Is practice placement capacity helping the NHS to recruit healthcare professionals?

YesPractice placements are a fundamental aspect of preparing students for working in the NHS and will influence where, and in what specialities, students work. Additionally, NHS leaders now consider the issues of recruitment and retention of NHS staff to be as serious as concerns over funding. NHS Providers have outlined the issues although there appears to be little, or no, consideration in terms of plans required for the most immediate future workforce. It is hypothesised that there is link between student healthcare placement capacity and workforce gaps. The policy of increasing training places and of funding practice placements may have a positive effect on practice placement provision and if so contribute to increasing the NHS workforce, but without further detail this impact remains unknown. Along with most aspects of service delivery, planning practice placements using the best available evidence will ensure that the impact on service delivery is minimised while maximising the experience for the next generation of NHS employees

Documentation of spinal red flags during physiotherapy assessment

YesThe project was designed as a retrospective service evaluation using audit to assess the identification and documentation of red flags in initial assessment of patients with low back pain. Firstly, the documentation of 11 predetermined red flags was assessed. Secondly, the documentation of relevant additional information was assessed and finally, compliance with local policy to highlight positive red flag findings in the designated area on the paperwork was examined. The documentation for the majority of red flags was high, however, clear gaps were identified. Additionally, there was no evidence of further clinical consideration of positive red flags during the diagnostic process. Possible factors influencing red flag documentation are discussed and suggestions are provided to improve recording and response to clinical indicators of malignancy

Nutritional Intake after Liver Transplant: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Cardiovascular disease and its concurrent risk factors are prevalent after liver transplant (LT). Most of these risk factors are modifiable by diet. We aimed to synthesise the literature reporting the nutritional intake of liver transplant recipients (LTR) and the potential determinants of intake. We performed a systematic review and meta-analyses of studies published up until July 2021 reporting the nutritional intake of LTR. The pooled daily mean intakes were recorded as 1998 (95% CI 1889, 2108) kcal, 17 (17, 18)% energy from protein, 49 (48, 51)% energy from carbohydrates, 34 (33, 35)% energy from total fat, 10 (7, 13)% energy from saturated fat, and 20 (18, 21) g of fibre. The average fruit and vegetable intake ranged from 105 to 418 g/day. The length of time post-LT and the age and sex of the cohorts, as well as the continent and year of publication of each study, were sources of heterogeneity. Nine studies investigated the potential determinants of intake, time post-LT, gender and immunosuppression medication, with inconclusive results. Energy and protein requirements were not met in the first month post-transplant. After this point, energy intake was significantly higher and remained stable over time, with a high fat intake and low intake of fibre, fruits and vegetables. This suggests that LTR consume a high-energy, low-quality diet in the long term and do not adhere to the dietary guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention.Peer reviewe

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

The IDENTIFY study: the investigation and detection of urological neoplasia in patients referred with suspected urinary tract cancer - a multicentre observational study

Objective To evaluate the contemporary prevalence of urinary tract cancer (bladder cancer, upper tract urothelial cancer [UTUC] and renal cancer) in patients referred to secondary care with haematuria, adjusted for established patient risk markers and geographical variation. Patients and Methods This was an international multicentre prospective observational study. We included patients aged ≥16 years, referred to secondary care with suspected urinary tract cancer. Patients with a known or previous urological malignancy were excluded. We estimated the prevalence of bladder cancer, UTUC, renal cancer and prostate cancer; stratified by age, type of haematuria, sex, and smoking. We used a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression to adjust cancer prevalence for age, type of haematuria, sex, smoking, hospitals, and countries. Results Of the 11 059 patients assessed for eligibility, 10 896 were included from 110 hospitals across 26 countries. The overall adjusted cancer prevalence (n = 2257) was 28.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.3–34.1), bladder cancer (n = 1951) 24.7% (95% CI 19.1–30.2), UTUC (n = 128) 1.14% (95% CI 0.77–1.52), renal cancer (n = 107) 1.05% (95% CI 0.80–1.29), and prostate cancer (n = 124) 1.75% (95% CI 1.32–2.18). The odds ratios for patient risk markers in the model for all cancers were: age 1.04 (95% CI 1.03–1.05; P < 0.001), visible haematuria 3.47 (95% CI 2.90–4.15; P < 0.001), male sex 1.30 (95% CI 1.14–1.50; P < 0.001), and smoking 2.70 (95% CI 2.30–3.18; P < 0.001). Conclusions A better understanding of cancer prevalence across an international population is required to inform clinical guidelines. We are the first to report urinary tract cancer prevalence across an international population in patients referred to secondary care, adjusted for patient risk markers and geographical variation. Bladder cancer was the most prevalent disease. Visible haematuria was the strongest predictor for urinary tract cancer

Effects of water and land based exercise programmes on women experiencing pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain: a randomized controlled feasibility study

noThis study aimed to address whether a water exercise programme improves pain and quality of life in pregnant patients with Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) compared to a land-based exercise programme and the feasibility of undertaking a large-scale research programme. Twenty-three participants with diagnosed PGP, recruited at St George’s Hospital London, were randomised into two groups (water or land exercise). Each group received, four, once-weekly exercise sessions on land or water. Exercise effects on PGP were measured using the Pelvic Girdle Pain Questionnaire (PGPQ) (primary outcome), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Patient Specific Functional Score (PSFS) and Active Straight Leg Raise (ASLR). Quality of life was measured using the Subjective Exercise Experience Scale (SEES). Outcomes were assessed at baseline and post four weeks exercise. Results showed there was a clinically significant improvement shown in all outcome measures in the water group, compared to the land group. A statistical difference between groups was shown for ASLR (p=0.036), Positive Well-Being (p=0.000) and Fatigue levels (p=0.011). No statistical difference was shown for PGPQ (p=0.056), PSFS (p=0.530) and Psychological Distress (p=0.712) scores. Exercise in water appears to offer a clinical benefit for patients experiencing PGP compared to a land exercise, particularly with Fatigue, Positive Well-Being and ASLR scores. Statistical differences between groups are limited by small sample size and that no power calculation was used in this study. Methodology and results provide support for a larger study on this topic to provide more definitive conclusions to support the use of water-based therapy for PGP.The full text may be available depending on permission from the publisher

E-health for stroke survivors and their carers

YesStroke is the leading cause of adult disability in the UK. Many stroke patients report a feeling of ‘abandonment’ when they are discharged from therapy services. This in turn, leads to readmissions and re-referrals to both hospital and community services. This paper discusses the components of E-health and how E-health could be used to supplement conventional interventions to improve patient engagement, empowerment and decreased reliance on therapy services. In doing so it will consider how such interventions could better involve carers. An integrated E-health approach has the potential to improve outcomes for stroke survivors. A person centred approach needs to be employed through partnerships between stroke survivor, carer and healthcare professional. Remote monitoring could provide specific targeted interventions, preventing unnecessary hospital admissions or re-referrals and reducing cost of care. While the issues are well defined more work is required on what these integrated, patient centred E-health solutions may look like in order to be successful in supporting stroke survivors.The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 11 Apr 2018

Does a more dynamic method of partial weight bearing instruction translate to improved protocols?

YesBackground: Partial weight bearing protocols are commonly incorporated into rehabilitation to enhance recovery. Patients are often prescribed protocols that refer to a percentage of their body weight, such as 20% weight bearing, that should be placed through the healing limb during activities such as walking (gait). In order to achieve these partial weight baring protocols patients are usually provided with walking aids such as crutches. Accurate reproducibility of and compliance with these protocols could be considered essential to the rehabilitation process, however poor reproducibility of partial weight bearing protocols during crutch assisted gait using a current method of instruction has been shown. Aims: The aim of this study was to determine whether a more dynamic method of partial weight bearing protocol instruction, was more accurately reproduced. Methods: In total, 16 participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups and were taught 20% partial weight bearing using two different methods of instruction. A participant’s ability to reproduce their target load using crutch assisted gait was assessed using a force plate. Findings: The mean error for the static method of instruction was significantly greater than the more dynamic method. Conclusion: As seen previously, the static method of instruction of partial weight bearing protocols, using bathroom scales, does not seem to translate accurately to dynamic motion; however, the more dynamic method assessed in this study appears to result in more accurate reproducibility

The Virtual Community of Bradton

The 'Bradton' project has engaged service users and carers in the collaborative production of web based learning materials. Individual narratives relating to personal experiences of health and social care have been used to inform the development of media rich scenarios that are sited in a virtual community ‘Bradton’. This innovative project has created an inter-professional learning and teaching resource, and a tangible means of engaging with service users. There has been widespread interest in the use of the materials for pre and post registration healthcare education, subsequent to dissemination of the work locally, nationally and internationally.