Traditional approaches to quality improvement often neglect the experiences of service users. I like to bring the user’s experience to the fore, and have worked with service providers and management consultancies to incorporate user-centred service design into quality management systems using QI approaches. A recent example of this collaboration was the introduction of The Brilliant Basics quality management system at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.
Research using user-centred methods
I am active in user-centred research, as a co-investigator on funded research projects. I make sure that research bids and practice pay meaningful attention to the interests and concerns of service users and front line staff.
I enjoy tackling the challenges posed by this sort of research, and am keen to push the boundaries of user-centred research, writing and publishing to share this learning with others.
Recent projects include:
Working with The Health Improvement Studies (THIS) Institute at the University of Cambridge to co-design new principles for the development and use of visual identification systems in the care of people with dementia in hospital.
Working with the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) at the University of Oxford to co-design approaches to Intermittent Auscultation in labour.
Recent publications include:
Macdonald AS, Fitzsimons B, Stockley N and Kuberska K (2023). Co-designing high-level design principles for a visual identification system for people with dementia in acute hospital ward settings. BMJ Quality and Safety. BMJ Open 13(5):e069352. 13(5):e069352. DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069352
Maclellan J, Ade M, Fitzsimons B et al (2024). Women’s experience of intermittent auscultation fetal monitoring in labour: a qualitative study. Women and Birth (In press).