OPTICAL
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Optimising Paediatric Transition to Intensive Care for AduLts
IRAS ID
338748
Contact name
Suzanne Swain
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2023/12/44 health research, Data protection registration
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 31 days
Research summary
Our aim is to generate the evidence base for improving the care received and patient/family experience for teenagers transitioning from paediatric to adult ICU services.
A growing number of children admitted to paediatric intensive care units (ICUs) with chronic conditions and complex needs are later admitted to adult ICUs that often do not know them and are unprepared, compromising care and patient experience at a time of heightened vulnerability.
Recent guidelines by the UK Paediatric Critical Care Society (PCCS) and Intensive Care Society (ICS) highlight the importance and urgency of improving ICU transition, but they are not evidence based due to a scarcity of evidence. In particular, aspects of transition specific to intensive care, such as advanced care plans, resuscitation and medical escalation status, airway and ventilation management, have been neglected in the transition literature. It is not clear how intensive care can be better incorporated into overall transition planning and there are very few established pathways for ICU transition in practice.
This study will generate evidence to underpin national policy on transition from child to adult intensive care to improve clinical care and patient experience. We will:
• Link and analyse national data on child and adult ICU admissions, hospital inpatient, outpatient and A&E visits, and life status, to determine the clinical characteristics and healthcare resource utilisation from teenage years to early adulthood of people who used intensive care as a young person, and how these relate to intensive care use after age 16.
• Conduct semi-structured interviews, online forums and surveys with patients, carers and health professionals to understand their experience of ICU, transition barriers they face, examples of good practice and suggestions for improvements.
• Synthesise these strands of evidence and establish, in a structured process of stakeholder engagement, evidence-based potential improvements in the processes and support for transitioning to adult ICU services.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/EE/0108
Date of REC Opinion
1 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion