Psychological Professions and Clinical Decision Making within the NHS

 

Data Collection is Now Closed. 
Thank you for your interest in the study.

 

Participant Information Sheet

My name is Tom Vlietstra (Trainee Clinical Psychologist, University of Surrey) and I would like to invite you to take part in my study which looks at how the Psychological and Therapeutic professions within the NHS engage in Clinical Decision making. The research is supervised by Linda Morison, a Chartered Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey and Dr. Adam McNamara, Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham.

Am I eligible to take part?
To be eligible to take part, you will need to be over the age of 18 years, have a British Citizenship and lived in Britain since the age of 5.
You are required to be an NHS employee working within a psychological profession or training program.
This would include (but would not be limited to): Trainee Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner, Assistant Psychologist, Trainee Clinical Psychologist, Trainee Counselling Psychologist, Clinical Psychologist, Counselling Psychologist, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapist, Family Therapist, Systemic Psychotherapist, Psychodynamic Psychotherapist, Counsellor, and Art Psychotherapist.

Do I have to take part?
Participation in this research is entirely voluntary. You are under no obligations to take part and have a right to withdraw from the study at any point up until completion of the online survey. After completion of the study, as all of the data is anonymised, your responses will not be able to be removed as you will not be able to be identified from your data. To withdraw from the research during the survey, simply close the browser by clicking on the X in the top right hand corner of the window.

What will I have to do?
You will require the volume of your computer to be turned on or use headphones. Please minimise any distractions prior to completing the survey.
You will be asked to watch a 5 minute video vignette of part of a psychological assessment session and then complete a survey and a reaction time experiment. The survey will comprise of questions around formulation, aspects of clinical decision making and your own personal responses.
The reaction time task will involve sorting pictures and words in relation to the above.
The survey will take approximately 20-25 minutes to complete.
This study can not be completed on telephone or tablet devices.

What will happen to my data?
No personal data will be collected during the survey. Your responses will remain confidential, and anonymous upon completion of the survey.
There will be no way to identify you or your responses; therefore once the survey is complete it would not be possible to retract your data.
The data will be handled by the researcher and shared with the supervisor. In- line with University of Surrey Policy, all data will be securely stored for a minimum of 10 years. The study will be completed and submitted to the University in March 2017. It is usual practice for researchers to publish their findings in professional journals so that research can be shared within the profession. Additionally, data provided may be used in further research projects (including undergraduate research projects). Again, your anonymity will be upheld throughout this process.

What are the benefits and downsides of taking part in this research?
Although there may be no direct benefits of taking part in this research, the process of completing the survey will allow you to reflect on aspects of your work which you may find useful on personal and professional levels. The results may be beneficial in developing our understanding of clinical decision making for psychologists within the NHS, which may have implications for service development and future training programs.
The video footage and questions contain reference to experiences of mental health service users. This may include: suicidality, self-harm, distress, challenging language. It is expected that you would implement strategies to manage this as you would in your clinical work. However, if you find some of the footage or questions too upsetting or personal then you do not have to answer them or can leave the survey at any time.
As we are aware of the potential that some people may be caused upset upon completion of the survey, you will receive a full debriefing at the end of the survey and will be signposted to appropriate sources of support if you feel that you need to discuss things further.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information sheet.

If you would like to continue to take part in the research then select the “PLEASE CLICK HERE TO START THE SURVEY” button at the bottom of the page. If you have decided not to take part, then please close the browser.

Who can I contact about this research?
This study has been reviewed and received a favourable ethical opinion from the University of Surrey Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Ethics Committee and NHS Health Research Authority (IRAS ID: 196431).

Permission to be completed on NHS sites has been provided from:
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Surrey and Borders NHS Partnership Trust
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

As additional permissions are granted they shall appear at the bottom of this survey.

Researcher:
Tom Vlietstra
Trainee Clinical Psychologist
PsychD Clinical Psychology Program
School of Psychology
Elizabeth Fry Building
University of Surrey
Guildford
GU2 7XH
Email: T.Vlietstra@surrey.ac.uk

Supervisor:
Linda Morison
Senior Lecturer & Chartered Psychologist
PsychD Clinical Psychology Program
School of Psychology
Elizabeth Fry Building
University of Surrey
Guildford
GU2 7XH
Email: L.Morison@surrey.ac.uk

Program Director:
Mary John
Head of Psych.D Clinical Psychology Course
School of Psychology
Elizabeth Fry Building
University of Surrey
Guildford
GU2 7XH
Email: m.john@surrey.ac.uk.