The ID-CARE study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A formative evaluation of the implementation of interventions to identify deterioration and activate critical care outreach review following escalation
IRAS ID
343605
Contact name
Rebecca Lawton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/a, N/a
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 30 days
Research summary
In March 2024, the rollout of Martha’s rule in 100 NHS Trusts where 24/7 critical care outreach was in place, was announced, with implementation from June 2024. Martha’s rule provides patients and their families, as well as staff, with a widely advertised and easily accessible route to call for a rapid review from an independent clinical review team where they are concerned that a patient is deteriorating and they don’t feel that their concerns are being taken seriously by the local team. Martha’s Rule also involves implementing a structured approach to obtaining information relating to a patient’s condition directly from patients and their families at least daily. In the first instance, this will cover all inpatients in acute and hospital trusts.
Our formative evaluation will address a number of research questions about the potential and actual impact of the first phase of implementation/rollout of Martha’s Rule for services, healthcare staff and patients/families as well as factors that contribute to successful implementation. The primary focus of the evaluation will involve a brief case study across three of the final 143 selected pilot sites, primarily conducting short intensive and structured observations in selected wards and critical care outreach (CCO) teams, and conducting a small number of interviews with frontline, operational and strategic staff and patients/family members on base wards at each site. This will be accompanied by a systematic review of literature and a survey of the general population about their awareness of Martha’s Rule conducted in collaboration with PickerEurope – a separate university ethics application will be made to carry out the survey work.
With input from stakeholder groups, we will collate and triangulate this evidence to produce a set of recommendations including for future summative research, changes to policy, and guidance for other trusts that are planning to implement Martha’s rule.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/YH/0184
Date of REC Opinion
16 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion