Shared decision making in surgery: the ALPACA study
ALPACA (reAL-time eProms for shAred deCision-mAking): Co-development of an inclusive intervention to improve shared decision making for surgical patients
About the study
Shared decision making is when patients and healthcare professionals, such as doctors, make treatment decisions together. Achieving “good” shared decision making is a key priority for many NHS Trusts. This is particularly important for patients undergoing surgery because, unlike many medical therapies, the effects of operations are both immediate and irreversible. Despite extensive training of health professionals and robust ethico-legal governance frameworks, there are currently still patients who do not have a good experience with shared decision making. The ALPACA study aims to co-create a new way (an ‘intervention’) for patients to measure their experience of shared decision making on a big scale, to feedback this experience to care teams, and change what patients and professionals do before surgery to improve care.
We are currently applying for funding to take forward this programme of work. If you would like to collaborate with us and want to improve shared decision making for your surgical patients, please contact us csr-bristol@bristol.ac.uk.
So far, we have established how shared decision making is routinely and automatically measured in several hospitals. We have also optimised the feasibility and usability of this process. We have explored the acceptability of routinely monitoring the experience of shared decision making with patients, surgeons and community members of different ages, ethnicities and backgrounds. You can read more detailed study updates.
Funding
This study is supported through an NIHR Programme Development Grant. This study is led and sponsored by the University of Bristol and hosted by NHS North Bristol Trust.
Governance
Ethical approval has been granted 17/03/2021 by the NHS HRA North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 21/PR/0345). IRAS project ID: 292800
Approval was also granted by North Bristol NHS Trust to undertake quality improvement work (reference: Q80008) overseen by the consent & SDM programme board and reporting to an Executive Assurance Committee.