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Project title
Variations in the organisation of Early Pregnancy Assessment Units in the UK and their effects on clinical, service and patient-centred outcomes
Project description
Early Pregnancy Assessment Units (EPAUs) are dedicated units within NHS hospitals that provide specialist care to women who experience pain or bleeding in the first fourteen weeks of pregnancy or women with a previous miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. While most NHS hospitals in the UK have an EPAU, there are considerable variations between EPAUs in the levels of care they provide and their accessibility to women. In addition, staffing levels vary considerably between the units. The most cost-effective organisational model for an EPAU is unknown. Early pregnancy problems are very common and, given the variation amongst units, women are likely to have different experiences of the services and the care provided. During this project, we will collect information for all women who present to randomly selected EPAUs across the country over a defined period of time with suspected complications of early pregnancy. We will explore women’s experiences of the care they received in an EPAU and we will also assess the economic performance of EPAUs. The information obtained from this study will help to better organise EPAUs nationwide in order to ensure optimal clinical outcomes in the most cost effective way.
Start date
01/2013
Primary supervisor
Mr Davor Jurkovic
Based at
UCLH EGA Wing