Ambulance Outcomes Programme

PhOEBE – Pre-hospital Outcomes for Evidence Based Evaluation

The PhOEBE project is a five year programme of research designed to develop new ways of measuring the impact of ambulance service care that can be used to monitor performance, measure quality improvement and evaluate service innovation.

There are 4 distinct but linked work-streams to the project:

• Identification of possible indicators or measures using a range of methods including evidence reviews, patient interviews, consensus workshops and a Delphi Study.
• Development of a comprehensive data set that links electronic information from the ambulance service (call data and electronic patient records), hospital services (HES and HES A&E) and national mortality statistics. Primary care may also be added.
• Using this dataset to construct risk adjustment models for indicators identified in the first work stream that can predicts the outcome from characteristics of the incident, patient and pre-treatment condition of the patient.
• Testing the models in the “real world” using analyses for different scenarios. Dissemination through events and practical workshops so that the final models can be used within the NHS.

The programme is a collaborative effort involving the Universities of Sheffield, Swansea & Lincoln, East Midlands (EMAS) and Yorkshire Ambulance Services (YAS) and the East Midlands Public Health Observatory. Staff involved in the programme are:

Sheffield

• Janette Turner, Jon Nicholl, Steve Goodacre, Andrew Booth, John Brazier, Mike Campbell, Alicia O’Cathain, Jo Coster, Richard Wilson

EMAS/Lincoln

• Niro Siriwardena, James Gray, Viet-Hai Phung

YAS

• Alison Walker, Jane Shewan

Swansea

• Helen Snooks, Ronan Lyons

East Midlands Public Health Observatory

• David Meechan, Heather Heard

Funding

NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research

Timetable

June 2011 – May 2016