This article provides an overview of the positive steps taken – since the publication of the FRCA examination review – to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the RCoA, FICM and FPM examinations.
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Dr Nava, CR&I Fellow looks at the challenge for health services researchers to discover new knowledge that is both relevant to clinicians and truly meaningful to patients.
The SNAP-3 study is a prospective observational research study investigating the inter-relationship between frailty, multimorbidity and postoperative delirium. We aim to translate observational data into recommendations for clinicians and patients with a positive impact on patient care.
A challenge for health services researchers is to discover new knowledge that is both relevant to clinicians and truly meaningful to patients.
Translational research describes the flow of scientific discovery through to population-level health impact. In this article, we will outline some of the principles we used in the SNAP-3 study to translate observational research into meaningful output through study design, analysis, and broad dissemination.
Dr Daniele Bryden, Dean, Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine talks about the concerns, challenges, and opportunities offered in developing a UK College of Intensive Care Medicine.
Questions around financial viability, impact on relationships with the ‘parent’ College, and loss of corporate strength are all concerns I’ve heard following FICM’s statement.
You might be interested to know that they were also the exact ones expressed at the time the Faculty of Anaesthetists went through their own journey.1 The journey leading to the formation of the RCoA was not without setbacks and differences of opinion. Faculty board are cognisant of that history, and so are mindful that for our part discussions leading up to our separation are based in a friendly and constructive spirit.
Dr Matthew Luney tells us about becoming a non-COVID-19-focused researcher during the pandemic.
At the time of writing this article we can be fairly confident that we have left the worst of the pandemic behind us. However, the NHS now faces the challenge of tackling spiralling waiting times for elective surgery.
At the time of writing this article we can be fairly confident that we have left the worst of the pandemic behind us. However, the NHS now faces the challenge of tackling spiralling waiting times for elective surgery. Now, more than ever, it is critical that patients (especially the most complex cases) receive, wherever possible, a comprehensive preoperative assessment.
This should include information to help them prepare for their procedure, understand the risks and, through shared decision-making discussions with their healthcare team, achieve the best possible outcomes.
Despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, the College’s Patient Information Group has continued to update existing resources and produce new ones to support patients and NHS colleagues through this difficult time. We remain committed to providing evidence-based, high-quality patient information resources, and we are delighted that we have been recertified through the Patient Information Forum Trusted Information Creator Kitemark (PIF TICK) for the third year in a row.
As the Faculty seeks to forge a path to being an independent college, this article looks at why their ongoing relationship with the RCoA is essential and, important.
Although many ICM doctors-in-training (DiTs) are now either training in ICM alone or with another partner specialty, just under half of our future ICM workforce are working towards a dual CCT with anaesthesia.
Furthermore, many intensive care units around the UK rely on the knowledge, skills and experience brought by our anaesthetic colleagues in order to provide high-quality, patient-focused care.
Consequently, anaesthetists will continue to hold a critical role in training the intensivists of the future.
This article is written by TRIPOM (trainees with an interest in perioperative medicine) and is a brief summary of recent important papers and articles on perioperative medicine from across the spectrum of medical publications.
Author: Dr Olivia Coombs, ST5, North West Deanery
Perioperative Journal Watch is written by TRIPOM (trainees with an interest in perioperative medicine) and is a brief distillation of recent important papers and articles on perioperative medicine from across the spectrum of medical publications.
The Associate Principal Investigator (API) scheme is a new initiative from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) which aims to formalise research involvement for those not normally exposed to research in their day-to-day jobs.
Authors:
- Dr Anna Simpson ST7 Anaesthetics, Bristol Royal Infirmary
- Dr Neil Botting CT3 Anaesthetics, Worthing Hospital
- Dr Joe Hetherington ST6 Geriatric and General Internal Medicine, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
- Hannah Wilson Consultant Anaesthetist, Bristol Royal Infirmary
- Dr Claire Swarbrick SNAP-3 Fellow Specialty Registrar, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital
- Dr Jude Partridge Consultant Anaesthetist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
- Dr Patrick Thorburn Consultant in Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine, Worthing Hospital
The Associate Principal Investigator (API) scheme is a new initiative from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) which aims to formalise research involvement for those not normally exposed to research in their day-to-day jobs.
The aim is to help develop health professionals to become the Principal Investigators (PIs) of the future. It is a six-month, in-work training opportunity providing practical research experience in order to learn what it is like to deliver an NIHR portfolio study at a local level guided by an enthusiastic PI.1 It has endorsement from 16 Medical Royal Colleges, including the Royal College of Anaesthetists, and at present there are 330 studies eligible for the scheme, which can recruit one API per site every six months.
Dr Devjit Srivastava, provides us with a snapshot from the Gap Working Group which evaluated the state of the UK's pain services.
Most pain medicine consultants in the UK have anaesthetics as their base specialty. Pain medicine specialists are specially trained, qualified and revalidated, and offer integrated expert assessment and management-of-pain knowledge and skills within the context of a multidisciplinary team.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the provision of pain services. After the pandemic, the Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) commissioned a Gap Working Group to evaluate the state of pain services across the UK. Here’s a snapshot of what we discovered.
The gap analysis reveals that only 65% of the pain services across the country fully met the gold standard for medical involvement in pain services. Tier 1 services (community-based pain services) fared the worst, with only 33% of these services having any medical involvement. This reflects a shift towards non-medical management of chronic pain in the community. Unfortunately, this means patients will wait longer for expert diagnosis and management by pain medicine specialists. While acknowledging that not all chronic-pain patients can be seen by pain medicine specialists, there’s a need for developing pragmatic pain pathways nationally so that needy patients are escalated to pain specialist care expeditiously in a timely manner. We have recently commissioned a ‘Pragmatic Pain Pathways’ working group to address this issue found in the gap analysis.
This article updates on all the latest from PQUIP in what has proved another busy year for the project team.
Authors: Dr Eleanor Warwick, Dr Rachael Brooks and Dr Michael Argent, HSRC/PQIP Fellows
It has been another busy year for PQIP, and the project team are immensely grateful both to our participating sites and collaborators for their tireless efforts in data collection and investing in quality improvement, and to our patients who consent to be part of this study.
PQIP has more than 50,000 patients recruited and this is entirely thanks to your efforts!