|
S B P S
Scottish Bell's Palsy Study |
|
Welcome |
|
How to Refer a Patient |
|
What is Bell’s Palsy? |
|
What is the S B P S? |
|
Who’s Who |
|
The Trial Sites |
|
The Patient’s Experience |
|
Graeme’s Story |
|
House-Brackmann Scale |
|
The Questionnaires |
|
Documentation |
|
Legal Stuff |
|
Links to other web sites |
|
Documentation |
|
The patient information sheet is what is handed to patients to describe the study. If you visit your GP complaining of symptoms that are suggestive of Bell’s Palsy, then they will describe the study to you and present you with a copy of the patient information sheet taken off the web. (This one, in fact.) If you are then referred to an acute receiving clinic at one of the 17 study sites, the doctor there will hand you an almost similar document, specific to that site. Here is an example for Ninewells Hospital, Dundee. The only differences are the logos at the top of the first page, contact details at the bottom of the last page, and the layout of the sheet: A5 book form. |
Documents used in the study, day-to-day |
|
Patient Information Sheet |
|
If you are diagnosed as suffering from Bell’s Palsy at one of the receiving clinics, and if you agree to join the study, this patient case record form (otherwise known as Form A) is the form that will be completed by the doctor. (This example is the one for Perth Royal Infirmary.) |
|
Patient Case Record Form (Form A) |
|
Consent Form |
|
If you agree to join the study, the consent form is the form you will be asked to complete and sign. It possesses a legal status: it provides proof that you have agreed to join the study and that you understand what is involved by joining. (This example is the one for NHS Lothian.) |
Technical stuff |
|
A protocol is a technical document that describes all that is involved in the trial (including, specifically, its aims and objectives, the medicines involved and their dosage, the methods used to collect and analyse the patient data, and so on). The study design can only be altered through a protocol amendment which requires permission before it can be implemented. |
|
Telephone procedure |
|
You won’t need this unless (a) you are a clinician consenting a patient into the study and (b) you have lost the instruction sheet in your clinic, but this document provides the instructions for contacting the Randomisation Service in Aberdeen, and tells you what to do if you are unable to get through. |
|
Only if you are very interested in the detail of clinical trials, here is a glossary of terms that are frequently used. |
Glossary of terms |
|
Sir Charles Bell William Theed (1851) |
