Safety and experiences of medical and surgical inpatients with SMI
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The safety and experiences of service users with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other psychosis on medical and surgical wards in non-psychiatric hospitals
IRAS ID
228186
Contact name
Ella Reeves
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Brookes University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The primary objective is to explore the experiences of service users with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) on medical and surgical wards in acute general hospitals.
Secondary objectives:
1. To compare the occurrence of different types of incidents for people with and without SMI on medical and surgical wards.
2. To identify common causes and mechanisms of harm for service users with SMI on medical and surgical wards.Mortality is higher among people with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) than the general population, and the majority of these excess deaths have a physical cause (Lawrence and Kisely 2010). Contributing factors are believed to include poorer healthcare provision, lack of compliance with care plans, side effects of psychiatric medications, riskier lifestyle choices, and difficulties diagnosing physical illnesses (Lawrence and Kisely 2010). There is evidence that people with mental illness in general hospitals are more likely to experience harm such as decubitus ulcers and postoperative hip fractures during medical and surgical care, (Daumit et al 2006, Li et al 2008); and that they are less likely to receive guideline-consistent treatment (Kisely et al 2009).
The current research has focused on staff experiences or safety data, but there is a lack of understanding of the experiences of people with mental illness. These experiences may contain important insights into the causes and mechanisms of harm for people with SMI in general hospitals.
The study has two phases:
1. Secondary record analysis: review of data on patient experience and patient safety.
2. Semi-structured interviews: telephone interviews, electronic correspondence (emails and instant messenger), and face-to-face interviews will be used to gain insight into general hospital experiences of service users with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other psychosis, aged 18-64, who have had a non-psychiatric inpatient admission in the last 2 years. Interviews will last approximately 1 hour.REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0540
Date of REC Opinion
27 Sep 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion