Publications

The UK has strict regulations to ensure new medicines work and are cost-effective before they are recommended for use in the NHS. However, surgical procedures are less strictly regulated. This study used a type of surgery for shoulder pain called subacromial decompression as a case study to explore the relationship between evolving evidence and clinical practice, to illustrate the need for better evaluation of surgical procedures.

The email newsletter from ARC West. In this edition: John Macleod’s hopes for ARC West; Domestic violence and abuse: how NIHR research is helping families; Surgical procedures need better evaluation; Plus much more

In Bristol, telephone outreach has been used to encourage people in more deprived communities and minority ethnic groups to attend NHS Health Checks, with community outreach workers based in GP practices phoning patients. Through in-depth interviews, this study examined the views and experiences of both patients and staff of this telephone outreach approach. We wanted to find out how the intervention was delivered by the outreach workers, how the patients found it and the impact it had.

The Best of CLAHRC West highlights some of the applied research projects we’ve worked on over the five years we were operating as NIHR CLAHRC West.

In this edition: The Best of CLAHRC West; Lack of evidence in guidelines for monitoring chronic diseases; GPs should not use inflammatory marker tests to rule out serious conditions

The 3D study was the largest ever trial of an intervention for people with multimorbidity, with 1,546 patients recruited. It was a randomised control trial, the best test of any medical intervention. It evaluated a patient-centred intervention, the 3D approach, to improve how GP practices manage and care for patients with multimorbidity.

Overcoming Barriers is a short film exploring perceptions of autism in the Somali community and the experiences of parents accessing support for their children. Their stories are interwoven with the perspectives of professionals from health, social care and education who support these families.

We reviewed the literature to identify the factors influencing whether a patient will develop urinary retention and what can be done to prevent and treat it.

The Cluster Randomized Trial of PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer (CAP) study aimed to see if inviting men to have a single PSA blood test would reduce the number of men dying from prostate cancer.

Some clinical commissioning groups have already brought in full or partial bans on GPs prescribing gluten-free foods to people with coeliac disease, and the Department of Health and Social Care has introduced policies to limit prescriptions to certain gluten-free items. The overall aim of this study was to investigate the potential impact of policy changes on patients and NHS spending.