Identifying features associated with higher-quality hospital care and shorter length of admission for people with dementia : a mixed-methods study

Background: Concerns have repeatedly been expressed about the quality of inpatient care that people with dementia receive. Policies and practices have been introduced that aim to improve this, but their impact is unclear. Aims: To identify which aspects of the organisation and delivery of acute inpatient services for people with dementia are associated with higher-quality care and shorter length of stay. Design: Mixed-methods study combining a secondary analysis of data from the third National Audit of Dementia (2016/17) and a nested qualitative exploration of the context, mechanism and outcomes of acute care for people with dementia. Setting: Quantitative data from 200 general hospitals in England and Wales and qualitative data from six general hospitals in England that were purposively selected based on their performance in the audit. Participants: Quantitative data from clinical records of 10,106 people with dementia who had an admission to hospital lasting ≥ 72 hours and 4688 carers who took part in a cross-sectional survey of carer experience. Qualitative data from interviews with 56 hospital staff and seven carers of people with dementia. Main outcome measures: Length of stay, quality of assessment and carer-rated experience. Results: People with dementia spent less time in hospital when discharge planning was initiated within 24 hours of admission. This is a challenging task when patients have complex needs, and requires named staff to take responsibility for co-ordinating the discharge and effective systems for escalating concerns when obstacles arise. When trust boards review delayed discharges, they can identify recurring problems and work with local stakeholders to try to resolve them. Carers of people with dementia play an important role in helping to ensure that hospital staff are aware of patient needs. When carers are present on the ward, they can reassure patients and help make sure that they eat and drink well, and adhere to treatment and care plans. Clear communication between staff and family carers can help ensure that they have realistic expectations about what the hospital staff can and cannot provide. Dementia-specific training can promote the delivery of person-centred care when it is made available to a wide range of staff and accompanied by ‘hands-on’ support from senior staff. Limitations: The quantitative component of this research relied on audit data of variable quality. We relied on carers of people with dementia to explore aspects of service quality, rather than directly interviewing people with dementia. Conclusions: If effective support is provided by senior managers, appropriately trained staff can work with carers of people with dementia to help ensure that patients receive timely and person-centred treatment, and that the amount of time they spend in hospital is minimised. Future work: Future research could examine new ways to work with carers to co-produce aspects of inpatient care, and to explore the relationship between ethnicity and quality of care in patients with dementia. Funding: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme and will be published in full in Health Services and Delivery Research; Vol. 8, No. 22. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information

Music therapy for in-patients with schizophrenia: exploratory randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Music therapy may provide a means of improving mental health among people with schizophrenia, but its effects in acute psychoses have not been explored. AIMS: To examine the feasibility of a randomised trial of music therapy for inpatients with schizophrenia, and explore its effects on mental health. METHOD: Up to 12 weeks of individual music therapy plus standard care were compared with standard care alone. Masked assessments of mental health, global functioning and satisfaction with care were conducted at 3 months. RESULTS: Of 115 eligible patients 81 (70%) were randomised. Two-thirds of those randomised to music therapy attended at least four sessions (median attendance, eight sessions). Multivariate analysis demonstrated a trend towards improved symptom scores among those randomised to music therapy, especially in general symptoms of schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: A randomised trial of music therapy for in-patients with schizophrenia is feasible. The effects and cost-effectiveness of music therapy for acute psychosis should be further explored in an explanatory randomised trial

Predictors of positive outcomes from ‘Early Intervention in Psychosis’: protocol for a national retrospective cohort study

Background: Psychotic disorders are severe and prevalent mental health conditions associated with long-term disability, reduced quality of life, and substantial economic costs. Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services aim to provide timely and comprehensive treatment for psychotic disorders, and EIP service input is associated with improved outcomes. However, there is limited understanding of the specific components of EIP care that contribute to these improvements. There is significant nationwide variability in the commissioning and delivery of EIP, with individuals receiving different packages of components from different services. In this study, we seek to explore associations between EIP components and clinically significant outcomes, in order to understand the mechanisms underlying improved psychosis care. Methods: This national retrospective cohort study will utilize data from the 2019 National Clinical Audit of Psychosis (NCAP), examining the care received by 10,560 individuals treated by EIP services in England. Exposure data from the NCAP, capturing the components of care delivered by EIP services, will be linked with outcome data from routine NHS Digital datasets over a three-year follow-up period. This will be the first study to use this method to examine this population in England. The primary outcomes will be surrogate measures of relapse of psychosis (hospital admission and referral to community-based crisis intervention services). Secondary outcomes include duration of admissions, emergency hospital attendances, episodes of detention under the Mental Health Act, and all-cause mortality. We will use multilevel regression to examine associations between exposures and outcome events. We will handle missing data using appropriate imputation techniques. Discussion: This study aims to provide valuable insights into the long-term effects of variations in EIP service delivery. The study involves a large, diverse cohort including individuals treated by every EIP service in England. While there are limitations inherent in the observational nature of the study, any associations identified will be of great relevance to clinicians, researchers, and policymakers seeking to optimize EIP care. The results will enable more targeted treatment planning, resource allocation, and potential innovations in EIP care, ultimately leading to improved prognoses for people experiencing psychosis

Lorentz-Shaped Comet Dust Trail Cross Section from New Hybrid Visual and Video Meteor Counting Technique - Implications for Future Leonid Storm Encounters

A new hybrid technique of visual and video meteor observations was developed to provide high precision near real-time flux measurements for satellite operators from airborne platforms. A total of 33,000 Leonids. recorded on video during the 1999 Leonid storm, were watched by a team of visual observers using a video head display and an automatic counting tool. The counts reveal that the activity profile of the Leonid storm is a Lorentz profile. By assuming a radial profile for the dust trail that is also a Lorentzian, we make predictions for future encounters. If that assumption is correct, we passed 0.0003 AU deeper into the 1899 trailet than expected during the storm of 1999 and future encounters with the 1866 trailet will be less intense than. predicted elsewhere

Liaison psychiatry—measurement and evaluation of service types, referral patterns and outcomes (LP-MAESTRO): a protocol

Introduction: We describe the protocol for a project that will use linkage of routinely collected NHS data to answer a question about the nature and effectiveness of liaison psychiatry services in acute hospitals in England. Methods and analysis: The project will use three data sources: (1) Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), a database controlled by NHS Digital that contains patient data relating to emergency department (ED), inpatient and outpatient episodes at hospitals in England; (2) ResearchOne, a research database controlled by The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) that contains patient data relating to primary care provided by organisations using the SystmOne clinical information system and (3) clinical databases controlled by mental health trusts that contain patient data relating to care provided by liaison psychiatry services. We will link patient data from these sources to construct care pathways for patients who have been admitted to a particular hospital and determine those patients who have been seen by a liaison psychiatry service during their admission. Patient care pathways will form the basis of a matched cohort design to test the effectiveness of liaison intervention. We will combine healthcare utilisation within care pathways using cost figures from national databases. We will compare the cost of each care pathway and the impact of a broad set of health-related outcomes to obtain preliminary estimates of cost-effectiveness for liaison psychiatry services. We will carry out an exploratory incremental cost-effectiveness analysis from a whole system perspective. Ethics and dissemination: Individual patient consent will not be feasible for this study. Favourable ethical opinion has been obtained from the NHS Research Ethics Committee (North of Scotland) (REF: 16/NS/0025) for Work Stream 2 (phase 1) of the Liaison psychiatry—measurement and evaluation of service types, referral patterns and outcomes study. The Confidentiality Advisory Group at the Health Research Authority determined that Section 251 approval under Regulation 5 of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 was not required for the study ‘on the basis that there is no disclosure of patient identifiable data without consent’ (REF: 16/CAG/0037). Results of the study will be published in academic journals in health services research and mental health. Details of the study methodology will also be published in an academic journal. Discussion papers will be authored for health service commissioners

The efficacy of culling seals seen preying on seabirds as a means of reducing seabird mortality

In the 2006/2007 breeding season of Cape gannets Morus capensis at Malgas Island, the removal of 61 Cape fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus that preyed on gannet fledglings when they left to sea significantly reduced the mortality rate of these fledglings. However, because seals learned to avoid the boat used for their removal, it was not possible to remove all the seals that killed gannet fledglings and some mortality continued. The seals inflicting the mortality were all sub-adult males, with an average age of <5 years. Sustained removal of these animals may reduce this feeding behaviour, which is at present having an adverse impact on several threatened seabirds in the Benguela ecosystem

The nature and activity of liaison mental services in acute hospital settings: a multi-site cross sectional study

Background: To describe the clinical activity patterns and nature of interventions of hospital-based liaison psychiatry services in England. Methods: Multi-site, cross-sectional survey. 18 acute hospitals across England with a liaison psychiatry service. All liaison staff members, at each hospital site, recorded data on each patient they had face to face contact with, over a 7 day period. Data included location of referral, source of referral, main clinical problem, type of liaison intervention employed, staff professional group and grade, referral onto other services, and standard assessment measures. Results: A total of 1475 face to face contacts from 18 hospitals were included in the analysis, of which approximately half were follow-up reviews. There was considerable variation across sites, related to the volume of Emergency Department (ED) attendances, number of hospital admissions, and work hours of the team but not to the size of the hospital (number of beds). The most common clinical problems were co-morbid physical and psychiatric symptoms, self-harm and cognitive impairment. The main types of intervention delivered were diagnosis/formulation, risk management and advice. There were differences in the type of clinical problems seen by the services between EDs and wards, and also differences between the work conducted by doctors and nurses. Almost half of the contacts were for continuing care, rather than assessment. Eight per cent of all referrals were offered follow up with the LP team, and approximately 37% were referred to community or other services. Conclusions: The activity of LP services is related to the flow of patients through an acute hospital. In addition to initial assessments, services provide a wide range of differing interventions, with nurses and doctors carrying out distinctly different roles within the team. The results show the volume and diversity of LP work. While much clinical contact is acute and confined to the inpatient episode, the LP service is not defined solely by an assessment and discharge function; cases are often complex and nearly half were referred for follow up including liaison team follow up