Transitions of Care: The Patient Experience
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Transitions of Care: A Qualitative Study of The Patient Experience
IRAS ID
241387
Contact name
Sonal Arora
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Transitions of care are a common, unavoidable and necessary part of modern healthcare provision, however they may be faced with trepidation by patients and providers alike. Each transition of care between providers or settings represents a potential threat to patient safety, with an estimated 80% of serious medical errors relating to miscommunication between caregivers when patients are transferred or handed-off. Poor coordination of care during transitions can also lead to patient anxiety and dissatisfaction, placing greater burden on an already vulnerable patient and carer. Patients increasingly require transfer not only within, but also between hospitals, for reasons including medical necessity, bed availability and patient preference. This creates a situation in which often complex and critically ill patients are subject to variable and sometimes ambiguous handover processes and patients may be vulnerable to failures during transitions of care.
Understanding patient experiences relating to care processes is central to the provision of patient-centred care. Feedback relating to transitions of care often reveals problems with care continuity such as communication deficits and medication errors. Many patients find health care services difficult to navigate, disempowering, burdensome, and frustrating or have recognised a disjointed system in which organisational processes were prioritised over individual needs.
National Health Service (NHS) England surveys of hospital inpatients obtain feedback on patient experiences, although these have disadvantages relating to limitations of the depth of information obtained through surveys. Interviews are able to obtain in-depth information, probe reasons for answers and handle sensitive topics. In the setting of transitions of care, semi-structured interviews are likely to be an appropriate method to better develop an in-depth understanding of patient experiences. Findings from these interviews will provide additional patient-level evidence to assist our research group’s aim to develop a patient-centred approach to improving transitions of care.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/EE/0063
Date of REC Opinion
5 Apr 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion