#Red4Research brings together all those participating, supporting, and undertaking research. On the front line and behind the scenes incredible research teams collectively work on health and social care research. The R&D community is innovative, flexible and dynamic. Research doesn’t just happen though, people make it happen – research participants, patients, professionals, volunteers and regulatory bodies all collectively working together.
#Red4Research2024 is happening on 20th September and is an opportunity to celebrate and support all of the people making research happen. More information can be found at https://rdforum.nhs.uk/red4research-2024/
CWP Neighbourhood's Care Group
Our community neighbourhood care group have been growing research practice and development. Incorporating the national chief nursing officer (CNO) for England research strategy (2021) and our own CWP research vision.
Recognising the opportunity for research priorities to support our community patient populations have enabled a wide range of research and quality improvement projects, in our care group. Colleagues from a range of specialist areas and roles have completed research dissertations benefitting both patients and teams whilst informing future practice. Close working with our local primary care networks and national groups has further widened our research impact to benefit our patients.
Colleagues have been supported with further developing research knowledge completing the SORT IT programme and writing findings up for publication. Collaboration with the local university has also enabled enhanced education opportunities with teaching and clinical programme design. Involvement with national research groups and the Queens nursing institute has promoted networking and sharing good practice.
Colleagues have led change through quality improvement projects, service evaluations and being part of wider research studies. Publications in academic journals, conference presentations at local, national, and international events. This has grown both confidence and career opportunities within the care group.
Closer partnerships with the library and research departments have led to greater awareness and ongoing support with design and development of studies.
Collaboration with partner agencies has led to innovative digital solutions through population health data and power business intelligence to help discover and prioritise vulnerable groups and reduce health inequalities.
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CWP R.E.A.L (Research, Effectiveness, Academia and Learning)
CWP REAL aims to focus on the promotion and support of local research, improving effectiveness and learning that has a tangible benefit for our patients and population; we aim to support development of a strong research culture within CWP. Currently, we are based in SMH but are developing collaborations with both CYP and Neighbourhoods' care groups.
Our “Pathways to Admission” study aims to understand key decision points that occur during a patient’s pathway to an acute admission and to identify where (and which) interventions may improve patient outcomes. Psychiatrists are using a standardised template to systematically collate data from over 100 patient journeys to understand how our system can best support patients.
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CWP Effectiveness
We consider at the top of our Effectiveness Learning Loop the research and existing evidence-based practice, and consider what is relevant to our services, who might be affected? what changes we might need to make so that we are informed and up to date.
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End-of-life Care at Home - The Family and Carers Support Booklet
Caring for a dying loved one at home during their final weeks is becoming an increasingly preferred choice for families. By 2030, it is anticipated that more individuals will pass away at home than in hospitals or hospices. However, there is still limited knowledge about whether those who die at home experience a good death (Kings Fund, 2023). This journey can be profoundly meaningful, yet it is often accompanied by challenges.
To assist families and caregivers, the Cheshire and Wirral NHS Foundation Trust is developing a new nurse-led end-of-life support booklet. This resource incorporates insights from community nurses who have supported families in similar situations and is informed by research indicating that families desire more transparent and honest communication from healthcare professionals during end-of-life care. The comprehensive booklet aims to improve communication and empower caregivers with clear instructions for safely and effectively managing common end-of-life symptoms. It addresses common concerns and uncertainties while providing practical guidance and comfort.
The booklet on the VARK model for communication caters to different learning styles:
Visual aids for symptoms
Video links for audio learners
Detailed written explanations
Hands-on care advice
It also provides:
Symptom management tips
Guidelines for seeking professional help
Self-care recommendations for caregivers
Round-the-clock helpline for urgent support
CWP are proud to be holding a practical workshop at Nursing Live 2024 Liverpool , to share the development of the Family and Carers Support Booklet to date. Register here
Career path to community nursing research and effectiveness lead role
After 30 plus years in nursing with the last 20 of these being in the community, I never expected to find myself in a research role. There is never a dull moment in nursing, and I feel that it really is a career that can take you in a variety of directions with numerous opportunities.
My roles have centred very much on clinical nursing with positions as a community heart failure specialist nurse for many years and more recently that as a community matron and advanced nurse practitioner. During this time, I completed both BSc and MSc degrees along with non-medical prescribing.
Between these roles, I went into education as a senior lecturer at the University of Chester as part of the advanced practice programme. Module leader for clinical examination and clinical diagnostics and teaching on the non-medical prescribing course. During this time, I was able to obtain a PGCE and higher education academy fellowship.
My clinical facing role changed almost overnight after the Covid 19 pandemic, and I am now working part time as a research and effectiveness lead for neighbourhood’s care community group in CWP. This role enables supporting and embedding research into practice, promoting quality improvement and innovation. Clinical academic opportunities, networking, teaching at university and supporting colleagues with research proposals, journal publications, posters, and presentations.
My research interests are with congenital heart disease, this is partly through my own lived experience as a patient and recognising the impact that patients faced if they became “lost to follow up care”. I am the project lead for the Cheshire congenital heart disease (CHD) in primary care group. This is a collaborative approach working closely with the integrated care board, specialist acute trust and NHS England. This work has led to digital innovations with the creation of a CHD dashboard which will help future service planning and delivery.
My career has come full circle, I began my nurse training at Liverpool John Moores University as a project 2000 student and I’m now back there in my 4th year doing a PhD. I feel that I am in a unique position as a patient, a nurse, and a researcher, to demonstrate how simple ideas can grow into amazing opportunities.
Sarah Ellison RN.
Allied Health Professionals Career Pathway
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"I would encourage all health care professionals across all disciplines to pursue research..."
My name is Diana Astbury. I joined Primary Care as a career development opportunity in 2004 and set up a Community Nurse-Led Heart Failure Service in Ellesmere Port and Neston. Prior to this I was employed on Coronary Care (CCU)at the Countess of Chester Hospital (registered nurse) from 1996 and for a decade before in the Armed forces as a student nurse, gaining certificate level registered nurse status in 1993, involved in clinical roles from army diving medicals and assisting to deliver babies in a medical station, to surgical/medical wards and intensive care/CCU nursing in defence hospitals.
Throughout my career I have been interested in service improvement. From involvement in quality assurance projects and in audit processes in previous roles, opportunities in my current role arose to be lead author in reports associated with NICE guidance for Chronic Heart Failure, for example medicines adherence audits and patient feedback surveys. As part of my master’s dissertation, I had the chance to participate in a phenomenological investigation into the educational needs of Chronic heart failure patients. Most recently through CWP I participated in the SORT IT programme looking at data in association with clinical reported outcome measures with the use of a Goal Based Outcome tool and appreciated service improvement and research on a different level.
I would encourage all health care professionals across all disciplines to pursue research, especially the opportunity of operational research within our organisation. Ask yourself, and the teams within which you work, why? and how? does the care we provide, influence our services and ultimately the public we serve. Think research … Think quality improvement.
A short interview with... Laura Broad
What is your role?
Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist in Acute Inpatient Services
Best thing about your role?
Being able to support some of the most vulnerable people in our society today by ensuring that they can be actively involved in their own care and treatment. Seeing the positive impact of a total communication approach on a person’s behaviours or quality of life can be extremely rewarding.
What is the one thing that has enabled you to get where you are today?
I have always been open to learning new skills, taking opportunities whenever possible for training, joint working and projects. The role of speech and language therapists (SLTs) is ever changing as the needs of our population changes as does the evidence base and it is therefore essential that we continue to be aware and contribute to this.
What has been your pathway?
I joined CWP in 2015 and worked within the Trafford Community Learning Disability Team for nearly 10 years where I gained a vast amount of experience and knowledge. I completed my Dysphagia training, ADOS (Autism Assessment) training and developed many other specialist skills. This year I moved to the Specialist Mental Health Care Group and took on a role as a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist. Part of this role is to implement a much needed SLT service into the mental health inpatient wards. SLT in mental health is still quite a new concept, but there are clear links between speech, language and communication needs and mental health. Swallowing difficulties are also highly prevalent in people with mental health needs, in particular those with dementia.
Talk about your involvement in research
In 2021 I took part in CWP’s SORT – IT Programme. This was a great experience and the team around me were extremely supportive throughout the process. In 2022 my research paper Do sociodemographic and clinical characteristics affect mortality rates in people with intellectual disability and dysphagia who have a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy? A cohort study between 2000 and 2022. (Broad, L., Wee, C. Harries, A. D..January 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12579) was added to the evidence base around respiratory factors associated with dysphagia in the intellectual disability client group and the use of non oral feeding.
SORT-IT has inspired me to do further research projects as I am now more confident and informed around the process of data collection and analysis and how this can impact on our ways of working. Much more research is needed in both communication and swallowing problems within Mental Health and this is something I would like to take on in the future.
A career in Occupational Therapy as experienced by Rachael O'Sullivan
I joined CWP in 2011 as an Occupational Therapist working in a Band 5 rotational post. I progressed to a Specialist Occupational Therapist role in 2015, specialising in working with people with dementia on an in-patient mental health ward, and have continued to work here since. I really enjoy working with people with dementia and their families/carers, and work within a great team. I completed an MSc in Dementia Care in 2018, which I worked towards part-time alongside my OT role, with support from CWP. A few years later I had the opportunity to complete a Dementia Care Train the Trainer course, and have since been able to facilitate dementia training sessions for colleagues in my work place and across CWP, alongside my OT role.
I was interested in developing my skills in research, and obtained a place on the NIHR Early Career Researcher Development Pathway Programme which I completed in 2023. This enabled me to increase my understanding of research within a healthcare setting, the Researcher Development Framework, and to reflect on my own goals.
I applied for the SORT IT programme as I was keen to develop skills in completing research, but wasn’t sure where to start! SORT IT was a brilliant programme that enabled me to complete a study that was directly relevant to my clinical setting. I received lots of support from a fantastic team of people, who shared their research expertise with me to guide me through completing the study, whilst also supporting my learning and development. Taking part in SORT IT has not only increased my knowledge and skills in research, but has also enabled me to explore opportunities for development as an OT in a different area.
I am really fortunate to have an extremely supportive manager and supervisor, who has always been supportive of me as an individual, and has shown real interest and support in my learning and development across my OT career to date; enabling me to make the most of opportunities available.
