Questions, questions, questions (ii)

Just returned from the SDO/HSRN conference in Liverpool with a rich mix of researchers, managers, clinicians and patients (and actually a few individuals who were all of the above).   Below are some of the questions relating to research itself – methodology, resources, capacity, dissemination – which I came across at some point of the conference.  Would be good to hear of others…

Do we need a standardised measure of readmission?   How easy is it to link datasets at a person-level and for what use?  Which datasets are currently underused or could be better linked to others (such as clinical audit)?  How can researchers deliver quick productivity (cost/benefit) impacts of service innovations to NHS managers without compromising on methods? How can we get better standardised data from independent and third sector?  What learning will we be able to draw from WSD when complete – the biggest health services trial of its kind?  How can research on organisations deal with rapid change in the structures and systems being studied?  How can we use story-telling techniques to engage patients and staff in service re-design?  Do we need a pan-European health service research forum?  What are the limits of standard systematic review methodology for health service research questions?  Which European country is most productive in terms of health service research outputs (spare our blushes)?  What post-doctoral fellowship opportunities exist in health services research?  How can we educate managers better on the flaws with using uncontrolled before-after studies to evaluate local interventions (given regression to the mean)?  Do we know enough about what works for those patients excluded from trials (eg only 10-15% of stroke patients might fit inclusion criteria)? Is there a gap in funding for health services research around design and built environment? How can we build knowledge of implementation science into national clinical guidelines ie making the delivery as evidence-based as the treatment?  What mechanisms work for better `push’ and `pull’ of evidence into practice?  What unit of analysis for competition could be used when comparing pathways across a whole system of care, as opposed to hospitals?  How can we test the reliability of measures (of patient experience) used to compare organisational performance?

[With a nod to The Interrogative Mode http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/07/padgett-powell-interrogative-mood-review]