Clinical Research Directory

Changing Outcomes Through Achievement Emails in COPD Using Routine Healthcare Audits

Sponsor: University of Leeds

Summary

This study is exploring how to improve prescribing for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in primary care. COPD is a long-term lung condition. Guidelines recommend the most effective inhalers for different patient groups, but in practice, some patients still receive treatments that are less effective or no longer recommended. One proven way to support better prescribing is "audit and feedback." This involves giving GP practices reports showing how their prescribing compares with guidance and with other practices. Audit and feedback can change behaviour, particularly when focused on medicines and when practices have scope to improve. In West Yorkshire, the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) is running a quality improvement project (QIP) to reduce inappropriate prescribing in COPD. Every GP practice already receives regular feedback reports. This study will run within that project. The research will test whether the type of email sent with these reports influences prescribing. Practices will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: * Personalised emails: highlighting their own performance, recognising progress, and giving practical suggestions. * Generic emails: a simple notification that the report is available, with no tailored advice. All practices will receive the same reports, seven times over one year; only the email wording will differ. The main outcome will be the change in how many COPD patients are prescribed inhalers that combine a long-acting beta agonist and inhaled corticosteroid (LABA/ICS), which are no longer recommended in COPD. Secondary outcomes will include other COPD prescribing measures identified by a clinical expert panel. The study will also explore factors that might influence effectiveness, such as practice size, deprivation, and COPD caseload. Data will come from existing NHS sources. The ICB already collects anonymised prescribing data for improvement work. For this study, the data will be pseudonymised so researchers cannot identify practices. The University of Leeds will analyse the results, but the research team will not know which code relates to which practice. This study will not change patient care directly. All patients will continue with their usual GP treatment. The aim is to understand whether small changes in delivering audit and feedback make it more effective in supporting best prescribing. In the long term, this could improve the safety and quality of COPD care.

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