Patients, hand surgeons, and hand therapists were identified as the key stakeholders. Adult patients with hand injuries were identified through fracture clinics at a UK trauma centre (Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham). These injuries included fractures (of the phalanges, metacarpals, carpal bones, or distal radius or ulna), or injuries to any of the joints between these bones. We excluded complex hand injuries (i.e. ‘mangled hand’, amputations requiring replantation), primary nerve injuries, burns, and open tendinous injuries.
Surgeons and hand therapists who manage patients with the included injuries were eligible, with the requirement that they work at an independent practitioner level (i.e. consultant or equivalent) and have a subspecialty interest in injuries within the scope of the COS. Clinician participants were identified through established national and international clinical and research networks and professional societies. This involved email correspondence sent to the Secretariat of each of the member societies of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand and the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy. We also publicized the study through the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) newsletter, the British Association of Hand Therapists (BAHT) e-bulletin, the Centre for Evidence Based Hand Surgery Hand Surgery Evidence Updates, and via an announcement and brief presentation to the audience of the weekly Derby Pulvertaft webinar. Many of these clinicians have a role as clinical academics, with both a clinical and researcher perspective.
Surgeons and hand therapists who manage patients with the included injuries were eligible, with the requirement that they work at an independent practitioner level (i.e. consultant or equivalent) and have a subspecialty interest in injuries within the scope of the COS. Clinician participants were identified through established national and international clinical and research networks and professional societies. This involved email correspondence sent to the Secretariat of each of the member societies of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand and the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy. We also publicized the study through the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) newsletter, the British Association of Hand Therapists (BAHT) e-bulletin, the Centre for Evidence Based Hand Surgery Hand Surgery Evidence Updates, and via an announcement and brief presentation to the audience of the weekly Derby Pulvertaft webinar. Many of these clinicians have a role as clinical academics, with both a clinical and researcher perspective.
