West, Elizabeth, Chandler, Val, Wik, Anna, Magee, Helen and Baron, David (2012) An evaluation of professional networks, co-ordination, cooperation and collaboration in the West Midlands Paediatric Palliative Care Network. Project Report. Together for Short Lives, Bristol, UK.

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Abstract

Introduction: This is a report on Strand 3 of the Big Study, which studied the West Midlands Paediatric Palliative Care Network. The Big Study was funded by The Big Lottery Fund and Strand 3 of the Big Study was researched by the Centre for Nursing and Healthcare Research in the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Greenwich.
1.1 Background: The West Midlands Paediatric Palliative Care Network began as an interest group which started
in the year 2000, with 6 to 10 members and grew. At one stage it was allied to the Birmingham Cancer Network and funded by the NHS Strategic Health Authority and at this stage it became more representative of services and West Midlands geography. It has existed in its current format, as a voluntary clinical network to promote paediatric palliative care and share best practice since 2009. The membership is wide and inclusive which means 30 to 40 people may attend the meetings which are held on a bimonthly basis and are hosted and supported charitably. Subgroups are now used to manage work in specific areas e.g. transition or clinical standards. There are links
to other related networks with reciprocal membership and informal links to NHS commissioners who may seek advice.
1.2 Scope: This strand of the Big Study focused on the West Midlands Paediatric Palliative Care Network. The geographical area of the West Midlands Paediatric Palliative Care Network includes Birmingham, Coventry, The Black Country, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Solihull, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. All members of the WMPCCN and the organisations they represent were included in the study. Both NHS and non-NHS organisations offering clinical services to any children requiring palliative care were represented. Excluded from this study was the detailed examination of any of the other networks, e.g. children’s speciality networks or networks covering smaller geographical areas, to which members belonged.
1.3 Report: This report will present the results of an analysis of the responses to an online questionnaire and Social Network data from semi structured telephone interviews. This data was collected during the period February to June 2012. The approach included analysing the online survey data in order to understand the benefits and
constraints of the network for individual members and Social Network Analysis of data derived from telephone interviews to explore the flow of knowledge, communication and information within the network. This report will consist of 3 different sections, with Section 1 focusing on children’s palliative care policy, the development of clinical networks and social network analysis concepts. Section 2 will focus on the research design and methods. Section 3 presents the results of the study and the final section provides a summary and conclusions of the analysis.

Item Type:	Monograph (Project Report)
Additional Information:	[1] In Part Two of the larger report, pp. 132-157. This is a report on Strand 3 of the Big Study, which studied the West Midlands Paediatric Palliative Care Network. Strand 3 of the Big Study was researched by the Centre for Nursing and Healthcare Research in the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Greenwich. [2] The Big Study for Life-limited Children and their Families – How well are the palliative care needs of children with life-limiting conditions and their families met by services in the West Midlands? Also, known as The Big Study for Better Care for Children and Families. [3] The Big Study was funded by the Big Lottery Research Programme and involved collaboration between Together for Short Lives and five academic institutions. It began in Autumn 2010 and concluded in the Summer of 2012. Each academic partner pursued a different strand of enquiry to research how well the palliative care needs of children with life-limiting conditions and their families were being met by services in the West Midlands. Dr Anne Hunt from the University of Central Lancashire led a team to develop an understanding of the demographic and geographical distribution of children with life-limiting conditions across the West Midlands. Professor Jane Coad from Coventry University led a team to identify the met and unmet needs of children with life-limiting conditions and their families in the area. Professor Elizabeth West from the University of Greenwich led an evaluation of the professional network operating across the region - looking at the co-ordination, co-operation and collaboration in the West Midlands Paediatric Palliative Care Network (WMPPCN). Nick Hex from York Health Economics Consortium led the economic evaluation of service delivery. This work enabled the team to identify the financial burden for families with children with life-limiting conditions, as well as identifying the costs to services for providing care and support to this cohort of children and young people. Sophie Staniszewska from the University of Warwick led the work on patient and public involvement throughout the study and her team’s work with a parent advisory group has helped steer the study and provided an insight to the context and processes of effective involvement.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	palliative care, children, care needs, life-limiting conditions, family, West Midlands
Subjects:	R Medicine > RT Nursing
Pre-2014 Departments:	School of Health & Social Care
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	14 Oct 2016 09:23
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/9441

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