WATCh/WATCh-Ad within the personal wheelchair budget pathway
Research type
Research Study
Full title
WATCh and WATCh-Ad: Evaluation of a novel patient-centred approach to outcomes assessment within the personal wheelchair budget pathway
IRAS ID
274858
Contact name
Lorna Tuersley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Personal Health Budgets Team, NHS England
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
The WATCh (Wheelchair outcomes Assessment Tool for Children) and the related WATCh-Ad Tool for adults have been developed to help assess patients' needs when obtaining a wheelchair. These 'patient centred outcomes measures' or PCOMs, put the patient at the heart of the decision-making. Use of these Tools during the assessment process aims to help a service provider find out the most important outcomes for a wheelchair user and their level of satisfaction with them. Users are then asked to rate their satisfaction with these outcomes after having used their wheelchair for a little while.
As part of the NHS’ personalised care, everyone eligible for an NHS wheelchair can now have a Personal Wheelchair Budget (PWB). NHS England wish to use the WATCh Tools within the PWB process. This study aims to test this in a real-world setting, to be able to produce guidance for sites new to using the process.
NHS England will recruit at least three sites providing wheelchair services with a range of experience of using PWBs and the WATCh Tools. Staff and wheelchair users will be asked to complete surveys of their opinions of using the Tools based on the use in their appointments. Some of the staff and users will be asked to take part in short follow-up telephone interviews. The researchers will also analyse anonymous data on users’ outcomes and satisfaction scores.
The research programme and the study documents will be reviewed by the National Wheelchair Advisory Group which includes patient representatives. The findings will be used to produce guidance for use of the WATCh Tools within the PWB process and provide information on any impact on NHS resources.REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
20/WA/0007
Date of REC Opinion
20 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion