a toolkit for incorporating genetics into mainstream medical services learning from service development pilots in england的工具包将遗传学纳入主流医疗服务向服务开发飞行员在英国学习.pdfVIP

Bennett et al. BMC Health Services Research 2010, 10:125 /1472-6963/10/125 R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E Open Access Research article A toolkit for incorporating genetics into mainstream medical services: Learning from service development pilots in England 1 2 3 1 Catherine L Bennett* , Sarah E Burke , Hilary Burton and Peter A Farndon Abstract Background: As advances in genetics are becoming increasingly relevant to mainstream healthcare, a major challenge is to ensure that these are integrated appropriately into mainstream medical services. In 2003, the Department of Health for England announced the availability of start-up funding for ten Mainstreaming Genetics pilot services to develop models to achieve this. Methods: Multiple methods were used to explore the pilots experiences of incorporating genetics which might inform the development of new services in the future. A workshop with project staff, an email questionnaire, interviews and a thematic analysis of pilot final reports were carried out. Results: Seven themes relating to the integration of genetics into mainstream medical services were identified: planning services to incorporate genetics; the involvement of genetics departments; the establishment of roles incorporating genetic activities; identifying and involving stakeholders; the challenges of working across specialty boundaries; working with multiple healthcare organisations; and the importance of cultural awareness of genetic conditions. Pilots found that the planning phase often included the need to raise awareness of genetic conditions and services and that early consideration of organisational issues such as clinic location was essential. The formal involvement of genetics departments was crucial to success;