Conectar
There is increasing awareness of the impact of living with multiple long-term conditions (referred to as multimorbidity) on patients and health systems. Managing multimorbidity remains a challenge for primary care providers; necessitating tailored interventions that are both clinically and cost effective. In the Irish health system, two pilot trials have demonstrated promising results for patients living with multimorbidity. The first, MultimorbiditY COllaborative Medication Review And DEcision making (MyComrade), involved pharmacists supporting the management of polypharmacy, and the second, Link MultiMorbidity (LinkMM), involved link workers delivering social prescribing. This definitive trial aims to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of both these interventions, as well as conduct a process evaluation.
This is a pragmatic, multi-arm, definitive, cluster randomised controlled trial in Irish general practices. The trial will include three arms: (1) MyComrade; (2) LinkMM and (3) usual care, acting as an efficient shared control arm for both interventions. For this trial, 672 patients will be recruited from 48 general practices. The eligibility criteria for the patients will be: (1) over 18 years of age; (2) has two or more chronic conditions; (3) taking 10 or more regular medicines and (4) attending their general practice team for chronic disease management. Outcome data will be collected for all participants, across all trial arms at baseline and 6 months. Primary outcomes include the number of medicines (reflecting the MyComrade intervention) and patient capability (reflecting the LinkMM intervention). Secondary outcomes include proportions and types of potentially inappropriate medications, patient experience of care, patient activation, self-rated health, health-related quality of life, mortality and healthcare utilisation. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected to inform the process evaluation. Additionally, an economic evaluation will be conducted to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of both interventions compared with the control arm.
The trial protocol was approved by the Irish College of General Practice (ICGP) Ethical Review Board (ref: ICGP_Rec_2023_016). A formal knowledge dissemination plan has been developed for the trial, which includes peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and reports to healthcare professionals, commissioners and policymakers.
Amid a global nurse staffing crisis, in 2019 Scotland legislated the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act to address health care workforce challenges. Instead of requiring patient-to-nurse ratios as legislated elsewhere, this act requires staffing decisions according to guiding principles, duties, and a common staffing method. Measuring variation in hospitals' adherence to the act's provisions at baseline is important for policymakers to evaluate fulfillment of the act's requirements and goals. Results will inform policymakers about which provisions are achieved at baseline and which require support for employers to achieve. The purpose of the study was to establish the baseline of nurse staffing standards in Scotland at April 2024 implementation of the Act. Nurse reports of quality, safety, and their intent to leave were measured to complement assessment of the implementation status.
A cross-sectional study design was used. A convenience sample of registered nurses and nursing support workers was recruited through professional organizations and trade unions. Nurses were invited to complete an online survey between May 1 and July 31, 2024. The survey content included demographic and professional characteristics, international nursing metrics, the Act's provisions, and job intentions. Descriptive statistics were calculated to describe the sample, act's provisions, and nurses' job intentions.
The sample comprised 1870 nurses, of whom 93% were registered nurses, from all regions with characteristics reflecting the Scottish nursing workforce. Regarding the act's provisions, 9% reported that nursing staffing is appropriate to provide safe, high-quality care every shift. Similarly, few nurses reported that the quality of care was excellent (17%) or graded safety an A (10%). Most nurses disagreed that current staffing levels met the eight guiding principles. Most nurses reported that the common staffing method and duties regarding real-time staffing decisions were followed at best occasionally. Nearly half of nurses (45%) intend to stay in their current job over the next year. Among those intending to leave their current job, about half plan to leave the profession through retirement or another unspecified job change. The other half plan to seek another similar nursing job or promotion.
Few nurses report that the act's overarching goal is being met at the point of implementation. Although most nurses see nursing as a long-term career, workforce disruption is anticipated through routine turnover, promotion, or retirement, requiring workforce retention policies. Whether the act's complex provisions can be achieved and its goals fulfilled may not reverse the trend of exiting nurses. The complexity of the approach will be a challenge to achieving the objective of safe staffing. Therefore, this approach to achieving safe staffing may be too complex to be recommended widely. These remain urgent questions for Scottish policymakers, nurse leaders, and researchers.
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