Our publications
Use the links below to access our reports, or scroll down to use the search function to explore all of our publications including peer-reviewed papers and briefing papers.
Our reports
Browse all publications
Results
- Showing results for:
- Reset all filters
Search results
-
Conference paperZhao M, Zhang H, Mylonas GP, et al., 2020,
Cable-driven parallel robot assisted confocal imaging of the larynx
, Biophotonics Congress: Biomedical Optics 2020, Publisher: Optica Publishing Group, Pages: 1-2LaryngoTORS, a transoral laryngeal surgery robot, can manipulate instruments accurately. Confocal imaging has potentials in laryngeal cancer diagnosis but suffer from high scanning requirement. This work studies using LaryngoTORS to assist confocal imaging of larynx.
-
Journal articleThibaut B, Dewa L, Ramtale S, et al., 2019,
Patient safety in inpatient mental health settings: a systematic review
, BMJ Open, Vol: 9, Pages: 1-19, ISSN: 2044-6055Objectives: Patients in inpatient mental health settings face similar risks to those in other areas of health care (e.g. medication errors). In addition, some unsafe behaviours associated with serious mental health problems (e.g. self-harm), and the measures taken to address these (e.g. restraint), may result in further risks to patient safety. The objective of this review is to identify and synthesise the literature on patient safety within inpatient mental health settings using robust systematic methodology. Design: Systematic review and meta-synthesis. Embase, CINAHL, HMIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science were systematically searched from 1999 to 2019. Search terms were related to “mental health”, “patient safety”, “inpatient setting” and “research”. Study quality was assessed using the Hawker checklist. Data was extracted and grouped based on study focus and outcome. Safety incidents were meta-analysed where possible using a random effects model.Results: Of the 57,637 article titles and abstracts, 364 met inclusion criteria. Included publications came from 31 countries and included data from over 150,000 participants. Study quality varied and statistical heterogeneity was high. Ten research categories were identified: interpersonal violence, coercive interventions, safety culture, harm to self, safety of the physical environment, medication safety, unauthorised leave, clinical decision making, falls and infection prevention and control. Conclusions: Patient safety in inpatient mental health settings is under researched in comparison to other non-mental health inpatient settings. Findings demonstrate that inpatient mental health settings pose unique challenges for patient safety which require investment in research, policy development, and translation into clinical practice.
-
Journal articleJoshi M, Ashrafian H, Arora S, et al., 2019,
Digital alerting and outcomes in patients with sepsis: Systematic review and meta-analysis
, JMIR mHealth and uHealth, Vol: 21, ISSN: 2291-5222Background The diagnosis and management of sepsis remains a global healthcare challenge. Digital technologies have the potential to improve sepsis care. Objective This paper systematically reviews the evidence on the impact of electronic alerting systems on sepsis related outcomes. Study Selection Embase, Medline, HMIC, Psych Info and Cochrane were searched from April 1964 to 12thFebruary 2019 with no language restriction. All full text reports of studies identified as potentially eligible after title and abstract review were obtained for further review. The search was limited to adult inpatients. Relevant articles were hand-searched for remaining studies. Only studies with clear pre-and post-alerting phases were included. Primary outcomes were hospital length of stay [LOS] and intensive care LOS, secondary outcomes were time to antibiotics and mortality. Studies based solely on intensive care, case reports, narrative reviews, editorials and commentaries were excluded. All other trial designs were included. A qualitative assessment and meta-analysis was performed. Results This review identified 72 full text articles. From these, 16 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. Of these, 8 studies reviewed hospital length of stay, 12 mortality outcomes, 5 studies explored time to antibiotics, 5 studies investigated ICU length of stay. Data Synthesis Both quantitative and qualitative assessments of the studies was performed. There was evidence of a significant benefit of electronic alerting on hospital length of stay, reduced by 1.31 days[p=0.014], and ICU length of stay, reduced by 0.766 days[p=0.007]. There was no significant difference association between electronic alerts and mortality [mean decrease 11.4%,p=0.769] or time to antibiotics [mean decrease 126 minutes, p=0.134]. Conclusion This review highlights that electronic alerts can significantly reduce hospital and ICU stay in patients with sepsis. Further studies including more
-
Journal articleWarren L, Harrison M, Arora S, et al., 2019,
Working with patients and the public to design an electronic health record interface: A qualitative mixed-methods study
, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, Vol: 19, ISSN: 1472-6947BackgroundEnabling patients to be active users of their own medical records may promote the delivery of safe, efficient care across settings. Patients are rarely involved in designing digital health record systems which may make them unsuitable for patient use. We aimed to develop an evidence-based electronic health record (EHR) interface and participatory design process by involving patients and the public.MethodsParticipants were recruited to multi-step workshops involving individual and group design activities. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative questionnaires and observational methods were used to collect participant perspectives on interface design and feedback on the workshop design process.Results48 recruited participants identified several design principles and components of a patient-centred electronic medical record interface. Most participants indicated that an interactive timeline would be an appropriate way to depict a medical history. Several key principles and design components, including the use of specific colours and shapes for clinical events, were identified. Participants found the workshop design process utilised to be useful, interesting, enjoyable and beneficial to their understanding of the challenges of information exchange in healthcare.ConclusionPatients and the public should be involved in EHR interface design if these systems are to be suitable for use by patient-users. Workshops, as used in this study, can provide an engaging format for patient design input. Design principles and components highlighted in this study should be considered when patient-facing EHR design interfaces are being developed.
-
Journal articleGoiana-Da-Silva K, Cruz-e-Silva D, Allen L, et al., 2019,
Portugal’s voluntary food reformulation agreement and the WHO reformulation targets
, Journal of Global Health, Vol: 9, ISSN: 2047-2978 -
Journal articleWarren L, Clarke J, Arora S, et al., 2019,
Improving data sharing between acute hospitals in England: An overview of health record system distribution and retrospective observational analysis of inter-hospital transitions of care
, BMJ Open, Vol: 9, ISSN: 2044-6055ObjectivesTo determine the frequency of use and spatial distribution of health record systems in the English National Health Service (NHS). To quantify transitions of care between acute hospital trusts and health record systems to guide improvements to data sharing and interoperability.DesignRetrospective observational study using Hospital Episode Statistics.SettingAcute hospital trusts in the NHS in England.ParticipantsAll adult patients resident in England that had one or more inpatient, outpatient or accident and emergency encounters at acute NHS hospital trusts between April 2017 and April 2018.Primary and secondary outcome measuresFrequency of use and spatial distribution of health record systems. Frequency and spatial distribution of transitions of care between hospital trusts and health record systems.Results21,286,873 patients were involved in 121,351,837 encounters at 152 included trusts. 117 (77.0%) hospital trusts were using electronic health records (EHR). There was limited regional alignment of EHR systems. On 11,017,767 (9.1%) occasions, patients attended a hospital using a different health record system to their previous hospital attendance. 15,736,863 (73.9%) patients had two or more encounters with the included trusts and 3,931,255 (25.0%) of those attended two or more trusts. Over half (53.6%) of these patients had encounters shared between just 20 pairs of hospitals. Only two of these pairs of trusts used the same EHR system.ConclusionsEach year, millions of patients in England attend two or more different hospital trusts. Most of the pairs of trusts that commonly share patients do not use the same record systems. This research highlights significant barriers to inter-hospital data sharing and interoperability. Findings from this study can be used to improve electronic health record system coordination and develop targeted approaches to improve interoperability. The methods used in this study could be used in other healthcare systems that face the
-
Journal articleFeather C, Appelbaum N, Clarke J, et al., 2019,
Medication errors during simulated paediatric resuscitations: a prospective, observational human reliability analysis
, BMJ Open, Vol: 9, Pages: 1-13, ISSN: 2044-6055Introduction: Medication errors during paediatric resuscitation are thought to be common. However, there is little evidence about the individual process steps that contribute to such medication errors in this context.Objectives: To describe the incidence, nature and severity of medication errors in simulated paediatric resuscitations, and to employ human reliability analysis to understand the contribution of discrepancies in individual process steps to the occurrence of these errors.Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of simulated resuscitations subjected to video micro-analysis, identification of medication errors, severity assessment and human reliability analysis in a large English teaching hospital. Fifteen resuscitation teams of two doctors and two nurses each conducted one of two simulated paediatric resuscitation scenarios. Results: At least one medication error was observed in every simulated case, and a large magnitude (>25% discrepant) or clinically significant error in 11 of 15 cases. Medication errors were observed in 29% of 180 simulated medication administrations, 40% of which considered to be moderate or severe. These errors were the result of 884 observed discrepancies at a number of steps in the drug ordering, preparation and administration stages of medication use, 8% of which made a major contribution to a resultant medication error. Most errors were introduced by discrepancies during drug preparation and administration. Conclusions: Medication errors were common with a considerable proportion likely to result in patient harm. There is an urgent need to optimise existing systems and to commission research into new approaches to increase the reliability of human interactions during administration of medication in the paediatric emergency setting.
-
Journal articleEl-Khani U, Ashrafian H, Rasheed S, et al., 2019,
The patient safety practices of emergency medical teams in disaster zones: a systematic analysis
, BMJ Global Health, Vol: 4, Pages: 1-10, ISSN: 2059-7908Introduction: Disaster zone medical relief has been criticised for poor quality care, lack of standardisation and accountability. Traditional patient safety practices of Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) in disaster zones were not well understood. Improving the quality of healthcare in disaster zones has gained importance within global health policy. Ascertaining patient safety practices of EMTs in disaster zones may identify areas of practice that can be improved. Methods: A systematic search of OvidSP, Embase and Medline databases, key journals of interest, key grey-literature texts, the databases of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Google Scholar were performed. Descriptive studies, case reports, case series, prospective trials and opinion pieces were included with no limitation on date or language of publication.Results: There were 9,685 records, evenly distributed between the peer-reviewed and grey literature. Of these, 30 studies and 9 grey literature texts met the inclusion criteria and underwent qualitative synthesis. From these articles, 302 patient safety statements were extracted. Thematic analysis categorised these statements into 84 themes (total frequency 632). The most frequent themes were limb injury (9%), medical records (5.4%), surgery decision making (4.6%), medicines safety (4.4%) and protocol (4.4%)Conclusion: Patient safety practices of EMTs in disaster zones are weighted towards acute clinical care, particularly surgery. The management of Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) is underrepresented. There is widespread recognition of the need to improve medical record keeping. High-quality data and institutional level patient safety practices are lacking. There is no consensus on disaster zone specific performance indicators. These deficiencies represent opportunities to improve patient safety in disaster zones.
-
Journal articleHarkanen M, Paananen J, Murrells T, et al., 2019,
Identifying risks areas related to medication administrations-text mining analysis using free-text descriptions of incident reports
, BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Vol: 19- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 14
-
Journal articleBell H, Garfield S, Khosla S, et al., 2019,
Mixed methods study of medication-related decision support alerts experienced during electronic prescribing for inpatients at an English hospital
, European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy: Science and Practice, Vol: 26, Pages: 318-322, ISSN: 2047-9956Objectives Electronic prescribing and medication administration systems are being introduced in many hospitals worldwide, with varying degrees of clinical decision support including pop-up alerts. Previous research suggests that prescribers override a high proportion of alerts, but little research has been carried out in the UK. Our objective was to explore rates of alert overriding in different prescribing situations and prescribers’ perceptions around the use of decision support alerts in a UK hospital.Methods We conducted a mixed methods study on three cardiology wards, directly observing medical and non-medical prescribers’ alert override rates during both ward round and non-ward round prescribing; observations were followed by semi-structured interviews with prescribers, which were then transcribed and analysed thematically.Results Overall, 69% of 199 observed alerts were overridden. Alerts experienced during ward rounds were significantly more likely to be overridden than those outside of ward rounds (80% of 56 vs 51% of 63; p=0.001, Χ2 test). While respondents acknowledged that alerts could be useful, several also described negative unintended consequences. Many were of the view that usefulness of alerts was limited if the alert was reminding them to do something they would do anyway, or suggesting something they did not feel was relevant. Findings suggest that targeting, timing and additional features of alerts are critical factors in determining whether they are acted on or overridden.Conclusion The majority of alerts were overridden. Alerts may be less likely to be overridden if they are built into the prescribing workflow.
This data is extracted from the Web of Science and reproduced under a licence from Thomson Reuters. You may not copy or re-distribute this data in whole or in part without the written consent of the Science business of Thomson Reuters.