REDUCE- Carbon for Patients

Would you like to help us create a greener NHS?

Take part in the REDUCE-Carbon for Patients study

I would like to Take Part

Did you know that the carbon footprint of inhalers across the NHS each year is equivalent to an area of deforestation twice the size of Hampshire!

  • By taking part in the REDUCE-carbon study you can help us to better understand if the carbon footprint of inhalers is important to you and how you would like to access this information.
  • It is a short online questionnaire that should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.
  • With your help we can achieve greener inhaler prescribing practices.

If you would like to take part please click on the following link:

https://reduce-patient.pttu.org.uk/

Please also use the following links if you’d like further information:

ESMENA Education Programme

ESMENA: Education, Self-Management and Empowerment in exacerbatioN prone Asthma

Across the UK, there are over 5 million people with asthma. Some patients with asthma can have significant symptoms, despite being on treatment. Poorly controlled asthma can lead to exacerbations (flare-ups of asthma), which can require further medicines to treat this. Sometimes these flare-ups of asthma mean patients need to attend A&E or are admitted to hospital.

ESMENA is an education programme, designed by both healthcare professionals and patients, aimed at improving the care for patients with asthma.

During the ESMENA education session, there will be talks about how to manage asthma from a variety of specialists, including asthma nurses, respiratory physio and a pharmacist. The session will be informal and interactive with plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

ESMENA will also provide access to an online app with further information, videos and quizzes about asthma to offer ongoing support.

Our hope is that by completing ESMENA, patients will feel more confident in managing their asthma.

If you would like to find out more information, please click here.

Alternatively, please feel free to contact the Respiratory Research Team on 02392 286000 ext 4108 or email [email protected]

For the detailed participant information sheet, please click here.

REDUCE Carbon

REDUCE Carbon – RandomisED control trial to Understand whether prescribing Choice for inhalErs is influenced by knowledge of the CARBON footprint

Did you know that the carbon footprint of inhalers across the NHS each year is equivalent to an area of deforestation twice the size of Hampshire!

In the UK, over 50 million inhalers are prescribed each year with more than 70% of these containing propellants that are powerful greenhouse gases contributing to global warming. Inhalers account for about 3% of the carbon footprint of the NHS each year. The NHS long term plan for sustainability has highlighted the urgent need to reduce the carbon impact of inhalers.

There is an urgent need to address this and by taking part in the REDUCE-carbon study you can help us to explore how inhaler choices are made and specifically whether carbon footprint information changes prescribing recommendations. It is a short online questionnaire that should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. We know both prescribing and non-prescribing healthcare professionals have a major influence on inhaler choice and would encourage as many health-care professionals as possible to take part.

We invite you to complete this short questionnaire that will provide valuable information to support the NHS in reducing the use of high carbon inhalers, and so help in the fight to save our planet.

Please click on the following link if you would like to take part: START »

PLEASE NOTE the survey works best in a GOOGLE CHROME browser. Please copy/paste the following link into Chrome if it is not your default browser: https://reduce.pttu.org.uk/

Please also use the following links if you’d like further information:

Thank you for your time

Improving Risk Predictions for Emergency Bowel Surgery

We are conducting a study using data from patients who have had emergency bowel surgery at Portsmouth Hospital. This is to try and improve the way we assess risks for this type of surgery and these conditions.

The project’s full title is:

“Can Clinical and Biochemical Variables be used Innovatively to Improve Risk Modelling in Patients Undergoing Emergency Bowel Surgery”

The study is running from December 2020 until August 2021. For further information about the study and how we use patient data please see below.

Emergency Bowel Surgery – What is the Study About?

Emergency bowel surgery is a procedure performed for intestinal emergencies, such as a bowel blockage or perforation. It involves a large cut to access the abdomen called a laparotomy. For many patients it is a high-risk procedure, with a risk of death rate of >10%. It has become routine practice in the NHS to use risk models to predict a patient’s risk of death prior to surgery. This information is used by clinicians to help discuss the risks of surgery with patients and plan their care before and after. This study will investigate and test innovative ways of using clinical data and blood tests to try and improve the accuracy of models used to predict the risk of death with emergency laparotomy.

How is the Study Conducted?

This study is using data which is collected by the hospital as part of routine patient care. The data includes health problems, routine blood tests, vital signs, procedures and outcomes. It is data from events that have already happened when the patient was in hospital and does not require active patient involvement. We will identify patients who have had emergency bowel surgery from December 2013 to February 2020. The clinical data is extracted onto datasets and patient identity is made anonymous using a study number for each patient. Statistical analysis will then be used to identify the variables which are highly predictive of post-operative mortality. These variables will be combined with established risk models to see if they can improve their accuracy at predicting mortality.

Data Policy and How to Opt Out

The study uses large amounts of historical data without seeking individual consent. We have been given special research approval for this by the Health Research Authority’s Confidentiality Advisory Committee (CAG Reference 20/CAG/0055). We make the patient identity anonymous using a study number for each set of patient data. There is no way that you could be identified as an individual from the results of the study. The analysis is conducted on secure computers and we strictly follow Trust Data Protection, IT security protocol and GDPR Regulations.

If you have had emergency bowel surgery since December 2013 until now, and would NOT like your data to be used, please go to: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-data-opt-out to apply for NHS opt out scheme. This will mean your data will not be used in this or future studies. Alternatively, you can contact the research department via phone: 02392 826 236 or email: [email protected] to opt-out of the study.

Call to Action on Surgery Technologies

Is your company looking to deploy new technologies, products and services for the benefit of surgical procedures? Do you have new ideas and approaches which you feel could benefit the way in which surgery patients are cared for and supported? Would you like to better understand the modern challenges faced by surgical clinical staff? If you answered yes to any of these questions then we invite you to engage in our call to action on surgery technology.

SIGHT is an ERDF-funded business support programme. In conjunction with Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, the Wessex Clinical Research Network and the University of Portsmouth, SIGHT is launching a call to businesses engaged in the healthtech and medtech sectors in order to identify opportunities for collaboration with the Queen Alexandra Hospital in the field of technologies deployed in surgery.

We would very much like to explore the art of the possible with regards to how your technologies, products and services may lead to clinical and patient impacts within the hospital. We would thus like to invite businesses who would like to engage to complete a short questionnaire accessible via the following google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1tExQf2gLSM0wTqBW4U6hzyELcDNLw016LPA4gg-10UQ/edit

In particular we would like to engage with businesses engaged in any of the following fields:

  • Wearable technologies for remote monitoring of patient’s vital signs (e.g. pulse, temperature, blood pressure, oxygen saturations)
  • New and improved PPE including reusable ventilated face masks and hoods
  • Endoscopic measurement devices utilising ultrasound
  • Robotics and keyhole surgery devices

The SIGHT programme will enable engagement with clinicians and academic staff at both PHT and the University of Portsmouth in order to discuss the potential of your technology solutions for these challenges.

We would like to receive responses via the weblink above by the 26th June 2020. Businesses will then be selected to attend a discussion workshop session with clinical / surgical and academic staff on the 8th July 2020.

FOBS: FREQUENCY OF OBSERVATIONS

The aim of the project is to develop a protocol for how frequently clinical staff should take vital sign observations of patients in hospital. We will be:

  1. analysing historic data about patients to determine this;
  2. measuring the time nurses spend taking observations;
  3. talking to patients and staff about their experience and views.

This will hopefully lead to better use of nurses’ time and a better experience for patients.

The project’s full title is:

Safer and more efficient vital signs monitoring to identify the deteriorating patient: An observational study towards deriving evidence-based protocols for patient surveillance on the general hospital ward

but we call it “FOBS” – short for “Frequency of Observations”.

The project began on 1st October 2018 and runs until 31st March 2021.

This project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) HS&DR (Grant Reference Number 17/05/03). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

MORE INFORMATION

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions or comments about our research, please email us at [email protected]

SIGHT

Supporting Innovation and Growth in Healthcare Technologies

Are you a small or medium sized enterprise developing healthcare technology products?

Are you a start-up in healthcare technology looking for support for your business?

SIGHT is an ERDF funded business support project which draws together the experience, knowledge and expertise of the University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust and the Clinical Research Network Wessex. Focusing on the needs of SMEs who are developing healthcare technology products, the programme will help you become more competitive and market-ready.

The project offers fully-funded access to patient representatives, experienced researchers, clinicians and practitioners from across the three host organisations, to provide your business with the insight and specific evidence required to ensure your products meet real, identified market needs. The SIGHT project team will equip you with the knowledge and support necessary to navigate rigorous processes and approval pathways set out by the NHS and other healthcare providers for approval of healthcare technologies. The project can support you through:

  • events
  • business advice and interventions
  • funding
  • access to clinicians, patient groups and academics

Visit Sight Progrogramme »

If you meet the above criteria and are interested in receiving support from SIGHT, please contact the project team on: [email protected]

Portsmouth man praises QA Hospital research team after liver disease study

A MAN who has taken part in a study for liver disease has praised the research team for their support. Ron Butterfield, 69, has had problems with his liver since 2012 and recently joined the Queen Alexandra Hospital study, in Cosham.

​​Funded and supported by the National Institute for Health Research, it is investigating the effectiveness of a test to detect suspected cirrhosis in patients. Caused by long-term liver damage, cirrhosis is a scarring of the liver which prevents it from working properly. Ron was offered the opportunity to join the study, known as​ Elucidate, after meeting with a research nurse at ​QA Hospital. He agreed to take part, which involved having some extra blood tests, alongside his normal care, to help determine whether he had any liver damage.

Ron, from Portsmouth, said: ‘The research nurses I had were absolutely fantastic. T​he team I had were great and I couldn’t have a bad word said about them. ‘​Research is the way forward. If you just stand still and not bother, then you’re never going to get cured. ‘If it wasn’t for the NHS, I dare say there’s a lot of people that wouldn’t be alive now.’

Since taking part in the study, Ron, who is retired, is enjoying a more active lifestyle. He added: ‘I play football with my daughter with no problems at all. I can run, run until my heart’s content.’ QA Hospital had its highest numbers of recruits for the 2017/18 financial year with 5,904 people. This is an increase for the fifth consecutive year and saw the hospital ranked fifth nationally for large acute trusts. Beverley Longhurst, a ​hepatology ​specialist ​research ​nurse who helped to deliver the ​Elucidate study, said:​ ‘We are very grateful to Ron for taking part in our research.

‘Without patients who are willing to get involved in clinical trials, treatments and patient care would not progress at all. ‘There is research happening in virtually every department within the hospital, and all studies need fabulous volunteers like Ron.’

Source:
https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/…

Portsmouth News » Back to news »

Joint PHT-UoP Health and Technology Conference Resounding Success

Professor Anoop Chauhan, Director of Research and Innovation at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust introduces the three Ps – Progress, Priorities and Plans

Source:
https://researchandinnovationportsmouth.com/2018/06/20/…

Research and innovation portsmouth » Back to news »

Gastro

Our Gastro Research Team is consistently ranked within the top three nationally. Under the direction of Professor Pradeep Bhandari, the team has developed a complex portfolio of Portsmouth led research trials and studies, meeting the needs of patients who are referred to the department. This year, the Team won an award for ‘Outstanding Research Team’ from the Wessex NIHR Clinical Research Network – watch their story here.

Further reading:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/…

NIHR » Back to news »