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Lombardo, Chiara, Dawe, Jennifer 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9815-9372, Austin, Elicia, Williams, Julia, Dearling, Jeremy, Rogers, Jonathan and Sanderson, Kristy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-2745
(2024)
Staff and patient insights to improve fatigue management in NHS ambulance services: CATNAPS study:College of Paramedics National Conference, May 22-23, 2024, Leicester, England.
British Paramedic Journal, 9 (2).
pp. 62-63.
Abstract
Introduction: Poor sleep and fatigue are common in acute and emergency healthcare staff. CATNAPS is a multi-site, multi-method study that explores how fatigue can be managed in the NHS ambulance workforce. The overall CATNAPS aim is to develop a comprehensive fatigue risk management system (FRMS) for UK NHS ambulance services, which is acceptable, feasible and likely to improve patient outcomes and staff well-being and experience. This is the first study to develop a comprehensive approach to fatigue management in an NHS workforce. In this particular sub-study, we investigate how frontline staff and patients experience current fatigue actions and explore the potential to improve safety culture and reporting. Methods: We recruited 30 frontline ambulance staff members and three ambulance service users from two trusts for a one-to-one semi-structured interview. Staff participants were asked about their experience of fatigue, including their engagement with and/or opinions about our co-produced list of components for fatigue management. Patients were also asked for their views about the same recommended actions. All participants were also asked how, and whether, the recommended actions could be implemented, addressing any potential facilitators and barriers. Thematic analysis was undertaken on the interview data. All members of the research team, including two members from a patient and public involvement perspective, were involved in the analysis. Results: Seven themes explain staff and patient perspectives on fatigue management, including the proposed implementation of the recommended components of the FRMS: • Fatigue is not spoken about. • There is a lack of consistency from management. • Trusts have implemented limited initiatives to manage fatigue. • Fatigue management is a matter of personal preference. • There is impact of, and on, the personal lives of staff to consider. • Staff and patients have views about potential implementation of proposed fatigue management strategies. • There are concerns that fatigue can impact quality of care. Conclusions: Staff expressed reluctance to report fatigue because of fear of consequences, while both staff and patients supported formalised and evidence-based implementation of fatigue management actions by ambulance trusts. Current actions are predominantly staff led, so they are highly individualised, including caffeine use, role switching and sleep banking. Successful implementation by trusts of preferred fatigue management actions will require buy-in from front-line staff, managerial support, improved resourcing and increased public awareness on the importance of managing fatigue. These insights are informing development of implementation guidance so ambulance services can tailor the FRMS to their staff and their setting.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Mental Health and Social Care (fka Lifespan Health) |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Jun 2026 14:10 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Jun 2026 21:01 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103379 |
| DOI: |
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