Response to requests for general practice out of hours: geographical analysis in north west England

The organisation of out of hours general practice (GP) in the UK has changed rapidly in recent years as practice based rotas and deputising services have given way to GP cooperatives in many areas. At the same time, the proportion of patients contacting an out of hours service who receive telephone advice only, rather than a face to face consultation, has risen substantially, although patients continue to express strong preferences for personal contact with a doctor out of hours. We examined the effect of the distance of the patient from the primary care centre on the doctor’s decision to see the patient face to face

A comparison of methods for calculating general practice level socioeconomic deprivation

Background: A measure of the socioeconomic deprivation experienced by the registered patient population of a general practice is of interest because it can be used to explore the association between deprivation and a wide range of other variables measured at practice level. If patient level geographical data are available a population weighted mean area-based deprivation score can be calculated for each practice. In the absence of these data, an area-based deprivation score linked to the practice postcode can be used as an estimate of the socioeconomic deprivation of the practice population. This study explores the correlation between Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004 (IMD) scores linked to general practice postcodes (main surgery address alone and main surgery plus any branch surgeries), practice population weighted mean IMD scores, and practice level mortality (aged 1 to 75 years, all causes) for 38 practices in Rotherham UK. Results: Population weighted deprivation scores correlated with practice postcode based scores (main surgery only, Pearson r = 0.74, 95% CI 0.54 to 0.85; main plus branch surgeries, r = 0.79, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.89). All cause mortality aged 1 to 75 correlated with deprivation (main surgery postcode based measure, r = 0.50, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.71; main plus branch surgery based score, r = 0.55, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.74); population weighted measure, r = 0.66, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.81). Conclusion: Practice postcode linked IMD scores provide a valid proxy for a population weighted measure in the absence of patient level data. However, by using them, the strength of association between mortality and deprivation may be underestimated

National Measures to Implement the Prohibitions in the BTWC

Ye

Contributions from Non-Governmental Organizations: The Contributions of the Department of Peace Studies of the University of Bradford to Strengthening the BTWC Regime

Ye

The emerging protocol: An integrated reliable and effective regime

Ye

Phase 0 study for a geothermal superheated water proof of concept facility

A Phase 0 study for the selection of a representative liquid-dominated geothermal resource of moderate salinity and temperature is discussed. Selection and conceptual design of a nominal 10-MWe energy conversion system, and implementation planning for Phase 1: subsystem (component, experiments) and Phase 2: final design, construction, and operation of experimental research facilities are reported. The objective of the overall program is to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of utilizing moderate temperature and salinity liquid-dominated resources with acceptable environmental impact, and thus encourage commercial scale development of geothermal electrical power generation

The Composite Protocol Text: An Effective Strengthening of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

Ye

Synthesising and utilising complex evidence to inform policy in education and health.

Oslo, Norway, May 19 to 21, 200