Impact of pre-alerts on patients, ambulance service and ED staff
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the use of pre-hospital pre-alerts and their impact on patients, ambulance service and Emergency Department staff.
IRAS ID
298888
Contact name
Fiona Sampson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sheffield
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 31 days
Research summary
When a patient is seriously ill, ambulance staff may call the Emergency Department (ED) to let them know the patient is on their way. This is known as a ‘pre-alert’ and can help the ED to free up a trolley space or bed and get specialist staff ready to treat the patient as soon as they arrive. If used correctly, pre-alerts can help to provide better care, earlier access to time-critical treatment and improved outcomes for patients. However, if used too often, or for the wrong patients, then the ED staff may not be able to respond properly and may stop taking them seriously. This has important risks for patient safety.
Our proposed research uses 5 separate research activities to help us understand how pre-alerts are being used and how this can be improved.
1. We will look at existing ambulance service policies and data from 3 Ambulance Services to understand how pre-alerts are currently being done, and what may be causing variation.
2. We will talk to ambulance staff to understand how they decide to make pre-alert calls and what information they give to ED staff. We will also use a national online survey of ambulance staff to identify areas where improved guidance is needed.
3. We will talk to ED staff and watch them taking pre-alert calls. This will help us to understand how they use the pre-alert information to change what they do, and to understand what makes a useful pre-alert.
4. We will talk to patients and carers to find out what they feel about pre-alerts.
5. We will discuss our findings in a national workshop of key people to identify how pre-alerts can be improved and produce short, written guidance to help ED and ambulance staff understand how to manage pre-alerts in future.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NE/0132
Date of REC Opinion
30 Jul 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion