INQUIRE ethnographic case studies
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The INQUIRE Project: Improving NHS Quality Using Internet Ratings and Experiences
IRAS ID
182432
Contact name
Vanessa Eade
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
People use the internet to access customer reviews and ratings. Sharing personal experiences on Facebook or Twitter is becoming a part of everyday life. Increasingly, people are going online to give feedback on their experience of the NHS, or to read the feedback that other people have provided. There are websites which invite feedback on doctors or hospitals, and some people choose to tell their NHS stories in personal blogs or discussion forums like Mumsnet.
This research is part of a wider study funded by the NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research programme 14/04/48 designed to help the NHS to interpret and act on online patient feedback to improve the quality of NHS services.
In this part of the project we will conduct case studies in 4 NHS Trusts in England. We will use a "focussed ethnography" of observations, interviews and focus groups with members of staff to investigate staff awareness and attitudes in relation to online sources of patient feedback. These case studies will help us understand how staff use online patient feedback, the barriers and facilitators to using feedback to improve NHS quality and what skills and capacity are required to draw benefit from online feedback. This will help us to understand what the challenges might be in encouraging appropriate use of this feedback in the NHS.
Our team are experienced researchers who have studied the internet and health care, patient and professional experiences and NHS organisation. We have worked closely with the NHS to improve its services in the past, and the lead researcher has an extensive track record working with NHS digital services. In designing this project we have consulted widely with the NHS and worked collaboratively with patients and carers, and we will continue to do so throughout the project.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A