Dr Joanne Coster
BA, MSc, PhD
School of Medicine and Population Health
Senior Research Fellow
Deputy Director of CURE
j.e.coster@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 0854
+44 114 222 0854
+44 114 222 0749
(Fax)
3013, Regent Court (ScHARR)
Full contact details
Dr Joanne Coster
School of Medicine and Population Health
3013
Regent Court (ScHARR)
30 Regent Street
Sheffield
S1 4DA
School of Medicine and Population Health
3013
Regent Court (ScHARR)
30 Regent Street
Sheffield
S1 4DA
- Profile
-
I am a Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Centre for Urgent and Emergency Care Research (CURE), specialising in the evaluation of health policies and services, with a focus on emergency, urgent and prehospital care. For over two decades I have led and contributed to large, complex, multi-centre studies that have directly shaped national policy and practice, including the introduction of new ambulance response standards across England. My expertise lies in complex mixed-methods research and uses methods such as routine data analysis, qualitative research, surveys, consensus methods and evidence synthesis to assess quality of care, patient safety, patient experience and system performance. My PhD examined critical issues around the safety, appropriateness and acceptability of telephone advice for low-urgency ambulance service users, combining qualitative and quantitative methods to understand patient journeys, outcomes and system impact.
I have been a co-investigator on several major studies, including the PhOEBE programme grant, the VAN study on ambulance non-conveyance, the evaluation of NHS 111 Online, and the national study of ambulance pre-alerts. I am currently leading an evaluation of patient experience of urgent care hubs through the Yorkshire and Humber ARC and serve as co-applicant and methodological advisor on NIHR-funded research in stroke and aphasia care. Working with Professor Allen Hutchinson, I co-developed the Structured Judgement Review (SJR) mortality review method, now adopted across most English hospitals, community trusts and ambulance services. I also co-led the national evaluation of the Medical Examiner role, examining its integration with existing mortality review processes.
In recent years I have taken on a leading role in patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE). I co-led the PPIE strategy for the national ambulance pre-alerts study, embedding lived experience throughout the research cycle, from study design and materials development to analysis and recommendations. As PPIE co-lead for the NIHR EnSygN Evidence Synthesis Centre, I have also shaped centre-wide PPIE strategy, supported co-production approaches, and worked with national groups to build sustained structures for engaging lived experience in evidence reviews.
My work has been published in over 40 peer-reviewed journal papers and has influenced national guidance, NHS service models and clinical practice.
- Qualifications
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BA (Hons) Social Science
MSc Health Services Research and Technolgy Assessment
PhD
- Research interests
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Quality of care; evaluation of new and existing health policies and services; patient experience; urgent, emergency and prehospital care; Patient and Public Involvement (PPI).
I specialise in complex mixed-methods research, including interviews, routine data linkage and analysis, surveys, consensus methods and systematic reviews.
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- Variation in ambulance pre-alert process and practice: cross-sectional survey of ambulance clinicians. Emergency Medicine Journal. View this article in WRRO
- FAIRSTEPS study - Framework Addressing Inequities in pRimary care using STakEholder PerspectiveS: Integrative evidence review and Delphi consensus. Public Health, 237, 307-315. View this article in WRRO
- How could online NHS 111 reduce demand for the telephone NHS 111 service? Qualitative study of user and staff views. Emergency Medicine Journal, 41(1), 34-39. View this article in WRRO
- Determining the relative salience of recognised push variables on health professional decisions to leave the UK National Health Service (NHS) using the method of paired comparisons. BMJ Open, 13(8). View this article in WRRO
- ‘Clinically unnecessary’ use of emergency and urgent care: A realist review of patients' decision making. Health Expectations, 23(1), 19-40. View this article in WRRO
- Developing new ways of measuring the quality and impact of ambulance service care: the PhOEBE mixed-methods research programme. Programme Grants for Applied Research, 7(3). View this article in WRRO
- Outcomes for patients who contact the emergency ambulance service and are not transported to the Emergency Department: a data linkage study. Prehospital Emergency Care, 1-27. View this article in WRRO
- Prioritizing novel and existing ambulance performance measures through expert and lay consensus: A three‐stage multimethod consensus study. Health Expectations, 21(1), 249-260. View this article in WRRO
- Why Do People Choose Emergency and Urgent Care Services? A Rapid Review Utilizing a Systematic Literature Search and Narrative Synthesis. Academic Emergency Medicine, 24(9), 1137-1149. View this article in WRRO
- A coproduced patient and public event: An approach to developing and prioritizing ambulance performance measures. Health Expectations. View this article in WRRO
- A structured judgement method to enhance mortality case note review: development and evaluation.. BMJ Qual Saf, 22(12), 1032-1040. View this article in WRRO
All publications
Journal articles
- What factors predict ambulance prealerts to the emergency department? Retrospective observational study from three UK ambulance services. BMJ Open, 15(3), e097122-e097122.
- Aphasia partnership training: what outcomes do people with aphasia, family members and speech and language therapists expect?. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 60(2). View this article in WRRO
- Understanding good communication in ambulance pre-alerts to the emergency department: findings from a qualitative study of UK emergency services. BMJ Open, 15(1), e094221-e094221.
- Variation in ambulance pre-alert process and practice: cross-sectional survey of ambulance clinicians. Emergency Medicine Journal. View this article in WRRO
- FAIRSTEPS study - Framework Addressing Inequities in pRimary care using STakEholder PerspectiveS: Integrative evidence review and Delphi consensus. Public Health, 237, 307-315. View this article in WRRO
- What influences ambulance clinician decisions to pre-alert emergency departments: a qualitative exploration of pre-alert practice in UK ambulance services and emergency departments. Emergency Medicine Journal. View this article in WRRO
- How consistent are pre-alert guidelines? A review of UK ambulance service guidelines. British Paramedic Journal, 8(4), 30-37.
- How could online NHS 111 reduce demand for the telephone NHS 111 service? Qualitative study of user and staff views. Emergency Medicine Journal, 41(1), 34-39. View this article in WRRO
- Determining the relative salience of recognised push variables on health professional decisions to leave the UK National Health Service (NHS) using the method of paired comparisons. BMJ Open, 13(8). View this article in WRRO
- Stakeholder perspectives of piloting pre-hospital COVID-19 lateral flow testing and direct admissions pathway: exploring why well-received ideas have low uptake. British Paramedic Journal, 7(3), 15-25. View this article in WRRO
- 02 Service provider views of the safety, appropriateness and perceived acceptability of telephone advice for calls to the ambulance service triaged as low urgency. Emergency Medicine Journal, 39(9), e5.12. View this article in WRRO
- Impact of NHS 111 online on the NHS 111 telephone service and urgent care system: a mixed-methods study. Health Services and Delivery Research, 9(21). View this article in WRRO
- Qualitative exploration of the Medical Examiner role in identifying problems with the quality of patient care. BMJ Open, 11(2).
- ‘Clinically unnecessary’ use of emergency and urgent care: A realist review of patients' decision making. Health Expectations, 23(1), 19-40. View this article in WRRO
- Using vignettes to assess the accuracy and rationale of paramedic decisions on conveyance to the emergency department. British Paramedic Journal, 4(1), 6-13. View this article in WRRO
- Developing new ways of measuring the quality and impact of ambulance service care: the PhOEBE mixed-methods research programme. Programme Grants for Applied Research, 7(3). View this article in WRRO
- Outcomes for patients who contact the emergency ambulance service and are not transported to the Emergency Department: a data linkage study. Prehospital Emergency Care, 1-27. View this article in WRRO
- Impact of the new medical examiner role on patient safety. BMJ, 363. View this article in WRRO
- Understanding variation in ambulance service non-conveyance rates: a mixed methods study. Health Services and Delivery Research, 6(19), 1-192. View this article in WRRO
- Prioritizing novel and existing ambulance performance measures through expert and lay consensus: A three‐stage multimethod consensus study. Health Expectations, 21(1), 249-260. View this article in WRRO
- Why Do People Choose Emergency and Urgent Care Services? A Rapid Review Utilizing a Systematic Literature Search and Narrative Synthesis. Academic Emergency Medicine, 24(9), 1137-1149. View this article in WRRO
- A coproduced patient and public event: An approach to developing and prioritizing ambulance performance measures. Health Expectations. View this article in WRRO
- What evidence is there on the effectiveness of different models of delivering urgent care? A rapid review. Health Services and Delivery Research, 3(43).
- A structured judgement method to enhance mortality case note review: development and evaluation.. BMJ Qual Saf, 22(12), 1032-1040. View this article in WRRO
- Implications of England's Four-Hour Target for Quality of Care and Resource Use in the Emergency Department. ANNALS OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, 60(6), 699-706.
- The 4-Hour Rule: Preventing Crowding in the Emergency Department Reply. ANNALS OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, 60(1), 133-134.
- The appropriateness of, and compliance with, telephone triage decisions: A systematic review and narrative synthesis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(12), 2610-2621.
- Quality and safety of care provided by emergency care practitioners. EMERGENCY MEDICINE JOURNAL, 29(4), 327-332. View this article in WRRO
- Time patients spend in the emergency department: England's 4-hour rule - A case of hitting the target but missing the point?. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 59(5), 341-349.
- Assessing quality of care from hospital case notes: comparison of reliability of two methods. QUAL SAF HEALTH CARE, 19(6).
- Comparison of case note review methods for evaluating quality and safety in health care. HEALTH TECHNOL ASSES, 14(10), 1-+. View this article in WRRO
- User satisfaction with commuter walk-in centres. BRIT J GEN PRACT, 59(569), 940-942.
- Do walk-in centres for commuters work? A mixed methods evaluation. BRIT J GEN PRACT, 59(569), 934-939.
- Do walk-in centres for commuters work? A mixed methods evaluation.. The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 59(569).
- User satisfaction with commuter walk-in centres.. The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 59(569).
- Modelling the expected net benefits of interventions to reduce the burden of medication errors. J HEALTH SERV RES PO, 13(2), 85-91. View this article in WRRO
- A prospective hazard and improvement analytic approach to predicting the effectiveness of medication error interventions. SAFETY SCI, 45(4), 523-539. View this article in WRRO
- Using a multi-method, user centred, prospective hazard analysis to assess care quality and patient safety in a care pathway. BMC HEALTH SERV RES, 7.
- Use of a safety climate questionnaire in UK health care: factor structure, reliability and usability. QUAL SAF HEALTH CARE, 15(5), 347-353. View this article in WRRO
- The critical care national cost block programme: Implementing a standard costing method on a national scale. Care of the Critically Ill, 18(3), 85-87.
- Time heals all wounds: A commentary on global quality measurement in paramedicine. Paramedicine.
- How do emergency departments respond to ambulance pre-alert calls? A qualitative exploration of the management of pre-alerts in UK emergency departments. Emergency Medicine Journal.
- Corrigendum: Impact of NHS 111 Online on the NHS 111 telephone service and urgent care system: a mixed-methods study. Health Services and Delivery Research, 9(21), 148-149.
Conference proceedings papers
- 2245 Mixed methods study exploring factors influencing ambulance clinician decisions to pre-alert emergency departments (EDs) of a patient’s arrival. RCEM Annual Scientific Conference Glasgow 2023 Meeting Abstracts
- EP11 What is a pre-alert? Exploring ambulance service perspectives of pre-alerts and the pre-alert process. 999 EMS Research Forum 2023 meeting abstracts
- PP35 What factors affect ambulance clinician prealert decision-making? A qualitative study. 999 EMS Research Forum 2023 meeting abstracts
- PP31 How do pre-alerts influence patient care in the emergency department? Findings from qualitative research within three UK ambulance services. 999 EMS Research Forum 2023 meeting abstracts
- PP34 Which patients should be prealerted? Review of UK ambulance service guidelines. 999 EMS Research Forum 2023 meeting abstracts
- PP28 Stakeholder perspectives of piloting pre-hospital COVID-19 lateral flow test and direct admissions pathway: exploring why well received ideas have low uptake. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol. 39(9) (pp e5.21-e5.21)
- PP27 NHS 111 staff and user views of online NHS 111: a useful adjunct to the NHS 111 telephone service. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol. 39(9) (pp e5.20-e5.20)
- PP26 Exploring the use of pre-hospital pre-alerts and their impact on patients, ambulance service and emergency department staff: protocol for a mixed methods study. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol. 39(9) (pp e5.19-e5.19)
- 62 Thinking on scene: using vignettes to assess the accuracy and rationale of paramedic decision making. BMJ Open, Vol. 2018(8) (pp A23-A24) View this article in WRRO
- 80 Development of risk adjusted indicators of ems performance and quality (phoebe programme). BMJ Open, Vol. 8(Suppl 1) (pp A30-A30), 16 April 2018 - 18 April 2018. View this article in WRRO
- 20 Preventable mortality in patients at low risk of death requiring prehospital ambulance care: retrospective case record review study. BMJ Open, Vol. 8(Suppl 1) (pp A7-A8), 16 April 2018 - 18 April 2018. View this article in WRRO
- OP06 Multi-method development of new ambulance service quality and performance measures. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol. 34(10) (pp e2.1-e2)
- PP16 Creating a linked dataset to explore patient outcomes after leaving ambulance care. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol. 34(10) (pp e6.1-e6)
- PP12 New indicators for measuring patient survival following ambulance service care. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol. 34(10) (pp e4.1-e4)
- PP25 Using a linked health dataset to identify what happens to patients following prehospital care. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol. 34(10) (pp e9.2-e9)
- PREHOSPITAL OUTCOMES FOR AMBULANCE SERVICE CARE: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol. 32(5) (pp e10.2-e10)
- OP70 Prioritising Outcome Measures for Ambulance Service Care: A Three Stage Consensus Study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 67(Suppl 1) (pp A33.2-A34)
Reports
- Ambulance Response Programme Evaluation of Phase 1 and Phase 2 Final Report
Posters
- PP38 Impact of working through COVID-19 on ambulance staff resilience and intention to leave the NHS: a mixed methods study.
- PP36 Using linked health data to explore compliance with and appropriateness of ambulance telephone advice.
Preprints
- Understanding good communication in ambulance pre-alerts to Emergency Department. Findings from a qualitative study of UK emergency services, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- What factors predict ambulance pre-alerts to the emergency department? Analysis of routine data from three UK ambulance services., Research Square Platform LLC.
- How do Emergency Departments respond to ambulance pre-alert calls? A qualitative exploration of the management of pre-alert in six UK Emergency Departments, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- What influences ambulance clinician decisions to pre-alert Emergency Departments: a qualitative exploration of decision-making in three UK Ambulance Services, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Variation in ambulance pre-alert process and practice: Cross-sectional survey of ambulance clinicians, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- What factors predict ambulance pre-alerts to the emergency department? Analysis of routine data from 3 UK ambulance services, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Will online NHS 111 reduce demand for the telephone NHS 111 service? Mixed methods study of user and staff views, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Variation in ambulance pre-alert process and practice: cross-sectional survey of ambulance clinicians. Emergency Medicine Journal. View this article in WRRO
- Research group
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CURE
- Grants
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- Aphasia Partnership Training: A programme of work to co-design and evaluate the effectiveness of training a person with aphasia and their communication partner to communicate better together. Programme Grants for Applied Research £3,807,706.00. Award ID: NIHR208121. Led by Rebecca Palmer (JC role - CI and methods advisor)
- Mixed methods study to understand the scale, impact and care trajectory for patients who have a long lie after a fall. HSDR. £731,908.62 Award ID: NIHR158676 – status: Led by Fiona Sampson (JC role - CI, PPI lead, Workpackage lead)
- COMmunicating in STroke cAre and Rehabilitation (COM-STAR): Improving staff communication skills for better access to and inclusion in care and rehabilitation for stroke survivors with communication impairments. HSDR. ££1,096,293.85. Award ID: NIHR155921. Led by Rebecca Palmer (JC role - CI and methods advisor)
- Exploring the use of pre-hospital pre-alerts and their impact on patients, Ambulance Service and Emergency Department staff. HSDR. £555,740.24. Award ID: NIHR131293 Led by Fiona Sampson (JC role CI, PPI lead, Researcher and analyst)
- Should I stay or should I go? NHS staff retention in a post COVID 19 world, challenges and prospects. ESRC. Led by Andy Weyman (University of Bath) 30/11/20- 1/03/22
- Framework development for action on health inequities in primary care. Health Education England (June 2021-23) Led by Ben Jackson (JC role, evidence reviewer, consensus work lead)
- Communication Partner Training for people with aphasia and their family members: identification of intervention components, expected outcomes and associated outcome measures. NIHR Programme Development Grants, £149,994, 01/04/2021 – 31/03/2023. Led by Dr Rebecca Palmer. (JC role: Specialist methods advisor, consensus methods)
- An evaluation of the impact of online NHS111 on the NHS111 telephone service and urgent care system. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). £355,557.00. March 2019 - Sept 2020. Led by Janette Turner (JC role: CI, evidence review).
- Safety for Patients through Quality Review. Policy Research Programme. £680,441.00. Led by Steve Goodacre. (JC role, project co-lead, CI)
- Drivers of Demand for Emergency and Urgent Care DEUCE. National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). £693,743.00. Led by Alicia O’Cathain. (JC role CI, workpackage lead)
- Improving the response of ambulance services in England. NHS England. £229,557.00. Led by Janette Turner
- Understanding variation in rates of ambulance service "non-conveyance of patients to an emergency department" (VAN). National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). £357,273.00. Led by Alicia O’Cathain. (JC role; CI; Workpackage lead)
- Developing outcome measures for pre-hospital care (PhOEBE). PGfAR. £1,278,495.00. Led by Janette Turner. (JC role: CI, workpackage lead)
- Teaching interests
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Research methods
Supervision of MSc dissertation projects, particularly for students wishing to undertake a primary research-based dissertation.
PhD supervision
- Teaching activities
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MSc Dissertation supervision
PhD examinations and supervision
Module lead for Innovative Designs for Research Impact
- Professional activities and memberships
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Board Member for the 999 EMS Research Forum
CORE member of the International Prehospital Qualitology Network