REVAL / Evaluations / Evaluation of pilot hyperacute units to deliver acute sickle cell care as part of a wider programme of quality improvement (SCD)

Evaluation of pilot hyperacute units to deliver acute sickle cell care as part of a wider programme of quality improvement (SCD)

Background

Sickle cell is a genetic condition that causes people to have misshapen red blood cells, predominantly affecting people from African and Caribbean backgrounds. These misshapen cells can have difficulties passing through blood vessels and can block blood flow, resulting in body tissues and organs getting low levels of oxygen which can cause intense pain (an occurrence referred to as a vaso-occlusive crisis).

In response to recognition of avoidable deaths and failures of care for people with sickle cell, NHS England is funding a transformation programme to respond to areas of identified need and clinical risk for people affected by the condition.

As part of this programme, hyperacute units are being set up for people with sickle cell to attend when they are in vaso-occulsive crisis. The aim of these units is to deliver optimal care more quicky via contact with specialist health professionals who can ensure the correct treatment is administered and prevent further escalation.

What we are doing

Our aim is to undertake a rapid evaluation of service implementation and process outcomes in Phase 1, while Phase 2 of our evaluation will focus on medical outcomes, conditional on the data that is available to us.

We will conduct a multi-site, multiple methodologies study, conducting interviews with staff, stakeholders and service users who are delivering or in receipt of the pilot hyperacute sickle cell units.

We will seek to:

  1. understand the local development of pilot hyperacute units;
  2. understand how hyperacute unit provision links with other service developments such as digital care plans;
  3. assess early implementation including professional experience and acceptability;
  4. assess patient experience and engagement with the new units;
  5. identify barriers and enablers to patient access and flow;
  6. map relevant existing data sources and assess data quality for future evaluative focus. 
The University of Manchester