Within acute care and specifically following surgery, monitoring patients is essential to detect any patient deterioration and to allow for rapid intervention if needed. An area of research that is growing is the use of remote monitoring to detect early and live patient deterioration.

The aim of this study is to understand healthcare staff and patient experiences of bed capacity and monitoring within the ward, to provide supporting context as to whether there is a need for wearable devices. In addition to determining the anticipated acceptability, feasibility, barriers, and facilitators of implementing a wearable device intervention.

The study will use a qualitative research design based on interviews with staff and patients across five NHS Trusts to address the questions below.

From the healthcare staff perspective:

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• How do healthcare staff experience and manage bed capacity challenges?

• What are staff perceptions of wearable devices for the remote monitoring of patients on the ward (post-operative setting)?

• What are staff perceptions of wearable devices for the remote monitoring of patients off the ward/ at home (post-operative setting)?

• What are staff views on a pathway for the remote monitoring of patients using wearable devices?

• What would be an acceptable and feasible implementation strategy for remote monitoring?

• What are the factors that could potentially act as barriers and enablers in implementation?

From the patient perspective:

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• What are the experiences of in-patients regarding bed capacity and remote monitoring?

• What are patients’ views of being monitored remotely while on the ward using wearable devices?

• What are patients’ views of being monitored remotely while off the ward/ at home using wearable devices?

• What would be an acceptable and feasible implementation strategy for remote monitoring?

• What are the factors that could potentially act as barriers and enablers in implementation?

Lead Investigators