A mixed methods study to develop and pilot a Competency Assessment Tool to support therapists in the care of patients with blunt CHest trauma: CATCh Study

Why are we doing this?

Thousands of patients with chest injuries, such as broken ribs, attend hospital every year. Therapists (physiotherapists, occupational therapists and others) play an important role in the patients' care, but don’t always know what skills / knowledge are important to achieve the best possible care.

A competency checklist is a method used by a clinician to assess their own skills and knowledge, which in turn ensures safety and quality of care.

What we hope to discover:

What should be included in the competency checklist, and once developed, whether therapists find it useful.
To achieve this, we will:

1. Search for all work that has already been done on this topic and summarise it into one report.
2. Hold meetings with patients, therapists and other professionals to collect information on they think are important aspects of the care. This will help gain an understanding of what should be included in the checklist. A small group of expert therapists will develop the final checklist using the information found in phases one and two. Public Research Partners will also read the final checklist to make sure it makes sense.
3. 50 therapists from five Welsh hospitals will then be asked to use the checklist to assess their own skills and knowledge. They will also fill in a questionnaire, telling us whether they thought the checklist was useful or not. 15-20 therapists will complete an interview with us, to give us more detailed information about how useful or not they found the checklist.

How the public research partners have been involved:

Our team of patient representatives has been part of our research team for many years. They help with all aspects of project design and management. They give invaluable insight into the patient's perspective. One of these partners (co-app Jane Barnett) has been heavily involved in the design of this study and has helped write the application. She will continue to support and advise on the running of this study. Two partners will be involved in reviewing the data collection tools (focus group and survey) and they will also review patient focus group transcripts and assist in writing lay summaries and participating at relevant dissemination events. We have engaged a diverse team of therapist representatives, to help us ensure the study is inclusive to all therapists, who may have additional needs.

How will our findings make a difference and how we will tell people about the findings:

The checklist will lead to improved therapy care for patients with chest injuries in Wales. We will hold a series of events for both therapists and the public. We will publish our results in a journal and present at Therapy Conferences