TIC in NHS ED
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Patients' perceived experience of trauma-informed mental health care in NHS emergency departments
IRAS ID
351616
Contact name
Imogen Ducker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Trauma-Informed (TI) approaches recognise that all individuals have the potential to have experienced trauma in their lives and seeks to shape interactions in a way which reduces chance of further traumatisation. It encourages a movement away from asking "what is wrong with you?" and towards "what has happened to you?", recognising the impact of previous life experiences on individuals' presentations. Harris and Fallot (2001) initially outlined Trauma Informed Care (TIC) as consisting of five dimensions, aiming to ensure service users feel a sense of safety, trust, empowerment, choice and collaboration in relation to their care and treatment.
An increasing number of patients seen in Emergency Departments (EDs) have attended for mental health reasons, often at the point of crisis (NHS England, 2023), and many patients have a history of traumatic life experiences (TICA, 2020). Existing research highlights this population as having consistently negative experiences of emergency care (Carstensen et al., 2017; Sacre et al., 2022), risking new or additional traumatising experiences for those seeking help.
The project will involve adults aged over 18 years old who have presented to an NHS ED for mental health reasons within the previous 6 months. Consenting participants will take part in a semi-structured interview to explore their experience of care received while in ED in order to understand if and how their care reflected the principles of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC). While evidence exists exploring experience of delivering TIC, there is little research to understand how this is experienced from a patient perspective. It is hoped that the findings of this research will improve understanding of how patients experience care when seeking support for urgent mental health concerns and whether this is reflective of with trauma-informed principles, which can direct further research, training and protocol development to support wider implementation of TIC across emergency and healthcare services.
REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/SC/0368
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jan 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion