Patients' perceptions of their safety within an acute hospital setting

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  What are patients' perceptions of their safety within an acute hospital setting? A study to inform the development of a measurement questionnaire.

• IRAS ID

  183244

• Contact name

  Jacqueline Sinclair

• Contact email

  jacquelinesinclair@nhs.net

• Sponsor organisation

  King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 4 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Background
  Literature on patient safety is extensive with improvements focusing on development of healthcare staff, and organisational systems, with limited patient involvement. The study aims to:

  1. Explore what patients understand by being safe, and how they experience safety.

  2. Develop and pilot a questionnaire that can measure patients' perceptions and experience of safety.

  In this study adult patients aged 18 years and over with a recent admission to an acute hospital (Kings College Hospital), who are planned to be discharged within forty-eight hours will be selected to participate.

  Study design
  Attribution theory is used as the theoretical framework to examine how patients decide whether they are safe. Attribution Theory is concerned with how people understand their environments and has been used in similar studies exploring patients perceptions and experiences of hospital safety. There are three phases within the study and a sequential mixed methods approach will be used. The results from each phase will inform the next phase, allowing for a more in-depth study of patient safety. In phase 1 a critical review of the literature will be undertaken to determine key themes of safety considered important by patients. These themes will inform the development of a safety questionnaire. In phase 2 a cross sectional pilot of the questionnaire will be carried out to allow refinement and validation of the tool. The results of the pilot will inform the development of the patient safety measurement questionnaire. In phase 3 a further cross sectional pilot will be carried out to allow further refinement of the questionnaire. At each phase of the study patient representatives will be asked to comment on the content and design of the questionnaire.

• REC name

  East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/EM/0434

• Date of REC Opinion

  23 Oct 2015

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion