Observational Study: Safety factors on a surgical ward

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Observational study of Surgical Patients in the Post-operative environment: A study to identify key modifiable factors in patient safety on the surgical ward.

  • IRAS ID

    213425

  • Contact name

    Yasmin Hassen

  • Contact email

    y.hassen@imperial.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Imperial College

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Improving patient safety is a work in progress. With regards to surgical care, emphasis has been placed on safety around the time of surgery itself. However, we know that a great deal of adverse events and the ensuing potential for patient harm also stems from care on the surgical ward. The intention of this study is to focus on this environment with the aim of distilling which factors contribute to overall safety on the surgical ward. The factors have been distilled from a previous extensive literature review and an interview study exploring the perspectives of patients and members of staff on this topic. This proposed study will observe these previously identified factors in real-time. The periods of observations will be at different sites and at different times of the day/week to provide detailed accounts of any variation at any given time point with regards to these factors and how this may influence the safety of surgical patients. Groups to be observed- in addition to staff such as clinical, nursing and allied health professionals- will also include surgical patients, both elective and emergency. The sites will represent teaching and non-teaching hospital sites.

  • REC name

    London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    16/LO/1937

  • Date of REC Opinion

    12 Dec 2016

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion