How do parents and health professionals view and engage with the DETECT e-PEWS?

Paediatric early warning systems (PEWS) allow health professionals to record, monitor and respond to a child’s vital signs and physiological state, as well as other key data. When signs of deterioration are recognised, the score triggers a clinical review and/or escalation of care as needed. In the Dynamic Electronic Tracking and Escalation to reduce Critical Care Transfers (DETECT) study an end-to-end deterioration solution surveillance system with an embedded e-PEWS that included sepsis screening (DETECT e-PEWS) was introduced across a tertiary children’s hospital. A sub-study aimed to examine how parents and health professionals viewed and engaged with the DETECT e-PEWS apps, focussing specifically on clinical utility and acceptability. Parents (n=137) and health professionals (n=151) with experience of DETECT e-PEWS completed e-surveys. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse quantitative data, and thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Overall, the system demonstrated good clinical utility and acceptability although there were differences between staff mandated to use the system to document vital signs compared to staff using the system to respond to alerts. Some challenges to utility (e.g., sensitivity of triggers within specific patient populations) and acceptability (e.g., burden related to having to carry extra technology) were identified.

Ethical Approval: North-West, Liverpool East Research Ethics Committee (IRAS ID: 215339)