Host university: Newcastle University
PhD research project: Exploring the potential for analysis of routinely collected data to optimise the use of health services and promote equitable outcomes in the older population: A study of emergency hospital attendances and admissions
Project summary: My research project is focussed on how we can maximise the use of routinely collected data to improve the lives of older people in social care.
Routinely collected data in health and social care refers to data collected within health and care systems for purposes other than research, such as patient’s electronic health records. Routinely collected data are widely used for clinical and health services research throughout the NHS, however a lack of curated, linked, data within the social care sector has made research in this area challenging.
By analysing routinely collected data within health and social care, my research project aims to identify priority areas for the development of community-based care data. Development of community-based care datasets would make it possible to study care pathways and associated outcomes within the older population, to optimise the provision of care to the older population.
My analysis will focus on emergency hospital attendances and admissions within the older population. Extensive research has been carried out with the aim of reducing emergency hospital admissions in the older population. This is important from the perspective of patients and healthcare providers: the demand for emergency care is rising, which presents a challenge for our resource-strained NHS. Furthermore, many older people would prefer to receive care in the community rather than in Accident and Emergency departments, to avoid the potential adverse consequences of a hospital stay.
My project aims to compare patterns of emergency hospital attendances and admissions and associated outcomes for older people receiving different types of social care, such as residential care and home care, to determine whether use of emergency health services is equitable across the older population.
Expected PhD completion date: September 2024
Contact: [email protected]