Stakeholder perceptions of quality of care in acute psychiatric wards.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Features that account for quality of care for service users as perceived by stakeholders of acute psychiatric wards.
IRAS ID
150898
Contact name
Maria Woloshynowych
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Joint Research Compliance Office
Research summary
Background: Quality of care is known to be complex, multi-dimensional, subjective, dynamic and difficult to assess and measure. Criticisms of the quality of care for users of acute psychiatric wards have led to government initiatives aimed at addressing them. While improvements have been made, there is the need to anticipate and respond to future challenges in view of societal and healthcare systems changes (Darzi, 2008).
For care providers to be able to anticipate and respond to future challenges, features that contribute to the quality of care for service users must form an essential part of the health services planning, delivery and evaluation process. By this approach, services can be geared to meet stakeholders’ expectations as well as government/trusts protocols, policies and regulatory requirements.Research question: can the Delphi technique be used to identify and measure the extent to which stakeholders of acute psychiatric wards agree on quality of care features for service users?
Aims: To capture the perceptions of four stakeholder groups [i. healthcare professionals, ii. current service users, iii. former (hospitalised) service users, and finally iv. families and/or carers of current service users and former (hospitalised) service users] regarding quality of care features for users of acute psychiatric wards; to determine the degree of consensus among them and the relative importance of different features that contribute to quality of care; and to explore the use of the Delphi method as a bottom-to-top mechanism for identifying features of quality of care.
Method: A consensual research methodology (Delphi approach) and a purposive sampling technique will be used. The study population will comprise the four identified stakeholder groups of acute psychiatric wards within the Borough of Merton. There will be four Delphi panels for the four stakeholder groups, each having selected participants of 10-12. The study is due for completion by September 2014.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/0326
Date of REC Opinion
13 May 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion