PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Seeing the same GP at every visit will reduce emergency department attendance

2014-07-24
(Press-News.org) Attendances at emergency departments can be reduced by enabling patients to see the same GP every time they visit their doctor's surgery. This is just one of several recommendations made in a report published today, led by researchers at the University of Bristol.

Called 'Primary care factors and unscheduled secondary care: a series of systematic reviews', the report has been compiled by researchers from the University's Centre for Academic Primary Care who looked at evidence from studies around the world. They found that patients who saw the same GP every time they attended their GP surgery were less likely to require emergency care.

The research, published in the open access journal BMJ Open, was carried out in collaboration with the Universities of Manchester, Oxford and UCL.

Other factors that also affect admission and attendances at emergency departments are: how easy it is for patients to access GP surgeries and primary care providers; the distance the patients live away from the emergency department; and the number of confusing options patients had for accessing emergency care.

Dr Alyson Huntley, Research Fellow at the University of Bristol and lead author of the report, said: "A recent report by the King's Fund suggested that admissions among people with long-term conditions that could have been managed in primary care cost the NHS £1.42 billion per year. This could be reduced by up to 18 per cent through investment in primary and community-based services.

"Our work has shown that providing continuity of care and making it easier for patients to get access to their GP can help achieve this reduction in unplanned admissions and emergency department attendance."

The report recommends that, for patients in high-risk group, there should be a targeted increase in continuity of care with GPs. These include older patients, those from poorer backgrounds and those suffering from multiple conditions.

Dr Sarah Purdy, who led the research, said: "GP Practices serving the most deprived populations have emergency admission rates that are around 60 per cent higher than those serving the least deprived populations. Our research has highlighted key issues that commissioners of primary care in the UK can tackle in order to bring down unscheduled secondary care use."

The report is based on research funded by the National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research (NIHR SPCR). It is the most comprehensive review of its kind in which the researchers analysed 44 different studies from developed countries around the world in order to identify which features of primary care affect unscheduled secondary care use.

Professor Jonathan Benger, National Clinical Director for Urgent Care for NHS England, said: "There is a well-recognised need to improve urgent care in England. This report will help to inform both commissioners and providers of care regarding the relationship between general practice, accident and emergency department attendance and emergency hospital admission. The report's findings are reflected in the changes proposed by the ongoing review of urgent and emergency care, led by NHS England's Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh."

INFORMATION: Paper

'Which features of primary care affect unscheduled secondary care use? A systematic review' by Alyson Huntley, Daniel Lasserson, Lesley Wye, Richard Morris, Kath Checkland, Helen England, Chris Salisbury and Sarah Purdy in BMJ Open.

Notes to the editor

About the Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC)

The CAPC at the University of Bristol is one of the leading centres in the UK which form the NIHR School for Primary Care Research. Within the University of Bristol, CAPC is an integral part of the School of Social and Community Medicine, which is an internationally recognised centre of excellence for research and teaching in population health sciences. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/primaryhealthcare

About NIHR School for Primary Care Research

The National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research (NIHR SPCR) is a partnership between eight leading academic centres for primary care research in England. The School's main aim is to increase the evidence base for primary care practice through high-quality research and strategic leadership. http://www.spcr.nihr.ac.uk


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New research: When it hurts to think we were made for each other

New research: When it hurts to think we were made for each other
2014-07-24
Toronto - Aristotle said, "Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." Poetic as it is, thinking that you and your partner were made in heaven for each other can hurt your relationship, says a new study. Psychologists observe that people talk and think about love in apparently limitless ways but underlying such diversity are some common themes that frame how we think about relationships. For example, one popular frame considers love as perfect unity ("made for each other," "she's my other half"); in another frame, love is a journey ("look how far we've ...

Four billion-year-old chemistry in cells today

2014-07-24
Parts of the primordial soup in which life arose have been maintained in our cells today according to scientists at the University of East Anglia. Research published today in the Journal of Biological Chemistry reveals how cells in plants, yeast and very likely also in animals still perform ancient reactions thought to have been responsible for the origin of life – some four billion years ago. The primordial soup theory suggests that life began in a pond or ocean as a result of the combination of metals, gases from the atmosphere and some form of energy, such as a lightning ...

Western Indian Ocean communities play vital role in conservation

2014-07-24
An international team of researchers led by the University of York has carried out the first assessment of community-led marine conservation in the Western Indian Ocean. The results, reported in the journal PLOS ONE, point to a revolution in the management of marine protected areas, with almost half of the sites – more than 11,000 km² – in the region now under local community stewardship. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are zones of the seas and coasts designed to protect wildlife from damage and disturbance and managed typically by governments rather than by local communities. ...

Melatonin reduces traumatic brain injury-induced oxidative stress

2014-07-24
Traumatic brain injury can cause post-traumatic neurodegenerations with an increase in reactive oxygen species and reactive oxygen species-mediated lipid peroxidation. Melatonin, a non-enzymatic antioxidant and neuroprotective agent, has been shown to counteract oxidative stress-induced pathophysiologic conditions like cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, neuronal excitotoxicity and chronic inflammation. Therefore, the research team at the Neuroscience Research Center, University of Suleyman Demire, led by Prof. Mustafa Nazıroğlu, aimed to evaluate whether there ...

Cost-effective, solvothermal synthesis of heteroatom (S or N)-doped graphene developed

2014-07-24
A research team led by group leader Yung-Eun Sung has announced that they have developed cost-effective technology to synthesize sulfur-doped and nitrogen-doped graphenes which can be applied as high performance electrodes for secondary batteries and fuel cells. Yung-Eun Sung is both a group leader at the Center for Nanoparticle Research at Institute for Basic Science* (IBS) and a professor at the Seoul National University. This achievement has great significance with regards to the development of relative simplicity, scalablity, and cost effectiveness processes that ...

Who can control the potential targets against cell apoptosis after TIA in the elderly?

2014-07-24
Mitochondria play an important role in neuronal apoptosis caused by cerebral ischemia. Researchers at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, China discovered transient ischemia led to cell apoptosis in the hippocampus and changes in memory and cognition of aged rats. Differential proteomics analysis suggested that this phenomenon may be mediated by mitochondrial proteins associated with energy metabolism and apoptosis in aged rats. This study reported in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 11, 2014) provides potential drug targets for the treatment of ...

Laser therapy on the repair of a large-gap transected sciatic nerve in a reinforced nerve conduit

2014-07-24
Researchers at Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, led by Prof. Liu, Dr. Shen and Mrs. Yang have developed a biodegradable nerve conduit containing genipin-cross-linked gelatin was annexed using beta-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) ceramic particles (Genipin-Gelatin-TCP, GGT) to bridge the transection of a 15 mm sciatic nerve in rats. The effects of LLL therapy on peripheral nerve restoration and regeneration have systematically investigated throughout the study period. Very few studies have employed tubulation in combination with diode laser therapy ...

Researchers find mechanism that clears excess of protein linked with Type 2 diabetes

2014-07-24
The cellular process autophagy appears to not work properly, contributing to the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells People with Type 2 diabetes have an excess of a protein called islet amyloid polypeptide, or IAPP, and the accumulation of this protein is linked to the loss of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. What causes this accumulation of IAPP in pancreatic beta cells of people with diabetes has remained a mystery. But a team of researchers from the Larry L. Hillblom Islet Research Center led by Dr. Peter Butler, professor of medicine at UCLA, may ...

Astronomers come up dry in search for water on exoplanets

2014-07-24
TORONTO, ON (23 JULY 2014) – A team of astronomers has made the most precise measurements yet of water vapour in the atmospheres of Jupiter-like planets beyond our Solar System and found them to be much drier worlds than expected. The team, including Dr. Nicolas Crouzet of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, has found that the abundance of atmospheric water vapour is between ten and a thousand times less than what models predict. "The low water vapour levels are surprising," says Crouzet. "Our models predict a much higher abundance ...

One route to malaria drug resistance found

One route to malaria drug resistance found
2014-07-24
Researchers have uncovered a way the malaria parasite becomes resistant to an investigational drug. The discovery, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, also is relevant for other infectious diseases including bacterial infections and tuberculosis. The study appears July 24 in Nature Communications. Many organisms, including the parasite that causes malaria, make a class of molecules called isoprenoids, which play multiple roles in keeping organisms healthy, whether plants, animals or bacteria. In malaria, the investigational drug fosmidomycin blocks ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

Targeting FGFR2 may prevent or delay some KRAS-mutated pancreatic cancers

[Press-News.org] Seeing the same GP at every visit will reduce emergency department attendance