Lead Researcher: Dr. Janet Anderson
Aim
The aim of this study is to provide guidance to healthcare practitioners about how to prospectively analysis processes to reduce risk and improve safety. The study will compare different methods of mapping processes and different methods for analysing risk in order to develop guidance for practitioners.
Why is this important?
Risk management in healthcare relies on retrospective methods such as the analysis of adverse incidents. Proactive methods aim to prevent harm by anticipating adverse events and pre-emptively implementing changes to prevent harm, but are not widely used in healthcare. There are significant challenges and risks in introducing these new tools, including lack of knowledge about the available methods and lack of time to implement the methods effectively. The methods rely on practitioners mapping out a care process and then analysing it systematically for hazards. However there are a number of methods for mapping processes and a number of challenges, including defining the boundaries of the analysis. There are also a number of methods for analysing hazards and many of them are time and resource intensive. It is unclear which method might be suitable for use in healthcare and whether a valid result can be obtained by using a process that is quicker to apply than many methods.
Participants
The study will focus on the care processes in a community based clinic using the following methods:-
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Interviews with practitioners
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Examination of protocols and policies
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Construction of a sequential and hierarchical process map
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Validation and evaluation of the process maps
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Two hazard analysis workshops
Outputs
