Attention to Care

2 Research Design

Representatives of local older people’s forums took part in the steering group which gave guidance on carrying out the research project:

The research looked at the quality of care given to older people in hospital wards (mainly medical and surgical wards), where the patients were admitted in an emergency. Only patients admitted to the six main hospitals in the EHSSB area (listed below) were included in the research:

Belfast City Hospital
Royal Victoria Hospital
Ulster Hospital
Mater Hospital
Lagan Valley Hospital
Downe Hospital

After they were discharged from hospital, a number of older patients were interviewed (asked questions about the hospital stay) by the Research Officer from the EHSSC. The patients’ experiences were recorded in detail, in their own words. The questions asked in the interviews related to the patients’ basic care needs: personal care such as washing and dressing, walking, privacy and dignity, food, medications, continence and catheter care and how the staff handled another patient’s death on the ward.

The Research Officer met the patients while they were still in hospital. Before the researcher approached any patients, the nurse-in-charge asked them if a member of staff from the EHSSC could speak to them about the research. If the older patients agreed, the researcher then explained about the research and asked the patients for permission to interview them once they were discharged. The staff were not asked to provide any personal details on the patients.

Only certain patients were interviewed, as follows:

(1) aged 70 or over;
(2) admitted via an Accident and Emergency Department;
(3) had stayed in a medical or surgical ward;
(4) medical patients who had stayed in hospital for at least five days;
(5) surgical patients who had stayed in hospital for at least two days;
(6) and lived in the EHSSB area.

The interviews were tape-recorded, where the patients gave permission for recording, and the patients’ comments were typed, word-for-word. Comments made by the patients are included in the report, where appropriate. To maintain patient confidentiality, no patient names are mentioned in the report.

Sixty-two older patients were interviewed for the research. Most of the patients were interviewed in their own homes or in the homes of relatives. However, nine patients were interviewed in residential homes and one patient was interviewed in a community hospital (the patients stayed in these places after they were discharged from hospital).

As well as looking at the quality of care given to older patients in each hospital, the report also compares the quality of care in the six hospitals. Where appropriate, the results of the research are also compared with the results of research carried out by other organisations into the care of older patients in hospital. However, the number of patients interviewed for this report was small in relation to the number of older patients admitted to hospital generally.