Improving cross-agency responses to major incidents
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN18211730 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN18211730 |
| IRAS number | 292286 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | CPMS 49898, IRAS 292286 |
- Submission date
- 19/07/2021
- Registration date
- 25/01/2022
- Last edited
- 18/05/2022
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
The Grenfell Tower fire was one of the biggest peacetime disasters in the UK. The fire was declared a major incident, and a response coordination team was established consisting of government and local partners. The government funded a multi-agency response including a health and wellbeing response. This involved funding both from the local council and from the NHS. In response to the disaster a specialist psychological trauma service was set up, a mental health outreach team, GPs offered enhanced health checks, specialist paediatric and respiratory clinics were established, there was mass screening for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) including door-door, many local third sector organisations received funding for wellbeing work, and there was an extensive programme of work on psychological trauma with local schools as well as considerable third sector activity with local children and young people. During 2019 the Dedicated Service was set up, a service bringing together physical, mental and social care to tower survivors, other evacuated and bereaved families. There was also a large response from the local community including local third sector providers. These all played a major part, delivering services and support and advising and engaging with statutory organisations. The focus of this study is the way that the public bodies responded and supported the recovery of those directly affected by the Grenfell fire in relation to their mental health and psychological wellbeing outcomes, the novel solutions to problems they came up with, the barriers to working across organisations they encountered, how they worked with the third sector and the community, and how they worked together to co-ordinate the response. The aim is to inform planning for major centred incidents in the UK and internationally. The researchers expect to be able to provide recommendations from this project which will inform planning for future incidents. This research aims to learn from Grenfell and feed that learning into future policy guidance, and case study evidence. The project is not a study of fire safety, or of issues around cladding or rehousing or the immediate emergency response.
Who can participate?
Recruitment is not open to the public. Stakeholders or key decision-makers who have been involved in the Grenfell health and wellbeing response and voluntary sector and community leaders who can comment on the response.
What does the study involve?
Qualitative interviews with participants will be triangulated against routinely reported data on activity outcomes and costs and publicly available documents.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The study will have no benefit to the participants personally but it is hoped that it will improve planning for major incidents, particularly centred events both nationally and internationally. This is not a high-risk study and the researchers do not anticipate any particular risks to participants.
Where is the study run from?
Central and North West London NHS Trust (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
June 2019 to June 2022
Who is funding the study?
The National Institute of Health Research (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr John Green
john.green@nhs.net
Contact information
Scientific
Department of Clinical Health Psychology
Clarence Wing
St Mary's Hospital
Praed Street
London
W2 1NY
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-5469-973X |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)20 33121658 |
| john.green@nhs.net |
Study information
| Study design | Observational; Design type: Qualitative |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Observational |
| Secondary study design | Qualitative study |
| Study setting(s) | Other |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | No participant information sheet available |
| Scientific title | Lessons from the health and wellbeing response to the Grenfell Tower Fire: a multi-method approach |
| Study acronym | MILL |
| Study objectives | This is a case study therefore it has aims but not a hypothesis. The study aims to draw lessons from the Grenfell Tower disaster and the mental health and well-being response to inform future planning and delivery of services for centred major events. The aim is to inform planning for major centred incidents in the UK and internationally. The researchers expect to be able to provide recommendations from this project which will inform planning for future incidents. It is important to learn from major incidents to improve the management of these nationally and internationally. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 13/05/2021, Research Ethics Committee in the School of Healthcare Sciences at Cardiff University (Cardiff University, Eastgate House 35-43, Newport Road, Cardiff, UK; +44 (0)29 2068 7689; HCAREethics@cardiff.ac.uk), ref: REC799 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Mental health |
| Intervention | There are no interventions in this study and it is not an observational study. This is an evaluative case study. This study triangulates publicly available documents about the response of statutory organisations to the Grenfell Fire, routinely reported quantitative data on outputs and costs and interviews with those who took key decisions or who were in a position to observe and comment on those decisions. Analysis of documents and interview transcripts will be carried out using a Framework Method approach. The researchers expect to provide a case study report which will incorporate clear recommendations for ways in which planning and delivery can be improved in future centred major events. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | The response of statutory organisations to the Grenfell Fire, assessed using: 1. Publicly available documents from [August 2017 – June 2019] 2. Routinely reported quantitative data on outputs and costs from [August 2017 – June 2019] 3. Interviews with those who took key decisions or who were in a position to observe and comment on those decisions from [August 2017 – June 2019] |
| Secondary outcome measures | There are no secondary outcome measures |
| Overall study start date | 06/06/2019 |
| Completion date | 30/06/2022 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Mixed |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | Planned Sample Size: 35; UK Sample Size: 35 |
| Key inclusion criteria | The study interview sample is individuals who can cast light on the decisions taken about Grenfell, what determined those decisions, how they were arrived at, what mechanisms were available - particularly for joint working across agencies - and what the impact was. Recruitment is not open to the public. Recruitment will be from four main sources: 1. From the NHS, clinicians, managers and commissioners involved decision making and delivery 2. From the local authority and the schools for which they have a coordinating role, managers, commissioners and headteachers 3. From the voluntary sector those involved in delivering services to those affected by Grenfell, particularly those who received funding of other support from the local authority or the NHS 4. From the local community, opinion leaders who are able to comment on the overall health and wellbeing programme |
| Key exclusion criteria | Those who were not involved with, or in a position to observe, the Grenfell health and wellbeing response over the period covered by the study |
| Date of first enrolment | 12/07/2021 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/06/2022 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centre
London
W9 2NW
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Hospital/treatment centre
NoCloR
1st Floor, Bloomsbury Building
St Pancras Hospital
4 St Pancras Way
London
NW1 0PE
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)20 3738 8986 |
|---|---|
| sponsor.noclor@nhs.net | |
| Website | http://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/05drfg619 |
Funders
Funder type
Government
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 31/05/2023 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Other |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal. The researchers will publish the protocol in due course. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study during this study will be included in the subsequent results publication. The researchers will not be making copies of the transcripts available for the reasons of confidentiality given the small sample size but they will be publishing the analysed framework and quantitative data and indexing the publicly available documents used in the study. |
Editorial Notes
18/05/2022: The following changes have been made:
1. The recruitment end date has been changed from 31/05/2022 to 30/06/2022.
2. The overall trial end date has been changed from 31/05/2022 to 30/06/2022 and the plain English summary has been updated to reflect this change.
03/02/2022: Internal review.
19/07/2021: Trial's existence confirmed by the NIHR.
