Closing the Gap in Patient Safety: Evaluation of FRAILsafe A safety checklist for frail older patients entering acute hospital care

The Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Northwest London (CLAHRC NWL) is conducting an evaluation of the Frailsafe intervention which aims to improve safety for frail older patients in acute medical units. 

In the first year of the project, implementation will be carried out in 12 sites supported by a Breakthrough Series Collaborative.

The primary objective of the evaluation is to provide formative feedback to the implementation team (Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of The British Geriatrics Society) regarding the process of implementation of the checklist and to identify achievements, barriers and facilitators of change in a timely manner. 

The secondary objective is to understand the impact of the intervention, including the impact on existing systems and processes of care and changes in quality of care and patient outcomes. 

Research design 

Mixed methods are employed to study the impact of the intervention and examine the experiences of staff members and patients. Quantitative methods are used to examine uptake and utilisation of the checklist, impact on patient outcomes and clinical care. Hospital teams involved in the intervention use customised software (WISH) to report non-identifiable data on pre-defined process and outcome measures. Qualitative interviews, document analysis and non-participant observation are carried out to better understand the process of implementation, changes in collaborative practices, patient and staff experience. Basic cost benefit analysis will also support the implementation.

Contact details

For more information about this project, please email the Research team at the Health Foundation and Chrysanthi Papoutsi, Imperial College.