Defining and measuring quality in acute paediatric trauma stabilisation: a phenomenographic study

OBJECTIVES: Trauma is the leading cause of death in children. The lack of an accepted definition of what constitutes a high-quality stabilisation of a traumatically injured child has limited the evaluation of direct interventions in simulation-based education and service-delivery models to improve trauma care. The aim of this study was to create a framework that delineates quality by exploring the perceptions of the multi-disciplinary team providing and improving this initial care. METHODS: Interviews were conducted with 36 experienced UK trauma team members and governance administrators (clinical directors to executive board level), from three standard UK trauma units. This study used a phenomenographic approach to explore the relationships and hierarchy between the contrasting perceptions of quality and evaluation of quality in this acute context. RESULTS: The findings show that defining quality is a more complex concept than simple proxy measurements, such as time to CT scanning. They also show that the concept of quality requires the consideration of a spectrum of perspectives that range from the simple to the more sophisticated. This study highlights the importance of teamwork, individualised perspectives and the culture of care provision, when describing quality. A novel framework to delineate quality is presented, comprising System, Team, Process, Individual, Data and Culture. CONCLUSIONS: This study has created a framework of understanding of acute paediatric trauma care quality and its measurement from the perspectives of team members and administrators. A framework and future tools to capture and disseminate the System, Team, Process, Individual, Data and Culture perspectives of the quality of trauma stabilisations could be a key advance in the care of severely injured children. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s41077-019-0091-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.