A very interesting study, presented at ISAAC 2006 on the Peer Review Process and looking at the factors that make this perceived to be successful. Interestingly, one of the conclusions is that small groups work better:
"People on larger teams perceived PR process as less helpful in Developing Quality Services" r = -.245; p < .05"
At ACT we have also changed our practice to break the group into smaller teams, this is a recent change so can not report any significant findings.
— Simon Judge 2006/11/24
Phil Palmer, Senior Occupational Therapist &
Haseena Muhammad, Clinical Engineer
Access to Communication and Technology (ACT) is a regional tertiary clinical assessment and provision service. ACT has responsibility for delivery of Electronic Assistive Technology services including Environmental Control (EC) and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). The clinical staff comprise Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists and Clinical Scientists. ACT operates using an interdisciplinary assessment model, with areas of specialty within each clinical grouping. This creates challenges when deciding on the appropriate clinical mix for assessments and reviews. ACT have developed a set of competencies for the delivery of environmental control assessment. This set of competencies explores the interface between clinical science and Occupational Therapy. Staff in ACT are working on extending these to embrace AAC. There is a strong tradition of peer review in the department. The aim is that all assessments and reviews are discussed in a weekly multi-disciplinary meeting. This peer review allows the clinical staff to explore different ways of working. Recently, ACT has been exploring other methods of peer review, including direct observation and debrief.
The slides that were presented at RAATE 2006 Conference can be obtained from the link below: raate_presentation_-_peer_review_updated_version_.ppt