Royal Hospitals Trust, Belfast

Name of Contact:Prof. Brendan McCormack
Phone: 028 9063 5332
E-mail: brendan.mccormack@royalhospitals.n-i.nhs.uk

Description of Trust

e.g geography, type of trust, nursing WTE etc

The Royal Hospitals is Northern Ireland's biggest and best known hospitals complex. Almost two thirds of the Northern Ireland population live within 40 minutes travel from the 70 acre site which is situated only a few minutes drive from Belfast city center. Made up of four linked hospitals - the Royal Victoria, Royal Jubilee Maternity Service, Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children and the Dental Hospital - "the Royal" treats more than half a million people every year and has a worldwide reputation for excellence. Almost all the regional, medical, surgical and dental speciality services for Northern Ireland are provided by the Royal Hospitals. The Royal has more than a fifth of all acute beds in Northern Ireland. We have a staff of some 6,000 including a quarter of all hospital doctors in the province and 2000 registered nurses and midwives. As well as being one of only seven hospitals in the UK classified as a trauma centre, every year The Royal treats around 500,000 people - 334,000 as outpatients, 22,6,00 emergency admissions, 48,9331 inpatient admissions and 24,204 day cases.

Infrastructure to support R&D

Include here any reference to R&D strategy and HEI links / joint appointments, career pathways, IT access, research support networks, evaluation / outcomes etc

In 2000 the Royal appointed a Professor/Director of Nursing Research and Practice Development as a joint appointment with the School of Nursing, University of Ulster. The post is set at ADNS level and has authority to lead nursing development and research in the Trust. A strategy for nursing research & development has been developed as an integrated approach to research, practice development and clinical education. A team of 22 people has been recruited to facilitate this, working across all specialties in the Trust. The Royal has led the development of the Research Governance Framework for R&D in Northern Ireland and nursing research is an integral component of this. The Director of Nursing Research & PD works collaboratively with the trust’s Director of Research. Four jointly appointed Research Associate posts have been created between the Royal and the University of Ulster. Two other joint posts (fixed term) have been created between the trust and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council (NIPEC). In addition, in 2003, the Royal invested in excess of £100 000 in developing a ‘Nursing Development Centre’ in the trust from where the ‘Nursing Development Team’ work (Director of Nursing Research & PD; Head of Clinical Education; Practice Development Coordinator; Nursing Development Facilitators (11); Research Associates/Project Officers (5); Consultant Nurses (2) and administrative support (2)). Research & Development grants in excess of £600 000 have been secured for programmes of work in the trust in the last 2 years. The strategy is being evaluated on an ongoing basis and as a part of the trusts accountability framework.

Examples of clinically based research and development projects / activity that have made a difference to patients experience / outcomes

Include here for example projects, conferences etc.

Person-centred nursing project: a quasi-experimental design with a PD intervention. This project is in its second year and is due for completion in 2005 (joint trust/University funding).
Development of person-centred practice in perioperative nursing: an emancipatory practice development project (trust funded). This project started in 2002 and is a 5-year programme of work.
Development of person-centred rehabilitation practices in services for older people (trust/University funding): a 3-year emancipatory practice development programme. This programme has secured 2 external competitive grants for particular strands of work:
1. BUPA Foundation: development of a methodology for the collection of user narratives as an indicator of care quality with older people (£80 000)
2. R&D Office NI/HRB Republic Of Ireland (jointly with University College, Cork): identification of the contextual indicators that inhibit the use of evidence among nurses in the promotion of continence with older people (£160 000)
Development of a Clinical Careers Framework for Nurses (The REACH Programme) (DHSSPS & joint post with the RCN – £120 000): integrated realistic evaluation programme and accreditation framework.
Development of person-centred nursing in surgical settings (joint project with Belfast City Hospital) (DHSSPS funding £150 000): a 2-year programme of emancipatory practice development and research work with 60 clinical leaders across 8 surgical specialties. This project started in 2003.