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The research has led to the design of a new clinical pharmacy service model, centred on community pharmacies, to improve the care of patients with palliative care needs living in the community. This resulted in better provision of information for patients (and their carers) and new training resources and staff development opportunities for the multi-disciplinary palliative care team. Funding has been secured to rollout the new service across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board (NHS GGC - 1.2M population) in 2013. The research has also supported a successful bid to explore the service model in a remote and rural Health Board (NHS Highland) and has informed specific programmes of Macmillan Cancer Support UK, pharmacy workforce planning, and the Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacists initiative.
Research by Community and Health Research Unit (CaHRU) broadly impacted on healthcare provision and care received by patients from ambulance services. The research directly informed policy and was a key factor in improving prehospital care for emergencies by directly influencing care systems, regulators, ambulance services, paramedics, and service users, initially in the East Midlands and subsequently throughout England from 2008 onwards.
The research which aimed to improve quality of ambulance care led to: development of new clinical quality indicators for ambulance services in England; benchmarking of service quality; initiatives to address gaps in care; measurable improvements in managing pain, heart attack, stroke, asthma and diabetes across all English ambulance services. Regulators now use these quality indicators to assess ambulance trusts in England.
Research carried out in the International Observatory on End of Life Care (IOELC) at Lancaster University led by Professor Payne has played a major role in influencing the strategic direction of service and policy development globally. IOELC initiated the systematic collation of development data and delivered the first research-based international analysis of the development of palliative care. For example, research on access to opioids in 12 resource poor countries in central and eastern Europe via the ATOME project has delivered major impact, leading to significant changes in legislation and policy and improved access to pain medication, and palliative and end of life care for millions of people around the world.
The University of Nottingham's Sue Ryder Care Centre for the Study of Supportive, Palliative and End of Life Care has enhanced the understanding, implementation and uptake of advance care planning for end of life care. Its work has shaped public policy and influenced national initiatives that have improved quality of life and reduced the number of deaths in hospitals. The research has been cited as an exemplar by the World Health Organisation and has helped inform policymaking at European level. It has guided professional practice, educated care staff and contributed to a more positive public attitude towards talking about end of life issues.
The Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) research programme is a project funded by Policy Research Programme Department of Health and led by academic staff at City University London which investigates how technology can help people manage their health and safety while maintaining their independence. The WSD evaluation provides scientific evidence that has influenced and continues to influence public policy debate in the UK and internationally. It has shaped UK Department of Health policy and strategies regarding deployment of tele-assistive devices to meet the growing health and social care demands in a changing population. And it is helping to shape manufacturers' design of services with the user in mind and how health and social care providers offer tele-assistive services.
The ability of healthcare professionals to empathise with patients has been shown to enhance patient satisfaction, improve symptoms and promote well-being. Research at University of Glasgow has developed the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure — the first validated, patient-rated questionnaire developed in a primary care setting that measures patient perceptions of healthcare professionals' empathy and quality of care. The CARE Measure is formally embedded into healthcare professional training standards through its inclusion in Scottish General Practitioner (GP) appraisals and the Royal College of General Practitioners Membership (MRCGP) and Interim Membership by Assessment of Performance (iMAP) processes; through these means more than 8,000 GPs are using the CARE Measure. It has also been incorporated into the Scottish Government's policy on Healthcare Quality and adopted by the General Medical Council and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
The importance of person-centred social support has been recognised by successive governments as central to the development of effective and supportive social care services. The research led by Brunel and funded by the DoH and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, made a substantial contribution to the enhancement of UK social care policy and practice in relation to the personalisation agenda. Parliamentary committees and policy consultation used the research to develop new social care policy. Standards of service care delivery were developed and implemented in partnership with service users; these were adopted at a policy and practice level. The development and use of evidence based practice guides, training programmes and web resources facilitated the successful adoption and implementation of person-centred support nationwide. In summary, public debate was influenced, equality and empowerment for service users was advanced, national policy and practice enhanced, health and welfare improved and economic impacts achieved.
Beneficiaries of this research are patients in intensive care and healthcare staff. This research has had impacts in two distinct but related areas:
These advances are informed by our synthesis and application of rigorous, innovative methodologies relating to questionnaire development and real-time data collection.
Improving patient experience of health services is a policy priority worldwide. The University of Manchester (UoM) has conducted research on patient experience since 1995, leading to the development of a series of validated measures for assessing patient experience of quality of care in primary care, including access to care and the degree to which services are patient-centred. Our measures have been in routine use in the NHS since 2004, sent to samples of several million patients. The data have been used to provide incentives for the highest quality practices, and to inform policy makers about current care throughout the UK.
UCL research into end-of-life care has informed policy on palliative care for dementia patients and influenced NICE quality standards for end-of-life care in three areas: spirituality, psychological assessment, and advance care planning. The research has also been used by the charity St Mungo's to develop educational resources for services working with homeless people with advanced liver disease. Evidence collated by UCL on the importance of palliative care in heart failure has formed the basis of Caring Together, a £5m investment by Marie Curie Cancer Care and the British Heart Foundation to improve end-of-life care in heart failure. A review of the effectiveness of hospice care is being used to support commissioning bids for end-of-life care services.