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Co-generating ideas for safer paediatric care with parents and stakeholders: a multi-method UK general practice study
Thomas Purchase1, Harriet Dorothy Quinn-Scoggins2, Isobel J McFadzean2
1Wales Centre for Primary and Emergency Care Research (PRIME Centre Wales), Division of Population Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK purchaset2@cardiff.ac.uk.
Insights
Parents can significantly improve child patient safety in general practice. Co-designing safety initiatives with parents yields practical ideas like flexible appointments and parent advocates, enhancing pediatric care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Patient Safety
- General Practice Improvement
- Healthcare Quality Enhancement
Background:
- Parents are crucial in preventing healthcare-associated harms in children.
- Parental perspectives are underutilized in co-designing patient safety improvements.
- International guidelines advocate for family involvement in safety initiatives.
Purpose of the Study:
- To co-generate and prioritize ideas for enhancing pediatric safety in general practice.
- To explore agreements and disagreements between parents and stakeholders on safety improvements.
- To integrate parental insights into the co-design of healthcare safety initiatives.
Main Methods:
- A multi-method study combining qualitative methodology and quality improvement tools.
- Four parent workshops and one stakeholder workshop were conducted.
- Parents (n=33) used nominal group technique to generate ideas from safety incident data; stakeholders (n=7) assessed feasibility and impact.
Main Results:
- Parents generated 16 ideas focused on communication, access to records, and learning.
- Stakeholders prioritized seven ideas, including flexible appointments and a parent advocate role.
- Strong agreement existed on proactively seeking parent feedback and solutions.
Conclusions:
- Parents are willing and capable partners in enhancing healthcare safety.
- Parent-generated ideas align with national priorities for safer pediatric care.
- Actionable strategies can be adopted by general practice teams to improve pediatric safety.
Background:
Parents play a vital role in protecting their children from healthcare-associated harms, for example, through mitigating safety incidents in general practice. Despite international calls encouraging family involvement in patient safety initiatives, parental perspectives are rarely embedded in the co-design of safety improvements.
Aim:
To co-generate and prioritise ideas for improving paediatric safety in general practice with parents and key stakeholders, and to explore areas of agreement and disagreement between these groups.
Design And Setting:
A multi-method study combined qualitative methodology with quality improvement tools involving four parent workshops (between June and July 2024) and one stakeholder workshop (November 2024). Parent participants had experience of accessing general practice services with their children; and stakeholder participants included clinicians, managers, policymakers, primary care leaders and patient advocates.
Method:
Parent participants reviewed national-level safety incident data and used nominal group technique to generate ideas for change. Ideas were collated, refined and presented to key stakeholder participants, who assessed the potential 'doability' (can be acheived or performed) and impact of each idea.
Results:
Parents (n = 33) generated 16 ideas for change targeting communication, access to care records and results, and shared learning and development. Stakeholders (n = 7) prioritised seven ideas, including a campaign to support parents to speak up, having flexible appointments for children and designating a parent advocate. Parents and stakeholders most strongly agreed on the need to proactively seek parent feedback and solutions.
Conclusion:
Parents are willing and able to support healthcare teams with their patient safety efforts. Their ideas align with national priorities and offer actionable strategies that general practice teams can adopt or adapt for safer paediatric care in their own populations.
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