The IMPP study for hip and knee patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving access to care and treatment for patients with hip and knee pain at the primary/secondary care interface
IRAS ID
190335
Contact name
Stephen Jones
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Muscle, joint and bone (MSK) conditions are the most commonly reported conditions which prevent people doing what they want during their everyday lives. An updated journey of what treatment a patient with MSK conditions may expect to receive and by whom, is known as a care pathway.
A new care pathway for MSK was described in a government document in 2006. This care pathway has shortened the amount of time a patient needs to wait for treatment but the care they receive remains inconsistent. It is also known that only a small part of the time a patient spends in a clinic/ hospital, is of any benefit to them.
To understand this better and so that the treatment offered for MSK conditions is improved, there is a need to look at this problem in more detail. The part of the care pathway we will study in this project is from when a patient own doctor writes a letter asking for the patient to be seen by a specialist; to a time point after the patient has been seen and treated by that specialist.
Based on the need of Prudent healthcare we will use ‘co-production’ to answer the following research question:
“What is the key referral information required to inform referral decisions which ensure the most appropriate intervention for individual patients (in terms of treatment type and outcome), which can be used to redesign the MSK care pathway for patients with hip and knee pain?”
A mixed methods design will be used, converging two different types of data. This is divided work packages (patient views and analysing referal letters) to provide evidence of how to re-design the care pathway to help patients been seen by the right person at the right time.
REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
15/WA/0387
Date of REC Opinion
8 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion