ISRCTN ISRCTN33095169
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN33095169
Secondary identifying numbers 30642
Submission date
22/08/2016
Registration date
24/03/2017
Last edited
10/04/2024
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Other
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
People use the internet to access customer reviews and ratings. Sharing personal experiences on Facebook or Twitter is becoming a part of everyday life. Increasingly, people are going online to give feedback on their experience of the NHS, or to read the feedback that other people have provided. There are websites which invite feedback on doctors or hospitals, and some people choose to tell their NHS stories in personal blogs or discussion forums like Mumsnet. This research is part of a wider study funded by the NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research designed to help the NHS to interpret and act on online patient feedback to improve the quality of NHS services. This study conducts case studies in four NHS Trusts in England using observations, interviews and focus groups to see how staff relates to online sources of patient feedback in terms of their awareness and attitude. These case studies will help to understand how staff use patients online feedback, the barriers and facilitators to using feedback to improve NHS quality and what skills are required to benefit from the feedback. The aim of this study is to understand what the challenges might be in encouraging the appropriate use of this in the NHS.

Who can participate?
Adults who are employed by the NHS.

What does the study involve?
Participants are asked to either attend a one hour focus group, face to face interviews, or will be observed at work over a six week study period to explore the use of online feedback and how this can be used in improving NHS services.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no notable benefits or risks with participating.

Where is the study run from?
This study is being run from the University of Oxford and takes place in four NHS trusts (UK).

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
April 2016 to October 2017

Who is funding the study?
National Institute of Health Research (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Professor John Powell (Scientific)
Ms Vanessa Eade (Public)

Study website

Contact information

Ms Vanessa Eade
Public

Health Experiences Research Group
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
Radcliffe Observatory Quarter
Woodstock Road
Oxford
OX2 6GG
United Kingdom

Prof John Powell
Scientific

Health Experiences Research Group
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
Radcliffe Observatory Quarter
Woodstock Road
Oxford
OX2 6GG
United Kingdom

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0002-1456-4857

Study information

Study designObservational case series
Primary study designObservational
Secondary study designCase series
Study setting(s)Hospital
Study typeTreatment
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Scientific titleThe INQUIRE Project: Improving NHS Quality Using Internet Ratings and Experiences
Study acronymINQUIRE
Study objectivesThe aim of this study is to examine how online feedback is currently viewed in four NHS case study sites, how online feedback shapes, gets contested and/or mobilised in everyday practices in hospitals, and to explore the potential barriers and facilitators to the use of online patient feedback by NHS staff and organisations.
Ethics approval(s)University of Oxford Medical Sciences Inter-Divisional Research Ethics Committee, 03/02/16, ref: R32336/RE001
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedHealth services and delivery research
InterventionThe INQUIRE study is part of a wider programme of work consisting of five interlinked projects of applied health service research.

This study uses in-depth case studies (including ethnographic observations, interviews and documentary analysis) carried out in four NHS secondary care provider organisations. The case studies take an ethnographic approach, using mixed methods including face-to-face interviews, observations of meetings, focus groups, documentary analysis, and researcher’s field notes.

Participants will either attend a staff focus group or staff interviews. The staff focus groups include a one hour group discussion to explore the use of online commentary. Up to 2 focus groups may be held in each participating NHS Trust. Focus groups last no longer than one hour and will comprise up to 8 staff members. The interviews (done either as a one off or intermittently) are done with staff working at all levels of the organisation and focuses on capturing the views of managers and those working in quality improvement and complaints handling on online feedback (approximately 10 staff interviews will be done per Trust).

Also, observational work is done within each participating study sites during the six week study period. This requires the researcher to work in situ adopting fieldwork role to facilitate the close examination of the day-to-day practices involved in processing user generated comment. Multiple observations will take place and will be recorded by the researcher in field notes collected for later analysis. In addition the researcher will collect relevant documents such as local policy documents.

Data (in the form of field note descriptions, documents and interview/focus group recordings) is analysed through thematic analysis and comparative case study analysis.
Intervention typeOther
Primary outcome measureStaff views about organisational practices in online feedback is measured through staff focus groups, interviews and observations throughout the study period.
Secondary outcome measuresThere are no secondary outcomes for this study.
Overall study start date12/04/2016
Completion date31/10/2017

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Health professional
Age groupAdult
SexBoth
Target number of participantsPlanned Sample Size: 72; UK Sample Size: 72
Total final enrolment60
Key inclusion criteriaStaff who work at the participating NHS Trusts.
Key exclusion criteriaParticipants that do not fulfil the inclusion criteria.
Date of first enrolment30/10/2016
Date of final enrolment30/04/2017

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • England
  • United Kingdom

Study participating centre

University of Oxford
Clinical Trials and Research Governance, Joint Research Office
Block 60, Churchill Hospital
Headington
Oxford
OX3 7LE
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

University of Oxford
Hospital/treatment centre

Clinical Trials and Research Governance
Joint Research Office
Block 60, Churchill Hospital
Headington
Oxford
OX3 7LE
England
United Kingdom

ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/052gg0110

Funders

Funder type

Government

National Institute for Health Research
Government organisation / National government
Alternative name(s)
National Institute for Health Research, NIHR Research, NIHRresearch, NIHR - National Institute for Health Research, NIHR (The National Institute for Health and Care Research), NIHR
Location
United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date31/10/2018
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryNot expected to be made available
Publication and dissemination planThese summaries will be disseminated via the project website, www.inquireuk.org and on the Improving Health Care section of the www.healthtalk.org website as part of the ‘toolkit’ training resource for NHS organisations. Results will be disseminated through peer reviewed journals, as well as conference presentations in the disciplines of health policy, e-health, medical sociology and the sociology of science and technology. More general, untargeted, offline dissemination towards these lay, practitioner, and policy audiences, through media coverage in the general press, practitioner journals, and the Health Service and Delivery Research journal will be done.
IPD sharing planThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not expected to be made available due to confidentiality reasons.

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Results article results 01/10/2019 15/10/2020 Yes No
Protocol article 28/09/2015 22/08/2022 No No
Results article 01/10/2019 10/04/2024 Yes No

Editorial Notes

10/04/2024: Publication reference added.
22/08/2022: Protocol link added.
16/10/2020: The total final enrolment number has been added.
15/10/2020: Publication reference added.
09/11/2017: The ISRCTN prospective/retrospective flag compares the date of registration with the recruitment start date and does not include any grace period. The registration of this study was requested through the NIHR Portfolio and was finalised within 6 months of the recruitment starting.