Policies

Participant information - WP 3 surveillance survey

Version 1.0 - 25.08.2021
IRAS Project ID: 295054
Title of study: Target Wound Infection
Name of Chief Investigator: Professor Gavin Murphy

We would like to invite you to take part in our research study. Before you decide we would like you to understand why the research is being done and what it would involve for you. You can find out more about the study on our study website – details at the end of this letter. If you would like more information about this survey, please contact us using the email address provided at the end of this information sheet. 

What is the purpose of the survey

Collecting information on wound infection rates after surgery is a necessary component of preventing infections and enables hospitals to recognise when they are doing well in preventing and treating wound infections. However, wound infection surveillance practices after surgery vary from hospital to hospital. We would like staff to tell us why some aspects of surveillance work well, but not others. We would like service users to help us understand what is important to them, and so we can teach them how they can monitor wounds after surgery more effectively. We will use this information to try to increase surveillance monitoring and improve the quality of surveillance data.  

Why have I been invited

You have been invited to complete this survey because you meet at least one of the following criteria. You:

  • are a member of the Cardiothoracic Interdisciplinary Research Network (CIRN)
  • are a member of the National Cardiac Benchmarking Collaboration (NCBC)
  • contribute to the care of patients having cardiac surgery
  • undertake wound infection surveillance
  • are, have been, or are about to become a surgical patient
  • have looked after a surgical patient during their recovery
  • are a member of the public

Do I have to take part

It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. 

What will happen to me if I take part

If you would like to take part, choose as appropriate:

And complete the survey. The survey is anonymous and should take around 20 minutes to complete. Most of the questions are closed – this means you are asked to agree or disagree with a statement. There are also some questions where you can give more information if you wish. If we use any of the information you give in publications or reports, these will be entirely anonymous. 

We would like to encourage you to share the link to the survey with friends or colleagues who may be interested in taking part.

If you are interested in taking part in an online interview where we ask you about some of the survey topics in more detail, please contact us using the email address at the end of this information sheet and we will send you more information before you decide to take part.

What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part 

It is unlikely that you will experience any disadvantages or risks through taking part in this study.

What are the possible benefits of taking part

The information we get from this study may help identify successful strategies for implementing wound infection surveillance in the future.

What will you do with the data from the survey

The information gathered from this survey will identify key issues making better the skills and techniques to improve the way we monitor wounds for infection. We will use this information to shape the questions we use at interviews to explore this topic in more depth. If you are interested in being interviewed, you can give your details at the end of the survey form or you can use the contact details at the end of this information sheet. When the study finishes, we will analyse all the data we have collected and publish our findings. You will be able to find reports, links to publications and conferences on our study website. The link for the study website is at the bottom of this information sheet. 

What if there is a problem

If you have a concern about any aspect of this study, you should ask to speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer your questions. The researchers’ contact details are given at the end of this information sheet. If you remain unhappy and wish to complain formally, you can do this by contacting the Sponsor at rgosponsor@le.ac.uk.

How will we use information about you 

The survey is anonymous, therefore your responses will not be identifiable. In the unlikely event that you reveal any personal information, we will follow ethical and legal practice and all information about you will be handled in confidence. We have asked staff to provide the name of the hospital where they work so that we can analyse the data by the type of surveillance programme conducted at each hospital.

Each time the survey is completed a unique identifier will be allocated. All completed surveys will be held on a secure server in accordance with UK Data Protection laws. 

What are your choices about how your information is used

You can stop being part in the survey at any time, without giving any reason, but we will keep information that you have already completed on the survey.  

Where can you find out more about how you information is used?

You can find out more about how we use your information 

What will happen if I don’t want to carry on with the study 

Your participation is voluntary, and you are free to withdraw at any time, without giving any reason, and without your legal rights being affected. If you withdraw, the responses that have already been inputted will be kept as we are not allowed to tamper with study records and this information may have already been used in some analyses and may still be used in the final study analyses. 

What will happen to the results of the survey

We will explore the findings from the study in greater detail at some follow up interviews. Your responses will help us shape the interview questions.  At the end of the study, we will publish the results in a high quality journal. We will share the results of the study, a short study report and links to published papers on our study website. The link to our study website is at the bottom of this letter. We also plan to share our findings through webinars. The results will also be used to develop wound infection surveillance strategies which we plan to test in a subsequent clinical trial. 

Who is organising and funding the research

This research is being organised by the University of Leicester and is being funded by an NIHR Programme Development Grant. Researchers from Nottingham University, led by Professor Judith Tanner are responsible for the data collection and analysis of the surveillance survey. 

Who has reviewed the study

All research in healthcare is looked at by an independent group of people, called a Research Ethics Committee, to protect your interests. This study has been reviewed and given favourable opinion by East of Scotland Research Ethics Service.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this participant information.

Further information and contact details

If you are interested in taking part in a follow up interview, please contact Professor Judith Tanner (judith.tanner@nottingham.ac.uk).

Chief Investigator

  • Professor Gavin Murphy, British Heart Foundation Chair in Cardiac Surgery, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
  • gjm19@le.ac.uk

Please see our study webpage for more information.

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