creating resources for patients to access to help with their psychological preparation for amputation surgery. The research will help patients to be more involved in decision making and have more information about their care; we hope this will have positive benefits on how prepared patients feel for their amputation surgery and that this will help them during their recovery.

  • REC name

    North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    22/NW/0234

  • Date of REC Opinion

    7 Oct 2022

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion