HEAD Study

CPMS code:  57300

Lead Network: West of England

Study Summary

This research will explore the process surrounding a hospital admission for those who are frail or may be near the end of their life. It will look at two things in detail: 1. How clinicians (e.g., doctors, nurses, paramedics) think about and weigh up the decision to admit someone to hospital. 2. What a good approach to these decisions might be, and if we can do anything to make it better This subject is important because a hospital admission for a frail person can sometimes do more harm than good. The problem they are admitted for may not be curable and people can lose significant strength and independence after the admission. It is difficult to know in advance who will or won’t benefit from going to hospital, so clinicians need to think carefully about what to do each time. Sometimes managing a problem at home or in the community might be better, but only if the right support is available. Clinicians and families may feel this involves more risk. We will observe clinicians while they care for people who may be going to hospital and and try and understand how and why they make decisions. It will focus on clinicians who care for frail people such as visiting in care or / nursing homes, and in urgent and out of hours services. After this we will use the information we gather to explore patterns in how decisions are made and think about what a good approach might be. We will also consider ideas and findings from previous research to make suggestions about whether, and how, this process could be improved. It is relevant to this application that the CI (RD) is a palliative care physician who has experience engaging with end of end-of-life decisions, supporting patients and colleagues and dealing with confidential patient information. 

The search files hosted on this website are based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria as described in the study protocol and have been built and tested with input from our GP Champion teams. Every effort is made to keep the search files  hosted here maintained and up-to-date. 

However, it is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to review the search and make any practice specific amendments as deemed necessary*. 

Please DO NOT mail out to patients until you have confirmation and sign off ('green light') from the study team.

*You should advise the study team of any amendments you make to the search.

Disclaimer:

Please note the resources provided are designed to assist with the identification of potentially suitable patients and to appropriately code these patients if required.

These resources have been developed based on the criteria provided by the relevant study team and whilst every effort has been made to make them universally implementable they rely on read codes and the data stored in the individual practice's clinical system. These resources are intended to assist with identification but should be used in conjunction with clinical oversight and a clear understanding of the study parameters.

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