On 2017 May 25, Cicely Saunders Institute Journal Club commented:

This paper was discussed on 2.5.17, by students on the KCL Cicely Saunders Institute MSc in Palliative Care

The paper explores the experiences of cleaning staff in a hospital setting on various wards. We thought it was a very interesting and thought-provoking topic which had not been examined in depth before. The study uses a mixed methods approach with qualitative interviewing and focus groups, followed by a questionnaire study for quantitative data.

The study gives an interesting perspective of staff who have regular and prolonged contact with patients, but are little studied in this regard. It prompted discussion regarding the input that non clinical staff can give.

Recruitment for the qualitative part was difficult leading to low numbers and saturation not being reached. The recruited participants were all female and many were non-native speaking.

According to the COREQ criteria, we would have liked more information about who the researchers were, their relationship with the participants, the settings of the interviews and whether this could influence their responses.

It would also have been beneficial to understand how the questionnaire was developed from the themes identified in the qualitative part of the study and of any attempt at validation etc. We were unclear if they meant to use this questionnaire for future research or service implementation, like for instance psychological support to "non-clinical" staff.

We noticed the long time interval between the study taking place (questionnaires were distributed in 2008) and publication, and it would be useful to know the reasons behind this and if there was any follow up research in the intervening years.

Future research would be interesting in other settings: for example in a hospice where patients die more frequently than various hospital areas or among other components of "non clinical" staff, as for instance secretaries or volunteers.

Anna Oriani, Sarah Hanrott and Konstantina Chatziargyriou

On 2017 May 25, Cicely Saunders Institute Journal Club commented:

This paper was discussed on 2.5.17, by students on the KCL Cicely Saunders Institute MSc in Palliative Care

The paper explores the experiences of cleaning staff in a hospital setting on various wards. We thought it was a very interesting and thought-provoking topic which had not been examined in depth before. The study uses a mixed methods approach with qualitative interviewing and focus groups, followed by a questionnaire study for quantitative data.

The study gives an interesting perspective of staff who have regular and prolonged contact with patients, but are little studied in this regard. It prompted discussion regarding the input that non clinical staff can give.

Recruitment for the qualitative part was difficult leading to low numbers and saturation not being reached. The recruited participants were all female and many were non-native speaking.

According to the COREQ criteria, we would have liked more information about who the researchers were, their relationship with the participants, the settings of the interviews and whether this could influence their responses.

It would also have been beneficial to understand how the questionnaire was developed from the themes identified in the qualitative part of the study and of any attempt at validation etc. We were unclear if they meant to use this questionnaire for future research or service implementation, like for instance psychological support to "non-clinical" staff.

We noticed the long time interval between the study taking place (questionnaires were distributed in 2008) and publication, and it would be useful to know the reasons behind this and if there was any follow up research in the intervening years.

Future research would be interesting in other settings: for example in a hospice where patients die more frequently than various hospital areas or among other components of "non clinical" staff, as for instance secretaries or volunteers.

Anna Oriani, Sarah Hanrott and Konstantina Chatziargyriou