Feedback for Emergency Ambulance Staff: A National Review of Current Practice Informed by Realist Evaluation Methodology
Research suggests that feedback in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) positively affects quality of care and professional development. However, the mechanisms by which feedback achieves its effects still need to be better understood across healthcare settings. This study aimed to understand how United...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/16/2229 |
| _version_ | 1797584626873532416 |
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| author | Caitlin Wilson Gillian Janes Rebecca Lawton Jonathan Benn |
| author_facet | Caitlin Wilson Gillian Janes Rebecca Lawton Jonathan Benn |
| author_sort | Caitlin Wilson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research suggests that feedback in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) positively affects quality of care and professional development. However, the mechanisms by which feedback achieves its effects still need to be better understood across healthcare settings. This study aimed to understand how United Kingdom (UK) ambulance services provide feedback for EMS professionals and develop a programme theory of how feedback works within EMS, using a mixed-methods, realist evaluation framework. A national cross-sectional survey was conducted to identify feedback initiatives in UK ambulance services, followed by four in-depth case studies involving qualitative interviews and documentary analysis. We used qualitative content analysis and descriptive statistics to analyse survey responses from 40 prehospital feedback initiatives, alongside retroductive analysis of 17 interviews and six documents from case study sites. Feedback initiatives mainly provided individual patient outcome feedback through “<i>pull</i>” initiatives triggered by staff requests. Challenges related to information governance were identified. Our programme theory of feedback to EMS professionals encompassed context (healthcare professional and organisational characteristics), mechanisms (feedback and implementation characteristics, psychological reasoning) and outcomes (implementation, staff and service outcomes). This study suggests that most UK ambulance services use a range of feedback initiatives and provides 24 empirically based testable hypotheses for future research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:54:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5e4cf207ba0b45de94dcf463c86b6acc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:54:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-5e4cf207ba0b45de94dcf463c86b6acc2023-11-19T01:17:37ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322023-08-011116222910.3390/healthcare11162229Feedback for Emergency Ambulance Staff: A National Review of Current Practice Informed by Realist Evaluation MethodologyCaitlin Wilson0Gillian Janes1Rebecca Lawton2Jonathan Benn3School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKFaculty of Health and Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, UKSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKResearch suggests that feedback in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) positively affects quality of care and professional development. However, the mechanisms by which feedback achieves its effects still need to be better understood across healthcare settings. This study aimed to understand how United Kingdom (UK) ambulance services provide feedback for EMS professionals and develop a programme theory of how feedback works within EMS, using a mixed-methods, realist evaluation framework. A national cross-sectional survey was conducted to identify feedback initiatives in UK ambulance services, followed by four in-depth case studies involving qualitative interviews and documentary analysis. We used qualitative content analysis and descriptive statistics to analyse survey responses from 40 prehospital feedback initiatives, alongside retroductive analysis of 17 interviews and six documents from case study sites. Feedback initiatives mainly provided individual patient outcome feedback through “<i>pull</i>” initiatives triggered by staff requests. Challenges related to information governance were identified. Our programme theory of feedback to EMS professionals encompassed context (healthcare professional and organisational characteristics), mechanisms (feedback and implementation characteristics, psychological reasoning) and outcomes (implementation, staff and service outcomes). This study suggests that most UK ambulance services use a range of feedback initiatives and provides 24 empirically based testable hypotheses for future research.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/16/2229ambulancesEmergency Medical Servicesfeedbackhealth services evaluationorganizational case studies |
| spellingShingle | Caitlin Wilson Gillian Janes Rebecca Lawton Jonathan Benn Feedback for Emergency Ambulance Staff: A National Review of Current Practice Informed by Realist Evaluation Methodology Healthcare ambulances Emergency Medical Services feedback health services evaluation organizational case studies |
| title | Feedback for Emergency Ambulance Staff: A National Review of Current Practice Informed by Realist Evaluation Methodology |
| title_full | Feedback for Emergency Ambulance Staff: A National Review of Current Practice Informed by Realist Evaluation Methodology |
| title_fullStr | Feedback for Emergency Ambulance Staff: A National Review of Current Practice Informed by Realist Evaluation Methodology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Feedback for Emergency Ambulance Staff: A National Review of Current Practice Informed by Realist Evaluation Methodology |
| title_short | Feedback for Emergency Ambulance Staff: A National Review of Current Practice Informed by Realist Evaluation Methodology |
| title_sort | feedback for emergency ambulance staff a national review of current practice informed by realist evaluation methodology |
| topic | ambulances Emergency Medical Services feedback health services evaluation organizational case studies |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/16/2229 |
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