Optimisation of the Blood Culture Pathway Utilising Behaviour Change

January 29, 2026 updated by: Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Blood culture (BC) is the gold standard for the definitive diagnosis of bacteraemia, providing the opportunity to recover and identify the causative organism, and optimize subsequent antimicrobial treatment. Detection of bacteraemia is critical for the management of sepsis. This study aims to examine the performance of the blood culture pathway in Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust using data analysis, questionnaires and focus groups. . Information collected will be used to design interventions that could be used to optimise the blood culture pathway

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

Retrospective data collection relating to the blood volume collected and time to incubation of adult blood culture sets (adult sets comprises of both aerobic and anaerobic blood culture bottle) received in the microbiology laboratory, between February 2023 and April 2024. These samples are routinely collected as standard of care and not for the purpose of this research.

Staff members that collect adult blood cultures within the Trust (nurses, Physician's associates and doctors) will be invited to volunteer for the study. Staff members will participate by completing the questionnaire and/or attending focus groups.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

24

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
    • Gloucestershire
      • Gloucester, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, GL1 3NN
        • Recruiting
        • Gloucestershire Royal Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Amy Read

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Secondary data: adult blood culture sets received in the microbiology laboratory, between February 2023 and April 2024.

Staff member participants: Staff members that collect adult blood cultures within the Trust

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Secondary data:

- adult blood culture sets received in the microbiology laboratory, between February 2023 and April 2024.

Staff member participants

- Staff members that collect adult blood cultures within the Trust

Exclusion Criteria:

Secondary data:

  • paediatric blood culture samples
  • samples where volume, collection and/or time to incubation data are not recorded on laboratory system and/or blood culture analyser

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Staff members that collect adult blood cultures within the Trust

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Compliance to optimal blood culture (BC) vol (8-10 mls per bottle).
Time Frame: Retrospective data collection from period February 2023 to April 2024.
Volume of blood cultures measured in ml.
Retrospective data collection from period February 2023 to April 2024.
Compliance to 4- hour time target to incubation of blood culture from collection.
Time Frame: Retrospective data collection from period February 2023 to April 2024
Time taken from collection of blood culture to incubation in the laboratory, recorded in hours and minutes
Retrospective data collection from period February 2023 to April 2024
Time from collection of blood cultures to targeted antibiotics, hours and minutes
Time Frame: Retrospective data collection from period February 2023 to April 2024.
Measurement of time (hours, minutes) from time of blood culture collection to time of targeted antibiotic prescribing
Retrospective data collection from period February 2023 to April 2024.
Staff experiences related to taking blood cultures
Time Frame: Approximately 10 minutes to complete electronic questionnaire. Attendance at single FOCUS group at agreed time.
Staff experiences using questionnaires and focus group discussions exploring facilitators and barriers relating to blood culture collection . Staff members will participate by completing the questionnaire and/or attending focus groups.
Approximately 10 minutes to complete electronic questionnaire. Attendance at single FOCUS group at agreed time.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 30, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 24/043/GHT

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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