New paper published on contextual factors for quality improvement in ambulance services

EMAS - A&E 5_750A new study from CaHRU is published this month in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice entitled ‘Exploration of contextual factors in a successful quality improvement collaborative in English ambulance services: cross-sectional survey’.

EMAS - A&E 9_750The study, involving a research team from CaHRU including Viet-Hai Phung, Nadya Essam, Dr Zahid Asghar and Professor Niro Siriwardena together with Anne Spaight from East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, explored clinical leadership and organisational culture and clinical engagement in quality improvement (QI) in the Ambulance Service Cardiovascular Quality Initiative, a QI collaborative involving all twelve ambulance services in England.

EMAS - PTS 2_750The study included a survey and qualitative analysis of free text responses from paramedics. Although paramedics perceived their organisations to have low levels of clinical leadership and culture of innovation overall, leadership behaviour and uptake of QI methods was significantly greater in those respondents who were directly involved in ASCQI. The QI collaborative led to significant improvements in prehospital care for acute myocardial infarction and stroke which may have been mediated through an improvement subculture linked to the QI collaborative.