About the project
The paediatric audit programme has three main components: a Patient Experience Survey which asks children, young people and parents/carers about their experience of paediatric neurosurgery and two Quality Performance Indicators (QPI) focusing on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Central Nervous System tumours. The MSN worked with the paediatric neurosurgical community (clinical staff, patients and carers and the third sector) to develop three age-appropriate surveys for children and young people and the two performance indicators.
Aims
To improve the care of children/young people who have a neurosurgical procedure in Scotland by:
- reporting on the thoughts of children and their families about their experience while they were in hospital
- creating a baseline dataset on QPIs related to the management of children with a traumatic brain injury or brain tumour, managed under the care of a neurosurgeon in Scotland
- reporting on the baseline care received by children and young people with a TBI or brain tumour, managed under the care of a neurosurgeon in Scotland
How do we achieve this?
The Patient Experience Survey
Three age specific surveys were developed; the children’s survey is aimed at 8 -11 year olds, the young people survey to 12 – 16 year olds, and there is also a survey for parents/carers. These surveys were distributed to the four neurosurgical centres in Scotland and given to families at discharge. The survey ran from the 1st of June 2016 to the 31st of May 2017.
The Quality Performance Indicators
The Paediatric Advisory Group (PAG) agreed a limited number of key indicators that reflect activity in both TBI and CNS Tumours. Data was collected on compliance with the indicators and a report has been produced. One of the indicators for the CNS tumour is outcome at one year after surgery. The report provides discussion points that enable the teams within the paediatric units to investigate any cases where an indicator has not been met.
Outcome
Overall mainly positive experiences were reported across the three age groups regarding their hospital experiences. The survey addressed the ward environment, reflections on how they/their child was looked after, experiences pre and post surgery, and the advice given on leaving hospital.
The two quality performance indicators delivered a mixed response. Whilst high levels of compliance were reported regarding central nervous system tumours, disappointing compliance was found with regards to traumatic brain injury.
Documents