Faculty of Health Studies PhD Studentship

Project Title: Implementation and adoption of an electronic health record into maternity care

In this project, you will work with an acute NHS Trust as maternity services transition from using one electronic health record (EHR) to using a different EHR that has already been implemented across other areas of the Trust. The shared care model means that this transition is a complex one, involving two different professional groups (obstetricians and midwives) and affecting not only maternity services within the hospital but also in the community. Maternity care is also a unique area of healthcare; clinicians are working with mostly well women in specific scenarios, contrasting with the scenarios of EHR use in other clinical areas where clinicians are working with unwell patients. Previous studies of EHR use in maternity services have found fragmentation and continued use of paper (1), limiting the potential benefits that the EHR can bring in terms of improved information sharing and continuity of care.

This PhD aims to support the implementation of the new EHR for maternity services within the hospital and within the community. The first stage will be an ethnographic study of the work practice in these different settings, in order to develop an in-depth understanding of the needs and perspectives of different user groups (doctors, midwives, healthcare assistants). On the basis of this, in the second stage you will develop and evaluate practical strategies for supporting the uptake of the EHR, using the findings from this stage to generate guidance for other healthcare providers looking to implement, or improve uptake of, EHRs in maternity services. It is also hoped that this work will result in an adoption model for EHRs that has broader applicability. At the beginning of the PhD, you will agree the details of the project in collaboration with key stakeholders within the Trust.

Based within the Faculty of Health Studies, you will spend time at the Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research, a collaboration between the Universities of Bradford and Leeds and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. You will also collaborate with researchers in the Digital Innovations for Patient Safety theme in the Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, funded by the National Institute for Health Research.