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Showing results for tags 'GP'.
Found 386 results
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Content Article
NHS England: Support for prescribers
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Medication administration
NHS England has commissioned the Specialist Pharmacy Service to provide prescribers with all the support they need to: Stop prescribing medicines which are not clinically-effective or cost-effective Provide clear information to patients to help them make meaningful choices and decisions about their treatment Help people to get the benefits they want from their prescribed medicines Encourage people to ‘self-care’ and choose not to take a medicine if they don’t really need one Take positive action to reduce waste so we stop throwing away so many medicines. -
Content ArticleThe government commissioned Dr Keith Ridge, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, to lead a review into the use of medication and overprescribing.
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Content ArticleIn the Patients Association 2020 survey, patients told us about their experiences of living with health and care needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their testimony painted a bleak picture in many ways. This follow-up survey finds that many aspects of their experiences are not much better, and some are worse.
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Content ArticleThe Doctor Will Zoom You Now was a rapid, qualitative research study designed to understand the patient experience of remote and virtual consultations. The project was led in partnership with Traverse, National Voices and Healthwatch England and supported by PPL. The study engaged 49 people over 10 days (June 22nd – July 1st 2020) using an online platform, with 20 additional one to one telephone interviews. Participants were also invited to attend an online workshop on the final day of the study. Using insight from the key findings from the research, this website provides useful tools and tips for getting the most out of your appointment.
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Content ArticleDr Helen Simpson, Lisa Shepherd and Dr Steve Kell summarise the guidance and implementation of the steroid emergency card in primary care.
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Content Article
Endometriosis UK: Pain and symptoms diary for patients
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Women's health
Keeping a record of your pain and symptoms can help you and your doctor to manage your symptoms, could help with a diagnosis and also could be used when submitting information for evidence e.g. when claiming for benefits, for work or for school/university. Endometriosis UK has produced a handy pain and symptoms diary you can use. -
Content ArticleIn this blog, James Perry a GP for Primary Care Wirral GP Federation, describes his experience of being a member of the UK's first multidisciplinary quarantine unit in 40 years. Starting from when 83 British nationals arrived in the UK from Wuhan, China and were transferred to Arrowe Park on the morning of 31st January, he details several operational and medical approaches, including how the multidisciplinary team had to create a strategic operational plan and how the mental health team aimed to promote a normalising, practical and human approach without medicalising people’s natural responses to a challenging and unusual circumstance.
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Content Articlen the UK, while most primary care contacts are uncomplicated, safety incidents do occur and result in patient harm, for example, failure to recognise a patient’s deterioration in health. This study by Cecil et al. determined the patient and healthcare factors associated with potentially missed acute deterioration in health. Differentiating acute deterioration from self-limiting conditions can be difficult for clinicians, particularly in patients with sepsis, urinary tract infections, or long-term conditions. The findings of this study support the call for longer GP consultations and caution against reliance on telephone consultations in primary care; however, more research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms.
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Content ArticleDoctor Laura Mount reveals in a new series in the Guardian how staff sickness, spiralling waiting lists and political pressure have left GPs on the brink.
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Content ArticleThis study in the British Journal of General Practice looked at the association between continuity of GP care and potentially inappropriate prescribing in patients with dementia, as well as the incidence of adverse health outcomes. The study authors found that for patients with dementia, consulting with the same doctor consistently, resulted in: 35% less risk of delirium 58% less risk of incontinence 10% less risk in emergency admission to hospital less inappropriate prescribing. The results demonstrate that increasing continuity of care for patients with dementia could improve their treatment and outcomes.
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Content ArticleIn this article for The Independent, Hannah Fearn looks at the issues women face when seeking treatment for urinary tract infections (UTIs). New research from Garmin has found that 40% of young women say they have been accused of over-exaggerating symptoms or being “over dramatic” about their wellbeing when seeing a doctor. The author highlights several personal stories of women who have experienced debilitating recurring urinary tract infections (UTIs), describing dismissive and discriminatory treatment from both GPs and secondary care doctors. She also looks at the work of the UK's only dedicated research centre focused on recurrent UTIs for women, based at London’s Whittington Hospital, and highlights new treatments that are becoming available for women with recurrent UTIs.
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Content ArticleProviders led by GPs of an ethnic minority background have raised with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) concerns that they do not receive the same regulatory outcomes from CQC as providers led by GPs of a non-ethnic minority background. To investigate and respond to these concerns, CQC started a programme of work in February 2021. The focus of this has been on how CQC's regulatory approach affects ethnic minority-led GP practices and how it can improve its methods to address any inequalities identified.
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Content ArticleIn October 2014, the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh launched a UK-wide education campaign to get patients moving in the run-up to surgery. Addressing this costly and avoidable matter, the campaign asks patients to speak with their surgeon or GP to work out an exercise plan that suits their condition and the type of operation they will undergo.
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Content ArticleIn this second podcast focusing on the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) GP Inequalities Project, Annabelle Stigwood, joint project lead, talks to Dr Faizan Ahmed, National Clinical Advisor at the CQC, and Dr Bola Olowabi, Director - Health Inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement. The guests discuss health inequalities and how they impact on the ability of GP practices to do their job. They discuss what we mean by health inequalities, why it's so important to focus on them in health and social care, and the role of providers, systems and regulators in addressing them. Listen to the first episode which introduces the project
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Content ArticleIn this podcast for the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Dr Ayisha Ashmore and Dr Faizan Ahmed discuss the CQC's GP Inequalities Project which is investigating the concern that GPs from an ethnic minority background receive poorer CQC ratings or regulatory outcomes.
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Content ArticleThis study in the British Journal of General Practice aimed to examine the relationship between empathy and patient-reported satisfaction, consultation quality, and patients’ trust in their physicians. It also sought to determine whether this relationship is moderated by a physician’s gender. The authors found that doctors self-reported more gender differences in measures of empathy than were observed in external measures, which included a facial recognition test, observations and a Synchrony of Vocal Mean Fundamental Frequencies (SVMFF), which measures vocally coded emotional arousal. SVMFF significantly predicted all patient outcomes, and could be used as a cost-effective proxy for relational quality.
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Content ArticleUniversity Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust has published a guide to help parents and carers know what to do when young children fall ill. It gives advice on when and where to seek treatment for children suffering from common illnesses or injuries. The guidance, written by doctors, focuses on coughs, minor head injuries, vomiting and fever. The trust said it hoped to help families avoid long waits in A&E departments. Advice in the guide aims to help people decide whether to seek help from their GP, call 111, visit A&E or treat children at home.
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Content ArticleThis study in the British Journal of General Practice aims to identify and understand the unintended consequences of online consultations in primary care. The authors interviewed 19 patients and 18 general practice staff at eight general practices using online consultation tools in South West and North West England between February 2019 and January 2020. The study found the following unintended consequences of online consultation: Creation of difficulties for some patients in communicating effectively with a GP. The system disadvantaged digitally-excluded patients. Patient uncertainty about how their queries were dealt with, and whether practices used online consultations as their preferred method for patients to contact the practice. Creation of additional work for some staff. Isolation and dissatisfaction for some staff.
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Content ArticleIn this blog Dr Peter Green, CVDPREVENT Workstream Clinical Lead for the NHS Benchmarking Network, looks at the importance of understanding how demographic factors impact the risk of cardiovascular disease, which is a leading risk factor for premature death. He discusses how the CVDPREVENT audit will help primary care healthcare professionals work with their patients to achieve better outcomes for all.
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Content ArticleThe Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Audit (CVDPREVENT) is a national primary care audit that automatically extracts routinely held GP data. This tool provides open access to the data, with clear, actionable insights for those tasked with improving cardiovascular health in England.
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Content ArticleAn author turned junior doctor’s account of the chaos at work and anguish at home as Covid-19 arrived in the UK.
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Content ArticleIn this article in The BMJ, Farah Hameed highlights that the backlog of care in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic is having a significant and detrimental effect on primary care services, not just elective hospital treatment. The combined impact of patients not coming forward for treatment during the pandemic, and hospitals having to cancel non-urgent procedures and routine clinics, has led to a huge backlog of patients living with conditions that are gradually getting worse. It is primary care that has to support these patients in the absence of capacity in secondary care. Consultant-led hospital services rejecting GP referrals due to lack of capacity is a major problem, with the number of GP referrals rejected due to lack of slots jumping from 238,859 in February 2020 to 401,115 in November 2021. Farah argues that emphasis must be placed on how tackling the build-up of care in our communities can help the wider system. For example, making GP continuity of care a policy priority would be a cost-effective way of improving patient outcomes and reducing the burden on other parts of the healthcare system, including secondary care.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Dr Charlotte Paddison, Senior Fellow at the Nuffield Trust, discusses whether the shift towards digital primary care risks making access easier for people with less need and harder for those more likely to be in poorer health. She also describes the actions that would help make access to primary care easier for different groups of patients.
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Content ArticleThis guide by the University of Birmingham's Institute for Mental Health is designed to help young people prepare to talk with their GP about self-harm and suicidal experiences. It contains advice about what to do before, during and after a GP visit.
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Content ArticleThis article in the British Journal of General Practice examined GP perspectives and concerns about safeguarding during the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on the challenges and opportunities created by remote consultation. GPs interviewed for the study expressed concern about missing observational information during remote consultations, with pooled triage lists seen as further weakening safeguarding opportunities. They were also worried that conversations might not be private or safe. Remote consultations were seen as more ‘transactional’, with reduced opportunities to explore ‘other reasons’ including new safeguarding needs. Remote consultation was seen as more difficult and draining and associated with increased GP anxiety and reduced job satisfaction. However, GPs also recognised opportunities that remote consulting offers, including providing more opportunities to interact with vulnerable patients.
