Staff/Client Views of Prenatal Training & Referrals for FGM
Research type
Research Study
Full title
NHS Staff and Client Views on Prenatal Training & Referrals for Female Genital Mutilation in Lothian
IRAS ID
232105
Contact name
Amanda I DiRosa
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Margaret University
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 13 days
Research summary
To meet the growing demand for quality prenatal care for women with female genital mutilation (FGM) in Lothian, an NHS referral team for FGM was established in March, 2015. However, evidence suggests that there are still numerous barriers to delivering effective staff training and care for this client group.
Some of the factors found to inhibit quality care for women with FGM include insufficient NHS staff training and low patient confidence. Consequently, clients continue to report unsatisfactory obstetric experiences.
As NHS staff and client experiences of the training and service provided by the NHS Lothian FGM team have not yet been formally examined, the team has requested an external evaluation. Lead by a PhD researcher at Queen Margaret University, this study will deliver an independent exploration of NHS staff and client experiences with the FGM team and how these experiences have informed their suggestions for its development.
To obtain the relevant data, the study will invite Lothian NHS staff members and past clients of the FGM referral service to participate in qualitative interviews and discussion groups. Secondary demographic data will also provide an updated report on the annual caseload faced by the FGM team and allow for a measurement of the study's representativeness. Therefore, this study will utilise a mixed methodology to aid the Lothian FGM team in better understanding their impact on the prenatal care experiences of the FGM client group and their NHS staff members.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
18/SS/0015
Date of REC Opinion
19 Feb 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion