Kingston University and St George S, University of London

Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education

Kingston University and St George’s, University of London

Kingston Hill Campus

Sir Frank Lampl Building

Kingston upon Thames

Surrey KT2 7LB

Intentional rounding in hospital wards: What works, for whom and in what circumstances?

Advisory group (service user and carer representatives)

Information sheet for group members

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a small number of people (9) to be service user and carer representatives on a research advisory group. A further 9 NHS senior managers and healthcare professionals will also be recruited to the advisory group. For our service user and carer representatives, we are interested in hearing from people who:

Are able to listen to others and express their own views about important issues associated with nursing rounds and the impact these have on patients and their family members.
Are able to travel to Kingston University in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey and St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London to attend five group meetings
Have interest in being part of a service user/carer advisory group or committee
Are over 18 years old
Ideally, haverecent personal experience (i.e. in the last 3 years) of either receiving inpatient care in hospital themselves (in general medicine, surgery or care of older people wards) or as a family member of someone who has received inpatient care in any of the above wards in the last 3 years

About the study

The Francis Inquiry, which examined evidence about the reasons for the failures in patient care at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, made a number of recommendations toprevent such failures happening again. One such recommendation was that regular interaction between patients and nurses should be systemised through regular nursing ward rounds. This recommendation received strong support from the government and the majority of NHS trusts in the UK have now introduced ‘intentional rounding’, a process whereby nursing staff carry out regular (usually hourly) checks on every patient in order to address their positioning, pain and personal needs. The research seeks to answer the question: ‘What is it about intentional rounding in hospital wards that works, for whom and in what circumstances?To do this, we will undertake the research in fourphases:

1). Literature searches will be held to generate theories on ‘what works’ in intentional rounding, what particular groups may benefit most or least from it and what factors might be important to its success or failure.

2). A national survey of NHS trusts in England will explore how intentional rounding is currently being implemented and supported.

3). Six wards will be selected across 3 geographically spread hospitals. Within each hospital, we will interview healthcare staff, managers, patients and their family members; observe nursing staff as they undertake intentional rounds; and gather data to establish what changes occurred in patient outcomes (e.g. number of falls, number of complaints etc). We will also explore the ward costs associated with delivering intentional rounds.

4). Finally, the information on intentional rounding from all of these sources will be analysed and examined to establish how intentional rounding works, its potential outcomes and the factors that impact on its success or failure.

This research has been funded by the NHS National Institute for Health Research and is being carried out by a team of researchers from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education at Kingston University and St George’s, University of London.

What is the purpose of the advisory group?

The advisory group will give advice and feedback about the research. This includes giving feedback on the participant information sheets and consent forms to help us ensure that they clear and understandable. The advisory group will also comment on the questions that the researchers ask during interviews with patients, carers and members of staff. This is to help ensure that the questions we ask reflect issues of concern to patients,their family members and healthcare staff. Advisory group members will also play an important role in supporting the research team with the analysis and interpretation of the research findings and advising on how and where the research findings should be publicised.

For how long will I be involved in the research?

You will be involved throughout the course of the research study, which runs until March 2017.

What will be the time commitment?

You will be invited to 5 meetings during the course of the study. Three of these will be advisory group meetings held at Kingston University in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. The remaining 2 meetings will be ‘stakeholder consultation events’ held at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London. The consultation events will be larger in size (up to around 40 attendees), consisting of key figures from across the country who are associated with intentional rounding. These events will be used to generate theories and ideas about ‘what works’ in intentional rounding and to explore and promote the research findings. There may be a small amount of reading required prior to some meetings.

What will happen at the meetings?

Advisory group meetings will last approximately 2 hours and stakeholder consultation events will last up to 4 hours with plenty of breaks, including a break for lunch and tea and coffee breaks. Meetings will follow an agenda, which will be sent out in advance. Typically, the research team will report on their progress and seek advice from the group on matters arising. It may be helpful to remember that there are rarely ‘right’ ways of doing research, just different ways, some of which will be better than others. The meetings are therefore like group problem solving exercises, in which we try to find the most effective, acceptable and ethical ways of conducting the research.

What support will group members receive?

The research team has experience in supporting service users and carers to be involved in research and are committed to supporting your involvement in this study. If you have any

particular worries or concerns about your support, access or communication needs, please contact us and we will aim to support you in any way we can.

Will I get to know what the research found out?

Yes. We will keep you up-to-date on the research throughout the course of the study. When the research is finished, we will hold a final meeting for the advisory group, where we will discuss the overall findings and recommendations of the study.

What are the benefits of taking part?

A benefit of taking part in this study is that you will get to voice your opinions and experiences on intentional rounding and use these experiences to help us to ensure the research topics reflect issues of concern to patients and their family members. Some people find that taking part in research reminds them how important their experiences and ideas are and they gain satisfaction from feeling that what they have to say could make a difference to future services and to other peoples’ treatment and experiences of inpatient hospital care.

Will I get paid for taking part?

Group members will be paid £100 per meeting for their attendance and contribution. This will be paid directly into your bank account within 2 weeks of you attending the meeting. Lunch and refreshments will be provided at every meeting and travel expenses will also be paid. We will reimburse petrol or public transport costs.We can also refund local taxi costs where required, although please discuss this with us prior to attending the meetings. If you have any questions or concerns about your travel expenses, please discuss these with us in advance.

Why am I being paid to take part?

You are being paid for your time, expertise and contribution to the research.

Is this payment taking resources away from the health service and patient care?

No. This money comes from separate funding from the government, which has been allocated to the advisory group to ensure that service users and carers are properly rewarded for their contribution to the research.

Will the payment affect my tax or benefits?

If you are on state benefits or allowances, you should talk to your local Jobcentre Plus or Citizen’s Advice Bureau to see whether the £100 payment will affect payment of your benefits. If you pay tax, you should contact HM Revenue and Customs for advice, as the £100 payment

may count as income. Reimbursement of your travel expenses will not affect your benefits and is not subject to tax as it is not counted as income.

What do I do next?

If after reading this information sheet you would like to become a member of the multi-stakeholder advisory group, or you are not sure and have some questions, please contact either Sarah Sims or Ruth Harris on the contact details below as soon as possible, but by no later than Friday 31st October 2014:

Sarah Sims on 0208 417 5949 () or

Ruth Harris on 07789 941 535 ()

Depending on the number of people who express an interest in being part of the advisory group, it may be necessary for us to select group members from those who respond. For this reason, when you contact us we will ask you to provide some information about your age,gender, ethnicity and type of ward on which you received inpatient care (if applicable). We will use this information to help us select a diverse range of group members who will bring a wide range of experiences.

We will contact you by Monday 17th November at the latest to let you know if you have been selected for the advisory group. We anticipate that the first advisory group meeting will be held in late November/early December 2014.

The first stakeholder consultation event will be held in February 2015.

Thank you for your interest in this research.