Professionals

We are part of the national team working with NHS England to evaluate CEW clinics, to inform the future CEW framework. The more and better-quality information we can collect, this will feedback to inform the evaluation. Our co-Principal Investigators, Dr Catherine Homer and Professor Louisa Ells welcome any questions and are happy to discuss this further with you.

In this particular survey, we are trying to understand how the referral process and journey is for patients, and their motivations for attending CEW clinics. We are also trying to understand what their experiences up until that point have been, whether they have chosen not to attend, have only attended their first appointment or are currently waiting to be seen. 

The two versions of the questionnaires (one for parents, the other for children and young people) capture the same data, but we have one specifically for older children and young people who would prefer to fill out the questionnaires themselves. For example, in circumstances where children and young people would wish to complete the survey, they can. And if they do not want or cannot complete the survey, then their parent or carer can do this via the parent and carer link.

The reason we have given this option is to empower children and young people, to allow them to give their input first and foremost. This was established as important through work with the ENHANCE PPI group (ARROWS), who are a group of children, young people and their parents or carers who have accessed CEW clinics.  

The survey is for children and young people who are eligible for the CEW clinics. By being eligible for the service, we mean that your service would be accepting the referral, as the child or young person is eligible to access CEW.

If the child or young person does not wish to or they cannot fill out the survey, then their parent or carer can do this for them through the parent and carer survey link.

We predict children from age 8+ with the support of a trusted adult, should be able to complete the children and young person survey. This will depend on each child’s ability and developmental stage and as such we have not set a definitive age range.  

Ideally, we would like to hear from the families that are eligible to access the CEW clinics. If you have not accepted the referral, it's possible that the families are not eligible for the clinics. Therefore, the surveys should only be passed on to families that have been accepted into the clinics but have not been seen yet, on a waiting list or at most have had their first appointment.

We appreciate each CEW service handles referrals and contacts potential patients in different ways and at different times. Therefore, it is up to you to decide how best to tell children, young people and their parents or carers about the surveys. We are hoping to capture the views of children, young people and their families by the latest after the first appointment, when they are at the very start of their journey. We also hope to capture the views of those who did not attend.

As an example, some clinics triage families through an initial phone call, to help prepare for the main assessment and these clinics could send the surveys to families either before or after this phone call, but before the main assessment.

If you would like to send a cover letter or e-mail then that is great! We have been provided with an example text from a clinic (below) which you could use should you wish. You are more than welcome to generate your own email, letter or any other way in which you wish to communicate the survey to patients. In any circumstance, please do also attach and send the study poster alongside this, as it is designed to be more family and young person friendly. Our PPIE group have informed us that they don’t tend to read emails and large chunks of text.

We are aware of the length of the questionnaire. It is much shorter for most patients, and expect that 20 minutes is the absolute maximum it could possibly take. We have to report this for ethical reasons. Additionally, NHSE wanted a holistic evaluation, so we have worked hard to reduce the participant burden whilst ensuring we capture high quality and valuable data. For any respondents with literacy issues or attention problems etc. we can give them a call to complete it over the phone or via video call. They can request this by texting ENHANCE to 87007. Please note, this number is available on the recruitment poster we have circulated.

We are currently exploring options for translation. If you have any suggestions for common languages you see in your clinics, other than English, please do let us know. In the meantime, patients can request translation by texting ENHANCE to 87007.

See below the links you can send directly to children, young people and their parents or carers for each of the two survey links. But if you do wish to send these links, please do also attach and send the study poster alongside this.

Children & young people: https://shusls.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bEFlypZbHXAiFG6

Their parents or carers: https://shusls.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aXhLPbak1nX1fxA

Members of the research team attend the national delivery board meetings and feedback early findings into this. There are also plans for program dissemination throughout the project. To note, all survey data collected will form part of the wider evaluation and will be anonymised.

Hi there!

We have set up an appointment for your child to visit our Complications of Excess Weight (CEW) service [insert name of your service here.] We can’t wait to meet you!

Before you come, could you please fill out a short survey? This is for a study called ENHANCE, which is run by teams at universities in Sheffield, Leeds and Bristol. They want to learn more about the needs of families like yours who use [insert name of your service here] CEW services.

Your answers will be kept secret and won’t be seen by our team or any other doctors.

There are two surveys: one for children and young people, and one for parents and carers. You can find both surveys using the same QR code below. Children and young people can fill out their survey with help from an adult if they want. Each survey should take at most 15-20 minutes.

Thank you in advance for your support. 

[insert service signature/sign off here.]