Nicola Thomas

An evaluation of a self-management package for people with diabetes at risk of chronic kidney disease

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The overall purpose was to develop, test and evaluate an educational package to help people with diabetes self-manage their risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD), one of the main complications of diabetes. BACKGROUND Management of people in primary care who have both CKD and diabetes can be controlled by strict blood pressure (BP) and blood sugar control and advice on lifestyle changes, such as smoking cessation. However, there is little evidence to support the assertion that self-management can slow the rate of kidney disease progression. DESIGN A mixed-method longitudinal study. Development of the self-management package was informed by the findings of a case study in six GP Practices and also through interviews with 15 patients. METHODS Testing of the self-management package was undertaken in the same six Practices, with one additional control Practice. Patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes at risk of kidney disease were included. Outcomes in patients in the participating surgeries who did receive a pack (n = 116) were compared with patients in the control group (n = 60) over 6 time points. RESULTS At the end of the study (time point 6), the intervention group had a mean systolic BP of 4.1 mmHg lower and mean diastolic BP of 2.7 mmHg lower than in the control group. CONCLUSION Self-management techniques such as understanding of, and subsequent concordance with, prescribed BP medication may contribute to a reduction in BP, which in turn will reduce cardiovascular risk. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE This study contributes to the evidence base for self-management of early kidney disease. Although the exact reason for reduced BP in the intervention group is unclear, the importance of practitioner understanding of kidney disease management and patient understanding of BP medication are likely to be the contributing factors.

HOW TO DEVELOP A PATIENT AND CARER ADVISORY GROUP IN A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT STUDY

BACKGROUND This paper explores how a group of people with renal or other vascular conditions collaborated with renal practitioners in undertaking a quality improvement project, the aim of which was to reduce variation in care for people with Stages 3-4 chronic kidney disease. DEVELOPMENT AND ROLE OF THE GROUP The patient advisory group supporting the project took a decisive and leading role in the creation of self-management materials and subsequent training for healthcare professionals and patients. The role of the patient advisory group was evaluated informally throughout the project. Confidence amongst the patient advisory group members grew as the project developed. CONCLUSION Clinicians are often unclear on how to involve patients and carers in quality improvement projects, yet it is increasingly recognised as important. In practice, patients with experience of long-term conditions can co-lead quality improvement projects. It is recommended that further evaluation of the role of advisory groups is warranted.

Educating a health service workforce about dementia: a qualitative study

Purpose People who are living with dementia are core health service users but there are ongoing concerns about the quality of their care and the need for improved education of healthcare staff. This paper reports on a qualitative study that investigated staff perspectives of an ethnodrama (‘Barbara’s Story’) which was used to educate an entire health service workforce and promote a person-centred approach to care. Design/Methodology/Approach The study used a qualitative, longitudinal design with focus groups held with clinical (nurses, allied health professionals, medical) and non-clinical staff. In Phase 1 there were 10 focus groups (n=67 participants) and one individual interview. In Phase 2 there were 16 focus groups (n=77 participants) and three individual interviews. Findings Barbara’s Story raised awareness of dementia, engaged staff emotionally and prompted empathetic responses and improved interactions. The project’s senior leadership, whole organisation and mandatory approach were well-supported, with a perceived impact on organisational culture. The project helped to embed practice developments and initiatives to support person-centred care. Barbara’s story is now well integrated into the organisation, thus supporting sustainability. Originality/value Whilst there are increasing resources for educating about dementia, there are fewer evaluations, particularly for large-scale initiatives, and there is a lack of focus on long-term effects. The study findings indicate that education about dementia can be delivered to a whole work force in a sustainable manner, to prompt empathy, raise awareness, support person-centred care and impact on individual behaviour and organisational culture.

The Experience of Older People in the Shared Decision-Making Process in Advanced Kidney Care

Introduction. This qualitative descriptive study was designed to understand the experiences of older people (>70 years) when making a decision about renal replacement therapy. This was a coproduced study, whereby patients and carers were involved in all aspects of the research process. Methods. A Patient and Carer Group undertook volunteer and research training. The group developed the interview questions and interviewed 29 people who had commenced dialysis or made a decision not to have dialysis. Interview data were transcribed and analysed, and common themes were identified. Results. 22 men and 7 women (mean age 77.4 yrs) from two hospitals were interviewed. 18 had chosen haemodialysis, 6 peritoneal dialysis, and 5 supportive care. The majority of patients were involved in the dialysis decision. Most were satisfied with the amount of information that they received, although some identified that the quality of the information could be improved, especially how daily living can be affected by dialysis. Conclusion. Our findings show that overall older patients were involved in the dialysis decision along with their families. Our approach is innovative because it is the first time that patients and carers have been involved in a coproduced study about shared decision-making.

What drives quality improvement in chronic kidney disease (CKD) in primary care: process evaluation of the Quality Improvement in Chronic Kidney Disease (QICKD) trial.

Objectives This study is a process evaluation of the Quality Improvement in Chronic Kidney Disease (QICKD) study, comparing audit-based education (ABE) and sending clinical guidelines and prompts (G&P) with usual practice, in improving systolic blood pressure control in primary care. This evaluation aimed to explore how far clinical staff in participating practices were aware of the intervention, and why change in practice might have taken place. Setting 4 primary care practices in England: 2 received ABE, and 2 G&P. We purposively selected 1 northern/southern/city and rural practice from each study arm (from a larger pool of 132 practices as part of the QICKD trial). Participants The 4 study practices were purposively sampled, and focus groups conducted with staff from each. All staff members were invited to attend. Interventions Focus groups in each of 4 practices, at the mid-study point and at the end. 4 additional trial practices not originally selected for in-depth process evaluation took part in end of trial focus groups, to a total of 12 focus groups. These were recorded, transcribed and analysed using the framework approach. Results 5 themes emerged: (1) involvement in the study made participants more positive about the CKD register; (2) clinicians did not always explain to patients that they had CKD; (3) while practitioners improved their monitoring of CKD, many were sceptical that it improved care and were more motivated by pay-for-performance measures; (4) the impact of study interventions on practice was generally positive, particularly the interaction with specialists, included in ABE; (5) the study stimulated ideas for future clinical practice. Conclusions Improving quality in CKD is complex. Lack of awareness of clinical guidelines and scepticism about their validity are barriers to change. While pay-for-performance incentives are the main driver for change, quality improvement interventions can have a complementary influence.

A quality improvement project to improve the effectiveness and patient-centredness of management of people with mild-to-moderate kidney disease in primary care

Abstract Chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3 to 5, affects 6-7% of the adult population and is an important risk factor for both advanced kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. This paper describes a quality improvement project that aimed to establish consistent implementation of best practice in people with stage 3-5 kidney disease who were managed in primary care. The intervention was a Care Bundle for CKD. The bundle included three evidence-based, high impact interventions based on National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE, 2008) guidance, with an additional and novel self-management element. 29 GP Practices in England and Wales began the study. They undertook training in clinical management of CKD and in facilitation of self-management, with the self-management content designed and led by patients. Practices were asked to report baseline and then monthly outcome data extracted from practice computer systems. The project team provided implementation and ongoing quality improvement support for participating Practices. Ten Practices dropped out of the study following the training. Data submissions were incomplete in six Practices who continued to apply the care bundle. At the project end, a decision was taken by the study team to perform the final analysis on those thirteen Practices which completed the project and submitted at least six sets of monthly Practice-level outcome data. In these Practices the Care Bundle was applied to under 20% of the registered CKD stage 3 to 5 population in 5 Practices, 20-29% in 3 Practices, 30-49% in 2 Practices and ≥50% in 3 Practices (998 patients in total). Of these, 671 patients (75%) agreed to the self-management component of the intervention. The reliability (at project end) in those who received the Bundle was 100%. The Bundle was applied to an additional 315 patients in the six Practices who completed the project but did not submit regular practice-level monthly data. In the thirteen remaining Practices, the achievement of NICE (2008) blood pressure targets at the start of the project was 74.8% in people with CKD stage 3-5 and no diabetes and 48% in people with CKD stage 3-5 and diabetes. At the project end these figures in the same Practices were 76.7% and 49.2% respectively. These improvements were achieved in spite of Practices increasing their recording of prevalence rate (that is, identifying and recording more patients with CKD on the Practice CKD Register). In conclusion, a care bundle can be implemented in primary care. However, maintaining engagement with primary care health care professionals and maximising exposure to an intervention in patients seen infrequently are significant challenges to generalisation and sustainability.

New ways of working; delivering better care for people with long-term conditions*

Abstract Background: The cost-effectiveness of the traditional outpatient model for specialist care provision is increasingly being questioned in view of the changing patient needs, workforce challenges and technological advances. Setting: This report summarises two RCGP London events showcasing new ways of delivering care for long-term conditions. Questions: What are the alternative approaches to the traditional outpatient model and do they have common themes? What are the challenges and opportunities of these new models of care? Methods: Presentation of examples of new ways of long-term condition care delivery and round-table facilitative discussion and reflection on the challenges and solutions around service re-design and implementation, the commissioning and funding of new models of care, the facilitation of system-wide learning and the collection of data for evaluation. Results: Different ways of delivering care for people with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) were presented. Most of the interventions included virtual clinics (during which patient care was reviewed by a specialist remotely without the need for a face-to-face consultation), improved communication between primary and secondary care clinicians, an element of referral triage/prioritisation, the use of trigger tools to identify people at risk of deterioration, patient education and a multi-disciplinary approach. Discussion-conclusions: Different models to the traditional outpatient long-term condition care are feasible and can result in improvements in the quality of care and staff satisfaction. However, such initiatives require careful planning, close collaboration between health care professionals and allocation of appropriate resources and training within primary care. There is also a need for systematic evaluation of such pilots to assess their cost-effectiveness and their acceptability to clinicians and patients. This requires systematic collection of population level data, agreement on the key outcomes for evaluation and a commitment of all stakeholders to sharing learning and resources to enable continuous improvement.

How does the length of day shift affect patient care on older people's wards? A mixed method study

BACKGROUND Internationally, studies have focused on whether shift length impacts on patient care. There are also ongoing concerns about patient care for older people in hospital. The study aim was to investigate how length of day shift affects patient care in older peoples hospital wards. OBJECTIVES 1) To explore how length of day shift affects patient care in older peoples wards; 2) To explore how length of day shift affects the quality of communication between nursing staff and patients/families on older peoples wards DESIGN: A mixed method case study. SETTINGS The study was based on two older peoples wards in an acute hospital in England. One ward was piloting two, overlapping 8h day shifts for 6 months while the other ward continued with 12h day shifts. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS Qualitative interviews were conducted with 22 purposively recruited nursing staff (17 registered nurses; 5 nursing assistants). An analysis of patient discharge survey data was conducted (n=279). Twenty hours of observation of nursing staffs interactions with patients and families was conducted, using an adapted version of the Quality of Interaction Schedule (301 interactions observed), with open fieldnotes recorded, to contextualise the observations. RESULTS There were no statistically significant differences in patient survey results, or quality of interactions, between the two wards. There were three overall themes: Effects of day shift length on patient care; Effects of day shift length on continuity of care and relationships; Effects of day shift length on communication with patients and families. Nursing staff believed that tiredness could affect care and communication but had varied views about which shift pattern was most tiring. They considered continuity of care was important, especially for older people, but had mixed views about which shift pattern best promoted care continuity. The difficulties in staffing a ward with an 8h day shift pattern, in a hospital that had a 12h day shift pattern were highlighted. Other factors that could affect patient care were noted including: ward leadership, ward acuity, use of temporary staff and their characteristics, number of consecutive shifts, skillmix and staff experience. CONCLUSIONS There was no conclusive evidence that length of day shift affected patient care or nursing staff communication with patients and families. Nursing staff held varied views about the effects of day shift length on patient care. There were many other factors identified that could affect patient care in older peoples wards.

Structured nursing educational programs improve quality of life outcomes in patients with Cushing’s syndrome

Impaired quality of life (QoL) has been reported in patients with Cushing’s syndrome even after biochemical cure, with worse QoL outcomes compared to patients with other pituitary adenomas [1]. A variety of physical, neuropsychosomatic, psychological, and sociodemographic factors have been found to influence QoL parameters in patients with Cushing’s syndrome [1, 2]. A systematic review by Andela et al. found that QoL outcomes such as physical functioning, bodily pain, and general health improved after surgical or pharmaceutical interventions in 6 of the 8 studies involving patients with Cushing’s syndrome.

The Cornish Experience Of The ASSIST-CKD Project

Introduction The ASSIST-CKD project is a national quality improvement programme, aiming to decrease the number of patients presenting late to renal services by enabling laboratories to review up to five years of estimated glomerular filtration rate results graphically and report deteriorating patients to their general practitioner. Aim To assess the impact of the project on the laboratory, and of patient reporting on general practitioner management and the local renal service. Method Each week two searches were performed (Search A: maximum age 65 years, maximum eGFR 50 ml/min/1.73 m2 and Search B: Age 66–120 years, maximum eGFR 40 ml/min/1.73 m2) on patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate requested by their general practitioner within the previous seven days. Patients showing deterioration in estimated glomerular filtration rate had a printed graph sent to their general practitioner. Feedback on the graphs and their impact on patient management were obtained from the general practitioners via a questionnaire. Results A median of 37 patients/week were listed for review for Search A, with 32% reported; and Search B a median of 227 patients/week listed, 32% reported. General practitioner surgery questionnaires (29) showed the reports were well received. Of general practitioners responding to the questionnaire, 67% had reviewed a patient earlier than intended, 54% had reviewed local guidance, 48% had emailed the renal team and 48% had referred a patient on receipt of a graph; 34% had shown a graph to their patients, of whom 70% found that useful. Conclusion There is some evidence that ASSIST-CKD reporting has enhanced patient care; however, further long-term assessment is still required.