Co-developing a theory of change to evaluate integrated working in two Locality Partnerships

Dr Natalia Lewis

 

 

 

By Dr Natalia Lewis, Senior Research Fellow in Primary Care, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol and Researcher in Residence, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board.

Since December 2022, I have been working part-time as a researcher in residence at the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB).

The Researcher-in-Residence (otherwise known as Embedded Researcher) model involves co-locating researchers within non-academic organisations to enhance the role of research evidence in informing decision-making. I applied for this job because I wanted to understand how decision-making in the real-world health system happens and how my research skills and expertise can be used to make local policies and practices evidence informed.

My post was established to support development of an evaluation framework for the Woodspring and One Weston Locality Partnerships within BNSSG ICB. These Locality Partnerships are … Read more

A global journey into primary care: insights from the NAPCRG Conference

Chloe Gamlin

 

 

 

by Chloë Gamlin, GP Academic Clinical Fellow, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol

Attending the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) conference for the first time proved to be an enriching experience, offering a diverse array of presentations and discussions at the forefront of primary care. Held at the Hilton in downtown San Francisco, the conference brought together healthcare providers and researchers from across the globe.

Plenaries

The opening plenary by Professor Ed Maibach underscored the role of primary care physicians in addressing climate change, emphasizing their potential to provide unbiased information. Another plenary, led by Professor Diana Greene Foster, delved into the intersection of politics and healthcare, focusing on the recent changes to US abortion law. The emotional session highlighted the resilience of healthcare professionals in supporting women’s health issues, despite differing opinions.

Distinguished papers presented in the morning sessions covered … Read more

My experience as an NIHR School for Primary Care Research intern: a pharmacy student’s perspective

Loreta Valatka

 

 

by Loreta Valatka, Third Year Pharmacy Student, University of Bath

 

My internship experience

The Carry Naloxone Somerset project, led by Dr Jenny Scott, was the main focus of my 2023 research summer internship at the University of Bristol’s Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC). The aim of the project is to encourage people in Somerset who may experience or witness an overdose to carry naloxone – a first aid medicine that can be supplied without prescription to prevent an opioid overdose from being fatal.

Before the launch of the campaign, I analysed survey data to write a report about the possession and carriage of naloxone, as well as overdose experiences amongst Somerset Drug and Alcohol Service (SDAS) users. Post launch, I was responsible for follow-ups with the 23 pharmacies that had signed up so far. This was to ensure all participating members of the pharmacy teams … Read more

Why Test? The power of collaboration in primary care research

 

By Dr Ola Abdellatif, Primary Care Academic Collaborative (PACT) and Dr Jessica Watson, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol

Rates of blood testing in general practice have increased over the past two decades in the UK. The reasons why are not entirely clear. Researchers from the University of Bristol, led by Dr Jessica Watson, joined forces with PACT – a collaborative of GP clinicians interested in research – to investigate who requests tests and why, and what the outcomes are. Why Test? Is their first study, which benefited from the unique access to clinical records facilitated by PACT. In this blog, Dr Ola Abdellatif, a GP trainee at the time of the study (now a salaried GP) and PACT member, together with Dr Jessica Watson, a GP and NIHR Clinical Lecturer in General Practice at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol and Read more

Anyone can get long-term pain from shingles

 

By Lorelei Hunt, Patient and Public Involvement Representative on the ATHENA Shingles Study, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol

Five years ago, when I felt unwell with a pain on one side of my body, I assumed I had a virus. Only after a week, when a rash appeared in the same place, did I think that I might have shingles. I was in good health and never thought shingles was something that I was at risk of. But I now know that anyone can get it.

After getting chicken pox, the virus lurks in your nervous system and can reappear as shingles without warning at any time and the risk of this increases with age. The painful, blistering rash was bad enough, but I didn’t know that shingles can have a nasty after-effect, causing a type of nerve pain called post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN for … Read more

My experience as an NIHR School for Primary Care Research intern: reflections from an anthropology student

Scarlett Whitford Webb

 

 

by Scarlett Whitford Webb, Anthropology Student, University of Bristol

As a student usually peering at fossils of primordial apes, I was surprised to receive an email advertising two paid summer internships in primary care research. The email emphasised that both internships were accepting of students from a variety of disciplines (including geography, biology, sociology, and social policy) in addition to medicine. Experience in qualitative research was required for both projects, but as I (like many others), was already carrying out research for my dissertation, the internship felt tailor-made for a third-year anthropologist wishing to step into the medical world. After reading the email, I hastily applied to one of the projects. A few weeks later, I was interviewed and hired by my project supervisor. After the interview, I learned that 24 students applied for the project, and that seven were shortlisted for interview.

My involvement in the

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‘Our First Year Heard’ – curating the experiences of first-year medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic

 

 

By Louis Davenport, Medical Student, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol

My name is Louis Davenport, and I am a second-year medical student at the University of Bristol. I am the organiser of ‘Our First Year Heard’, a student art collection showcasing the effects of COVID-19 on first-year medical students.

The seed of the idea came from an extremely intense, one might say uncomfortable, experience that I had in the dissection room in my first year at medical school. While I am not particularly artistic myself, I made use of poetry to help process the experience and wrote several drafts of what would become What’s in front of you. From there I thought, why not collect the experiences of first-year medical students who might similarly wish to share them with other medical students and the wider public? Capturing the unique experiences of people who … Read more

Twists, turns and persistence: my path from nursing to research

by Dr Cindy Mann, Research Fellow, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol

Cindy Mann, a former nurse and now Research Fellow at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol, shares the twists and turns in her career, and encourages nurse colleagues to consider research as a future path and not be put off by setbacks.

A long and varied career

I have had a long career, starting in 1975, when I did my nurse training at Leeds General Infirmary. In 1977 I got married and after completing training followed my husband to Oxford where I took a job as a staff nurse at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. I then decided to do a Philosophy degree in Oxford, and really enjoyed the peace and quiet of working in a library, in contrast to ongoing shifts for the nurse bank. In the following years, up … Read more