A prospective, mixed-methods, before and after study to identify the evidence base for the core components of an effective Paediatric Early Warning System and the development of an implementation package containing those core recommendations for use in the UK: Paediatric early warning system - utilisation and mortality avoidance- the PUMA study protocol

Emma Thomas-Jones*, Amy Lloyd, Damian Roland, Gerri Sefton, Lyvonne Tume, Kerry Hood, Chao Huang, Dawn Edwards, Alison Oliver, Richard Skone, David Lacy, Ian Sinha, Jenny Preston, Brendan Mason, Nina Jacob, Robert Trubey, Heather Strange, Yvonne Moriarty, Aimee Grant, Davina AllenColin Powell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: In hospital, staff need to routinely monitor patients to identify those who are seriously ill, so that they receive timely treatment to improve their condition. A Paediatric Early Warning System is a multi-faceted socio-technical system to detect deterioration in children, which may or may not include a track and trigger tool. It functions to monitor, detect and prompt an urgent response to signs of deterioration, with the aim of preventing morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study is to develop an evidence-based improvement programme to optimise the effectiveness of Paediatric Early Warning Systems in different inpatient contexts, and to evaluate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of the programme in predicting deterioration and triggering timely interventions. Methods: This study will be conducted in two district and two specialist children's hospitals. It deploys an Interrupted Time Series (ITS) design in conjunction with ethnographic cases studies with embedded process evaluation. Informed by Translational Mobilisation Theory and Normalisation Process Theory, the study is underpinned by a functions based approach to improvement. Workstream (1) will develop an evidence-based improvement programme to optimise Paediatric Early Warning System based on systematic reviews. Workstream (2) consists of observation and recording outcomes in current practice in the four sites, implementation of the improvement programme and concurrent process evaluation, and evaluation of the impact of the programme. Outcomes will be mortality and critical events, unplanned admission to Paediatric Intensive Care (PICU) or Paediatric High Dependency Unit (PHDU), cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, medical emergencies requiring immediate assistance, reviews by PICU staff, and critical deterioration, with qualitative evidence of the impact of the intervention on Paediatric Early Warning System and learning from the implementation process. Discussion: This paper presents the background, rationale and design for this mixed methods study. This will be the most comprehensive study of Paediatric Early Warning Systems and the first to deploy a functions-based approach to improvement in the UK with the aim to improve paediatric patient safety and reduce mortality. Our findings will inform recommendations about the safety processes for every hospital treating paediatric in-patients across the NHS.

Original languageEnglish
Article number244
JournalBMC Pediatrics
Volume18
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jul 2018

Keywords

  • And quality improvement
  • Mortality
  • Paediatric-early warning systems
  • Patient safety
  • Track-and-trigger tools

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