The Edinburgh Royal Maternity Hospital and The Medicalisation of Childbirth in Edinburgh, 1844- I914: A Casebook-Centred Perspective

This thesis examines the development of the Edinburgh Royal Maternity Hospital in the context of medical care in Edinburgh during the period 1844-1914. It is based primarily on casebooks of the hospital and, in particular, on in-depth micro-studies of all of the hospital's Indoor and Outdoor cases in four discrete years, at approximately 20-year intervals. The central argument of the thesis is that Over the period 1844- 1914, professionals and patients at the hospital came to understand birth as a medical rather than a social event, and that this had repercussions for both groups as well as the institution itself. Chapter 1 places the thesis in the context of other secondary uork on the development of maternity hospitals and care, and examines the use of casebooks as primary sources. Chapter 2 considers the hospital and its staff in relation to the city and the Edinburgh medical community in particular. Chapter 3 examines the patients who attended. It argues that, in the nineteenth century, their perception of the hospital was as a place of social shelter. However, by 1912 a greater number attended for otherwise unaffordable medical care at birth. Chapter 4 examines the medical treatment given to patients. It argues that there was increasing acceptance of medicalisation by patients in the period studied, and increasing confidence in giving such treatment by the professionals involved. Chapter 5 discusses the staff and male and female trainees at the hospital. It suggests that, prior to the introduction of national requirements, the provision of training was driven by commercial concerns, and therefore varied throughout the period studied, particularly in the amount of practical experience offered. The relationship between the different grades of staff and the treatment they offered, described in the chapter, suggests increasing stratification in the roles of doctors and nurses at delivery and during the puerperium. The increase in nursing care following the birth indicates the creation of a professional role that among the poor had previously been undertaken by family members. The role played by increasing anxiety over infection following the introduction of strict antiseptic measures is discussed. The thesis concludes that in Edinburgh the medicalisation of childbirth among the poor was well-advanced by 1912, and suggests that this was a result of increasing patient acceptance combined with the increasing professionalisation of care

Agents, mechanisms and clinical features of non-scald burns in children: a prospective UK study

ABSTRACT Aims: To inform childhood burn prevention by identifying demographics, clinical features and circumstances of unintentional non-scald burns. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted across Cardiff, Bristol and Manchester, including six emergency departments, three minor injury units and one burns unit between 13/01/2013-01/10/2015. Data collected for children aged <16 years with any burn (scald, contact, flame, radiation, chemical, electrical, friction) included: demographics, circumstances of injury and clinical features. Scalds and burns due to maltreatment were excluded from current analysis. Results: Of 564 non-scald cases, 60.8% were male, 51.1% were 0.6meters and 76.5% affected the hands. Hairstyling devices were the most common agent of contact burns (20.5%), 34.1% of hairstyling devices were on the floor. 63.7% of children aged 10-15 years sustained contact burns of which 23.2% were preparing food, and in burns from hairstyling devices, 73.3% were using them at the time of injury. Conclusions: Parents of toddlers must learn safe storage of hazardous items. Older children should be taught skills in safe cooking and hairstyling device use

An evaluation of the efficacy and impact of a clinical prediction tool to identify maltreatment associated with children’s burns

Background An estimated 10%–24% of children attending emergency departments with a burn are maltreated. Objective To test whether a clinical prediction tool (Burns Risk assessment for Neglect or abuse Tool; BuRN-Tool) improved the recognition of maltreatment and increased the referral of high-risk children to safeguarding services for assessment. Methods A prospective study of children presenting with burns to four UK hospitals (2015–2018), each centre providing a minimum of 200 cases before and after the introduction of the BuRN-Tool. The proportions of children referred to safeguarding services were compared preintervention and postintervention, and the relationship between referral and the recommended cut-off for concern (BuRN-Tool score (BT-score) ≥3) was explored. Results The sample was 2443 children (median age 2 years). Nurses and junior doctors mainly completed the BuRN-Tool, and a BT-score was available for 90.8% of cases. After intervention, 28.4% (334/1174) had a BT-score ≥3 and were nearly five times more likely to be discussed with a senior clinician than those with a BT-score <3 (65.3% vs 13.4%, p<0.001). There was no overall difference in the proportion of safeguarding referrals preintervention and postintervention. After intervention, the proportion of referrals for safeguarding concerns was greater when the BT-score was ≥3 (p=0.05) but not for scores <3 (p=0.60). A BT-score of 3 as a cut-off for referral had a sensitivity of 72.1, a specificity of 82.7 and a positive likelihood ratio of 4.2. Conclusions A BT-score ≥3 encouraged discussion of cases of concern with senior colleagues and increased the referral of <5 year-olds with safeguarding concerns to children’s social care

Burns and Scalds Assessment Template:Standardising clinical assessment of childhood burns in the Emergency Department

Objectives The Burns and Scalds Assessment Template (BaSAT) is an evidence-based proforma coproduced by researchers and ED staff with the aim of (1) standardising the assessment of children attending ED with a burn, (2) improving documentation and (3) screening for child maltreatment. This study aimed to test whether the BaSAT improved documentation of clinical, contributory and causal factors of children’s burns. Methods A retrospective before-and-after study compared the extent to which information was recorded for 37 data fields after the BaSAT was introduced in one paediatric ED. Pre-BaSAT, a convenience sample of 50 patient records of children who had a burn was obtained from the hospital electronic database of 2007. The post-BaSAT sample included 50 randomly selected case notes from 2016/2017 that were part of another research project. Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted to test for statistical significance. Results Pre-BaSAT, documentation of key data fields was poor. Post-BaSAT, this varied less between patients, and median completeness significantly (p<0.001) increased from 44% (IQR 4%–94%) to 96% (IQR 94%–100%). Information on ‘screening for maltreatment, referrals to social care and outcome’ was poorly recorded pre-BaSAT (median of 4% completed fields) and showed the greatest overall improvement (to 95%, p<0.001). Documentation of domestic violence at home and child’s ethnicity improved significantly (p<0.001) post-BaSAT; however, these were still not recorded in 36% and 56% of cases, respectively. Conclusion Introduction of the BaSAT significantly improved and standardised the key clinical data routinely recorded for children attending ED with a burn

To what extent are GCS and AVPU equivalent to each other when assessing the level of consciousness of children with head injury? A cross-sectional study of UK hospital admissions.

Objective To evaluate utility and equivalence of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and the Alert, Voice, Pain, Unresponsive (AVPU) scale in children with head injury. Design Cross sectional study. Setting UK hospital admissions: September 2009–February 2010. Patients 1 year significantly more had a CT scan when GCS<14 was recorded than ‘V/P/U only’ and the diagnostic yield was greater. Prehospital GCS and GCS in the ED were the same for 77.4% (705/911). Conclusion There was a clear correlation between Alert and GCS=15 and between Unresponsive and GCS=3 but a wider range of GCS scores for responsive to Pain or Voice that varied with age. AVPU was valuable at initial assessment of infants and did not adversely affect the proportion of infants who had head CT or the diagnostic yield

Qualitative analysis of clinician experience in utilising the BuRN Tool (Burns Risk assessment for Neglect or abuse Tool) in clinical practice

Introduction The BuRN-Tool (Burns Risk assessment for Neglect or abuse Tool) is a clinical prediction tool (CPT) aiding the identification of child maltreatment in children with burn injuries. The tool has been derived from systematic reviews and epidemiological studies, validated and is under-going an implementation evaluation. Clinician opinion on the use of this CPT is a key part of its evaluation. Objectives To explore the experience of emergency clinicians use of the BuRN-Tool in an emergency department (ED). Methods Three focus groups were conducted over a six-week period by the research team in the ED in the University Hospital of Wales; 25 emergency clinicians attended. A semi-structured approach was taken with pre-determined open-ended questions asked followed by a series of case vignettes to which the CPT was applied. The focus groups were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was conducted for identification of pre-set and emergent themes. All data were double-coded. Results All participants said that it was acceptable to use the BuRN-Tool to aid in the decision-making process surrounding child maltreatment. All participants said that the BuRN-Tool was helpful and straight forward to use. All participants said that the tool was clinically beneficial, particularly for junior staff and those who do not always work in a paediatric environment. The clinical vignettes identified subjectivity in interpretation questions around adequate supervision, previous social care involvement and full thickness burns. This resulted in some variation in scoring. Conclusions This study confirms that the BuRN-Tool is acceptable in an ED setting. The focus groups demonstrated a homogenous and positive attitude regarding the layout, benefits and use of the BuRN-Tool. The subjective interpretation of some variables accounts for the non-uniformity in the scores generated. Clarification of questions will be made

Bruising in children who are assessed for suspected physical abuse

Objective To describe the characteristics of bruising and mode of presentation of children referred to the paediatric child protection team with suspected physical abuse (PA), and the extent to which these differ between the children where abuse was confirmed and those where it was excluded. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting and patients 519 children, <6 years, referred to two paediatric child protection teams. Main outcome measures The mode of presentation, number, anatomical distribution, size and appearance of bruises according to whether PA was confirmed or excluded. ORs with 95% CI were calculated where relevant. Results PA was confirmed in 69% of children; the rate varied from 84% when abuse was witnessed, admitted, alleged or where explanation for injury was absent or implausible, to 50% where there was a concerning history. Significantly more children with PA had bruises (89.4%) than PA-excluded (69.9%) and had significantly more sites affected (p<0.001). The odds of a PA child having bruising to: buttocks/genitalia (OR 10.9 (CI 2.6 to 46), left ear (OR 7.10 (CI 2.2 to 23.4), cheeks (Left (OR 5.20 (CI 2.5 to 10.7), Right OR 2.83 (CI 1.5 to 5.4)), neck (OR 3.77 (CI 1.3 to 10.9), trunk (back (OR 2.85 (CI 1.6 to 5.0) front (OR 4.74 (CI 2.2 to 10.2), front of thighs (OR2.48 (CI 1.4 to 4.5) or upper arms (OR 1.90 (CI 1.1 to 3.2) were significantly greater than in children with PA-excluded. Petechiae, linear or bruises with distinct pattern, bruises in clusters, additional injuries or a child known to social services for previous child abuse concerns were significantly more likely in PA. Conclusions Features in the presenting history, the extent and pattern of bruising differed between children with confirmed PA and those where abuse was excluded. These findings can provide a deeper understanding of bruising sustained from PA