We have brought together a team of people with lived experience of fatigue including at work, fatigue experts, and ambulance service researchers and managers.
Together, we are coproducing a fatigue risk management system (FRMS) that will serve as guidance for the NHS ambulance workforce, helping them to manage staff fatigue, reduce risk, and improve staff and patient safety.
The CATNAPS study has four objectives, corresponding to four work packages (WP):
1. Define the actions ambulance services should be taking to monitor and respond to tired crews, and help staff sleep better. We will do this by learning from what happens in other countries, and in high-risk industries in the UK (WP1)
2. Talk to senior managers about how fatigue is currently managed (WP2)
3. Talk to frontline staff and patients to understand their experiences of current fatigue management actions and how they might impact on safety outcomes (WP3)
4. Produce and test a guide for ambulance services on how to implement best practice in their setting that matches their needs and risks (WP4).