Theatres

Researchers are contacting patients who have undergone surgery at UCLH NHS Foundation Trust in 2022, who were not previously taking opioid medication and who were discharged home with opioid medications.

Why is the research being carried out?

Opioids (strong painkiller medications) are often used after surgery because pain often happens and not treating it can be unpleasant and can lead to delays in their recovery or other complications. 

Some people can find it difficult to stop using opioids once they have started for various reasons. This may be because they continue to experience pain or because they have become dependent on these medications, for example.  Continuing to take opioids long-term can lead to many negative health effects.

What does the research study aim to do?

The researchers will send information about the study by email to patients approximately 3 months after they were discharged to invite them to take part in the study. They will follow this up with a telephone call to confirm whether the patients want to take part.

Patients who choose to take part in the study will be invited to participate in telephone interviews lasting between 30 minutes to one hour, during which they will be asked questions about their pain, medication use after surgery and support received from the healthcare system.

The findings of this study will allow the team to make recommendations regarding the advice, follow-up and support given to patients discharged with opioids following surgery.

Is patient information being collected or used by researchers before patients choose to take part in the study?

Patients who meet the study criteria will be identified by a computer programme which will automatically search for their names and contact details in our electronic patient record system.  The computer programme will produce a contact list with names, email addresses and telephone numbers. No other personal information or information regarding any aspect of clinical care will be available or visible to researchers or anyone else involved in this research. If patients cannot be contacted, or choose not to take part in the study, their names and contact details will be permanently deleted from the research contact list. No aspect of the care they receive will be affected by this decision.

YOU CAN OPT OUT: Please contact Dr Fausto Morell-Ducos, who is one of the researchers, by email at fausto.morellducos@nhs.net, by telephone at 020 3448 4776, or by post at National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Cleveland Street

25 Cleveland Street, W1T 4AJ if you DO NOT want researchers to contact you and your name will be excluded from the automatic computer search used to generate the contact list. Opting out WILL NOT affect any of your future care.

NATIONAL DATA OPT-OUT

The national data opt-out service allows patients to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for research and planning. If you have previously chosen for your data not to be used in NHS research, you will not be contacted to be invited to take part in this study.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE?

Please click here for a more detailed explanation of the research project.