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Theme leads: Professor Paul Aylin and Mr Erik Mayer
Nearly every single person in the UK has data on their health captured on electronic databases by their healthcare providers, including, for example, general practices, hospitals and community care settings. There are increasing efforts to link these separate health databases forming a person based electronic health record which could provide a more detailed picture of the care patients receive and their health outcomes including the occurrence of harm.
The need for this has increased with the formation of Integrated Care Systems, which are tasked with delivering coordinated care for all individuals across a regional population. It is hoped their formation will lead to more joined-up care supporting the public to effectively navigating our complex healthcare system.
Our work
The research undertaken in this theme supports efforts to provide more joined-up care between general practice, community care and hospitals, by using the large volume of data in integrated health datasets available in North-West London to investigate whether the integration of care leads to improved patient safety.
Indicators will be developed for the Integrated Care Systems to monitor patient safety events. We will look at both the integration of care in general, as well as in our priority populations, the elderly, those accessing maternity services, and mental health services. We work with patients and carers from these populations to: help shape the questions we are asking of the data, develop outcome measures; evaluate the research; and, how we communicate about it.
Projects in this theme include:
- An investigation of the inequalities in perinatal healthcare and associated patient safety concerns affecting mothers and babies from diverse ethnic backgrounds living in North-West London
- Co-producing a training film for healthcare staff to support people with Down’s syndrome and adults with other learning disabilities to prevent falls and/or support after a fall
- Analytics of a unique longitudinal electronic health record across an Integrated Care System of 2.6million population to develop a data framework that will enable the evaluation of interventions to reduce the rate of, and burden of harm from, inpatient falls
- Through mixed-methods case study research and a participatory co-design study, aiming to: (i) develop novel intelligence as to the nature of safety concerns and harm experienced by hospital patients presenting with agitated, confused, or distressed behaviours; and (ii) co-design solutions to support staff to safely care for these patients