Recent news of interest
 

Finger-prick blood test at GP surgery could safely reduce antibiotic use in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

A simple finger-prick blood test could help prevent unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics for people with the lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers from PRIME Centre Wales and Centre for Trails Research at Cardiff University, University of Oxford and King’s College London.

With funding from the National Institute for Health Research, the team demonstrated that using a CRP finger-prick blood test resulted in 20% fewer people using antibiotics for COPD flare-ups. Importantly, this reduction in antibiotic use did not have a negative effect on patients’ recovery over the first two weeks after their consultation at their GP surgery, or on their well-being or use of health care services over the following six months. 

Safely reducing the use of antibiotics in this way may help in the battle against antibiotic resistance.

Read full story on Cardiff University website

Dental study wins prestigious award

Congratulations to Health and Care Research Wales Speciality Lead and PRIME Centre Wales Lead for oral & dental health Professor Ivor Chestnutt from Cardiff University Dental School on winning the 2019 International Association of Dental Research (IADR) award for best paper in the Journal of Dental Research. 

Professor Chestnutt was awarded the prestigious William J. Gies Award, in the clinical research category, for his ‘Seal or Varnish?’ study. The ‘Seal or Varnish?’ study, in collaboration with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Community Dental Service, treated just over 800 children with either fissure sealants or fluoride varnish to discover which treatment is most effective and offers the best value for money for children aged 6-7 years.

The team found that applying fluoride varnish to children’s teeth is just as effective at preventing tooth decay as the alternative method of sealing teeth and could save the NHS money.

Read the full story on Cardiff University website.

PRIME research in the latest issue of @ResearchWales

Issue 6 of the @ResearchWales magazine is out now.

Read about PRIME Centre Wales' research collaboration with Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and Cardiff University School of Optometry and Vision Sciences aimed at improving urgent eye care on page 11.
 

Welsh version @ Research wales - Issue 6
English version @ Research wales - Issue 6

“Someone to talk to who understands”: How do we support women with long-term health conditions with decisions about starting a family? - Blog post by Rhiannon Phillips

PRIME Research Fellow, Dr Rhiannon Phillips has written a guest blog on our work around pregnancy and long-term conditions for the WRISK project. The WRISK project is a collaboration between the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) and Heather Trickey at the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Working with stakeholders from a wide range of disciplines, the project draws on women’s experiences to understand and improve the development and communication of risk messages in pregnancy. 

Read the blog post here: https://www.wrisk.org/uncategorized/someone-to-talk-to-who-understands-how-do-we-support-women-with-long-term-health-conditions-with-decisions-about-starting-a-family/
 

Mental capacity & consent in dementia research - Blog post by Victoria Shepherd

PRIME Associate Director appointed to Marie Curie Research Funding Committee

Congratulations to Clare Wilkinson, Professor of General Practice at Bangor University and Associate Director of PRIME Centre Wales who has been appointed to serve on the Marie Curie Research Funding Committee.

Professor Wilkinson says: "I am delighted to be able to serve on this Committee, chaired by my colleague Professor Tim Peters Bristol University, who asked me to bring randomised trials expertise to the area of end of life care research."
 

The Health Experiences of Asylum seekers and Refugees (HEAR) study Stakeholder Event

Dr Ashra Khanom (pictured opposite), Health and Care Research Wales Research Fellow at PRIME, Swansea University and lead researcher on the HEAR study, co-hosted the HEAR stakeholder event with Public Health Wales on the 22nd May 2019.

The meeting, chaired by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Frank Atherton, aimed to offer healthcare professionals and third sector stakeholders an opportunity to join for a presentation of the results of the HEAR study and take part in an interactive workshop to discuss future steps towards implementing its recommendations.

Read more.
 

PRIME presentation at HSRUK Conference 2019

PRIME researchers based at Swansea University, Alison Porter and Mark Kingston presented at the recent HSR UK Conference, held 2-3 July 2019, in Manchester:

• Alison Porter presented (poster): Electronic records in ambulances – an observational study (ERA)
• Alison Porter presented (poster) on behalf of Jenna Jones: Prehospital Recognition and Antibiotics for 999 patients with Sepsis: Feasibility Study (PHRASE), results
• Mark Kingston presented (oral): Ambulance paramedics Responding to urgent patient Requests In general practice for home Visits - Evaluation development (ARRIVE)
   

University of South Wales PRIME team & colleagues welcome visitors from Zambia

Dr Job Mwanza, District Health Director in Zambia and colleagues visited the University of South Wales Community Health and Care Cognate group on 8^th July 2019. Dr Mwanza gave a presentation describing the road to implementing a social health insurance in Zambia.

A country of approximately 17 million population and an economy driven by copper exports, it has a GDP per capita of $3920. The meeting discussed the importance of communication and the challenges of persuading people about the benefits of paying for universal healthcare.  The presentation slides from the meeting can be accessed by e-mailing Megan Elliott at USW – megan.elliott@southwales.ac.uk
 

ADRe study featured in Western Mail

ADRe study supported by PRIME Centre Wales has been featured in Western Mail Health Check Wales on 22nd July 2019, showing how the research is making a difference to elderly care home residents by tackling the adverse side-effects caused by mediation prescribed and administered to patients.

Sue Jordan, Professor of medicines management and health services research at the university’s College of Human and Health Sciences, said:
“More than 50% of care home residents are being prescribed medicines they don’t need or that don’t properly address their health problems. “Antipsychotics, for example, are often  overused to treat the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. But this problem is not easy to solve. The overuse of medicines for older people is a complicated issue. Some may have been taking the same medicines at the same doses for years, even after an underlying problem has been resolved."

Read more.
 

ABACus 3 study update: Trial recruitment, retention, and a little bit more!

We are firmly in the final year of the ABACus 3 trial funding and are pleased to report that recruitment is completed, follow-up is nearly finished and the task of analysis is underway. ABACus 3 is a randomised controlled trial of a health check intervention to improve cancer symptom awareness and help-seeking among people living in socioeconomically deprived communities across South Wales and Yorkshire.

Read more

Help us shape cancer research in Wales - public consultation  

As a nation, Wales produces some of the world’s leading cancer research. We want your thoughts to help shape a strategy that is being developed to strengthen the work that happens here.

This is your strategy. Help us make it the best it can be.

Join us at one of our consultation events:

• 7 August – Wrexham, Catrin Finch Centre, Glyndwr University, 13:30 – 15:30
• 15 August – Newport, Barnabas Arts Centre, 13:00 – 15:00
• 10 September – Aberystwyth, Arad Goch Theatre, 13:00 – 15:00

Further information: www.walescancerresearchcentre.org/strategy-consultation/ 
Registration for consultation events: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cancer-research-strategy-for-wales-consultation-tickets-64166583980
 

Public Involvement Achievement award 2019

Entries are now invited for the 2019 Health and Care Research Wales Public Involvement Achievement award.

The recently launched UK Standards for Public Involvement in Research provide the foundation for the 2019 award. The award is designed to identify, promote, and celebrate the excellent public involvement taking place across the Health and Care Research Wales infrastructure.

Find out more and apply.
 

Forthcoming events of interest

Joint UK consultation on transparency in health and social care research

Date: 31 July 2019
Venue: Cardiff

Health and Care Research Wales is taking part in a joint UK consultation, being led by the Health Research Authority (HRA) in England, on their new strategy to help increase public access to research findings. 

As part of the consultation, an engagement event will be held on 31 July 2019 in Cardiff. Read more and register.
 

Welsh Public Health Conference 2019

Date: 17 - 18 October 2019
Venue: International Convention Centre (ICC), Newport

Call for abstracts is open and closes on 18 July 2019 - all abstracts need to be submitted electronically. Submission guidance and more information can be found on the Welsh Public Health Conference website. Registration opening soon. 
 

National Primary Care Conference

Clusters: Past, present and future

Date: Thursday 7th November 2019
Venue: The International Convention Centre (ICC wales), Newport

We are excited to open booking for the 4th Annual National Primary Care Conference in Wales. The conference will be held on the 7th November in the brand new International Convention Centre near Newport.

We are incredibly excited by the agenda and speakers, the draft agenda is outlined below but this is subject to small changes. We have listened to all the feedback from prior events and have designed the conference to maximise opportunities to learn and share from innovative practice in Wales. We have also allowed more time for delegates to meet and talk, and have increased the number of delegate spaces available compared with previous years, allowing those who wish to attend the opportunity to do so.

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/national-primary-care-conference-clusters-pastpresent-and-future-tickets-62641525489

Funding opportunities
 

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowships 2019

The goal of the Individual Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of experienced researchers, wishing to diversify their individual competence in terms of skill acquisition through advanced training, international and intersectoral mobility.

Individual Fellowships provide opportunities to researchers of any nationality to acquire and transfer new knowledge and to work on research and innovation in Europe (EU Member States and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries) and beyond. The scheme particularly supports the return and (re)integration of European researchers from outside Europe and those who have previously worked here, as well as researchers displaced by conflict outside the EU and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries. It also promotes the career restart of individual researchers who show great potential.

Deadline for applications: 11 September 2019

Further information: https://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/actions/get-funding/individual-fellowships-2019_en
 

Dunhill Medical Trust - Research Project Grants

The Dunhill Medical Trust invites applications for its research project grants. These support research projects that are important to understanding the mechanisms of ageing, treating disease and frailty and identifying and developing new and effective ways to improve the lives of older people. The grants also support research into treating diseases and conditions that disproportionately affect older people but are less well-funded.

Funding: £300,000 max. for up to 3 years.

Deadline: 30 August 2019

Further information: https://dunhillmedical.org.uk/research-project-grants
 

British Heart Foundation

Two new Fellowships for Nurses and Allied Health Professionals

The second call for applications for Research Training Fellowships for Nurses and Allied Health Professionals is now open. 

Deadline: 25th October 2019

Follow the links below for more information:

• Research Training Fellowships
  This scheme aims to provide a foundation in research training in an established research institution in the UK for healthcare professionals, leading to the award of a PhD.
   
• Career Development Research Fellowships
  This scheme aims to provide a career opportunity in an established research institution in the UK for individuals with an established research record, who intend to become leaders in academic health professional-led research.
   

RCGP Annual Research Grants

The RCGP Scientific Foundation Board have opened their call for Annual Research Grants. The deadline is 31st July 2019. These are relatively small grants of up to £30,000 but we have had some success with these in the past, particularly from our Academic Fellows.

The SFB is our charitable funding body and awards grants for research projects whose findings will be of direct relevance to the care of patients in the general practice setting. Any GP, primary healthcare professional or university-based researcher may apply for a grant for scientific research to be undertaken in the UK.

Applications for PAGs will be reviewed quarterly according to the following calendar:

• Quarter 3: deadline for submissions 31 August 2019, applications reviewed by 30 September 2019
• Quarter 4: deadline for submissions 30 November 2019, applications reviewed by 31 December 2019

Further information: https://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/our-programmes/research-facilitation-and-support/research-grants-and-fellowships.aspx
 

Recent publications

Shepherd V, Wood F, Griffith R, Sheehan M, Hood K. Research involving adults lacking capacity to consent: a content analysis of participant information sheets for consultees and legal representatives in England and Wales. Trials 2019 20:233 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3340-5
 

Butler CC, Gillespie D, White P, Bates J, Lowe R, Thomas-Jones E, Wootton M, Hood K, Phillips R, Melbye H, Llor C, Cals Y, Naik G, Kirby N, Gal M, Riga E, Francis NA. C-Reactive Protein Testing to Guide Antibiotic Prescribing for COPD Exacerbations. N Engl J Med 2019; 381:111-120 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1803185
 

McCutchan G, Hiscock J, Hood K, Murchie P, Neal R, Newton G, Thomas S, Thomas AM, Brain K. Engaging high-risk groups in early lung cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of symptom presentation and intervention preferences amongst the UK’s most deprived communities. BMJ Open 2019;9:e025902. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025902

Jones JK, Evans BA, Fegan G, Ford S, Guy K, Jones S, Keen L, Khanom A, Longo M, Pallister I, Rees N, Russell I, Seagrove A, Watkins A, Snooks H. Rapid Analgesia for Prehospital hip Disruption (RAPID): findings from a randomised feasibility study. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 2019;5:77. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-019-0454-1

McNab D, Freestone J, Black C, Carson-Stevens A, Bowie P. Participatory design of an improvement intervention for the primary care management of possible sepsis using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method. BMC Med. 2018 Oct 11;16(1):174. doi: 10.1186/s12916-018-1164-x.

Morgan-Trimmer S, Chadwick BL, Hutchings SC, Scoble C, Lisles CJ, Drew CJ, Murphy S, Pickles T, Hood K, Chestnutt IG. The acceptability of fluoride varnish and fissure sealant treatments in children aged 6-9 delivered in a school setting. Feb 2019 Community dental health 36(1):33-38. DOI: 10.1922/CDH_4263Morgan-Trimmer06