Understanding the pulmonary nodule care pathway in the NHS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the pathway of care for pulmonary nodules in the NHS: a qualitative study
IRAS ID
340378
Contact name
Justin Aunger
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Lung cancer is a common disease often detected at later stages, when survival chances are low. One way to catch it early is through lung cancer screening, which is done in the UK. Another way is by following up small bumps in the lungs called lung nodules. These are often found accidentally during scans of the chest, which can be done for many reasons. Patients with these nodules should be monitored regularly according to medical guidelines. However, there's evidence that this monitoring process sometimes fails, leading to patients being lost to follow-up or receiving incorrect diagnoses.
In this study, we plan to interview around 30 people, including patients, doctors, and administrative staff at University Hospitals Birmingham. We want to understand if, how, and why this monitoring process might be harming patients. We'll use a theoretical framework called the Candidacy framework to understand how patients interact with this process and where it might be failing. We'll analyse the interviews using a method called thematic analysis, looking for common themes. We'll also compare the perspectives of patients and doctors to get a complete picture.
By understanding the problems with this monitoring process, we can work on solutions to improve it. Depending on the results, we might expand the study to include more hospitals. Additionally, we plan to survey staff at NHS sites across the UK to gather feedback on how well their monitoring processes are working.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/PR/0786
Date of REC Opinion
9 Jul 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion