York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides a comprehensive range of acute hospital and specialist healthcare services for approximately 800,000 people living in and around York, North Yorkshire, North East Yorkshire and Ryedale - an area covering 3,400 square miles.
The Research & Development Office strive to increase the opportunities for patients and their families to be informed about, and involved in, our research and research processes.
The information on these pages will be relevant to York Hospital staff NHS Foundation Trust staff who are planning their own research study.
This section contains the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Guidance documents issued by the R&D Unit.
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SHARC (Scarborough Coastal Health and Care Research Collaborative)
National funding of £1.2 million provides boost for rural and coastal healthcare research
The Research and Innovation Department, in partnership with the University of Birmingham and the University of York, has secured £1.2 million from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to improve urgent and emergency care in rural coastal areas. The study, led by Dr Arabella Scantlebury, University of Birmingham, and Professor Joy Adamson, University of York, aims to address the unique healthcare challenges faced by these communities, where health outcomes and life expectancy are lower than in urban areas.
Phil Dickinson, Associate Medical Director and Clinical lead for SHARC (Scarborough Coastal Health and Care Research Collaborative) said the funding was a “fantastic opportunity” and he was looking forward to collaborating with academics and other NHS organisations on the research, which will ultimately help the trusts’ patients living on the Yorkshire coast.
“The study will help us understand further how best to improve emergency and urgent care for our patients. The Research and Innovation Department will play a vital role in shaping future emergency care policies. It’s fantastic to see the Trust at the forefront of influencing how NHS policy is implemented in coastal and rural communities.”
Community groups, including Age UK (North Yorkshire Coast and Moors) and SeeCHANGE have been pivotal in the application process and will remain actively involved, ensuring the study reflects local priorities and patient feedback.
England’s Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) system is under pressure. Patients are experiencing long waiting times to access services, including Emergency Departments (EDs) and ambulances. Demand for UEC services in rural and coastal areas is often worse. These areas have older and poorer populations with complex health needs. Services in rural locations find it difficult to recruit and keep NHS staff. In the summer, tourism increases the number of people using local health and care services in coastal towns.
Finding new ways of providing UEC care in rural and coastal areas is a priority for the NHS and UK government. In the past, the way health and care services have been designed has been based on guidance that has been developed for the whole country. We need to change this so UEC services are developed with the needs of local patients and local problems in mind.
We plan to research the different ways that UEC care is being delivered in rural and coastal communities in England. We will find out how different types of UEC care affect patients and NHS staff and how best to use limited NHS resources.
Part 1: We will generate a “list” of the different ways that rural and coastal communities in England are providing care, so we will have an overview of what is currently happening in UEC service provision. We will do so by reviewing documents (e.g. announcements on NHS England’s website) and interviewing key national, regional and local people involved in providing UEC in rural and/or coastal communities.
Part 2: We will use statistical analysis of large datasets from the NHS to explore how different ways of providing UEC in rural and/or coastal towns may impact on patients’ health, and how well an emergency system is performing. For example, how do different UEC models affect waiting times in EDs?
Part 3: We will spend several days at a time at 12 emergency departments and their associated UEC systems in rural and/or coastal areas. We will watch how doctors, nurses and other staff work. We will talk to patients and staff within EDs and other UEC services (e.g. the ambulance service). This will give us a detailed understanding of how different ways of providing UEC can affect people, health and care services and local areas.
The study will provide a better understanding of how best to deliver UEC in rural and coastal areas. This information will improve patient experience and the way care is organised and delivered. Our study will guide future policy around UEC so it takes particular account of the needs of rural and coastal communities.
Our plans for involving patients and members of the public in our research have been designed by a rural, coastal community in the North of England - Scarborough. The community suggested that to engage with a diverse range of people we need to “take our research into the community” rather than relying on the community coming to us. Throughout our project we will regularly obtain advice from existing local community groups in Scarborough. This community-based approach will ensure our research addresses issues that are important to and inclusive of people living in rural and coastal communities
https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/24904477.scarborough-hospital-awarded-1-2m-healthcare-study/
1st April 2023 – 31st March 2024
York & Scarborough
50 research studies open to recruitment
3246 patients recruited into clinical trials
