BJGP Interviews

We are taking a break from the BJGP podcast this week for Easter, but we’ll be back on 9 April 2024. 

In this episode, we talk to Professor Miranda Pallan, a public health doctor who is Professor of Child and Adolescent Public Health at the University of Birmingham.

Title of paper: Supporting healthcare professionals to address child weight with parents: a qualitative study

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2023.0238

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) working in primary care and community settings are known to experience barriers in discussing child excess weight with parents. We conducted a qualitative study with General Practitioners, Primary Care Nurses and School Nurses to further explore these barriers and identify facilitating factors to inform recommendations for actions to support HCPs in addressing child weight with parents. Structural changes within primary/community care, joined up systems and data sharing across agencies, and development of HCP knowledge and skills through core training and continuing professional development will enable HCPs to discuss child weight and provide advice to parents.

In this episode, we talk to Dr Susan Moschogianis, a Research Associate based at the Health Services Research and Primary Care team at the University of Manchester.

Title of paper: Patient experiences of an online consultation system: qualitative study in primary care post-COVID-19

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2023.0076

Online consultation systems (OCSs) have been rolled out rapidly, but little is known about patients’ experiences using them. We undertook the largest ever reported qualitative study of patient experiences using an OCS. Our findings provide insight into why some patients prefer in-person consultations, and why others prefer to use OCSs. Patients’ experiences of using OCSs can be influenced by how they are designed, how GP practices use them, and characteristics of the patient and request they use them for.

In this episode, we talk to Laiba Hussain, a THIS Institute Research Fellow and PhD Candidate at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford.

Title of paper: Developing user personas to capture intersecting dimensions of disadvantage in marginalised older patients: a qualitative study

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2023.0412

Equity is an important core value in primary care, but meeting the needs of patients who are multiply disadvantaged is increasingly difficult as services become more digitised. User personas (fictional cases based on empirical data which draw together and illustrate the multiple intersecting elements of disadvantage) could help practices better plan for the needs of disadvantaged groups.

In this episode, we talk to Dr Shamil Haroon, Associate Clinical Professor and Honorary Consultant in Public Health Medicine at the University of Birmingham, and Dr Prasad Nagakumar, a Paediatric Respiratory Consultant. 

Title of paper: Post-hospitalisation asthma management in primary care: a retrospective cohort study

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2023.0214

Asthma is a common cause of hospital admissions and clinical guidelines recommend that hospitalised patients are followed up in primary care. Little research has been done on 3 evaluating post-hospitalisation asthma management in primary care. We found that 40% of hospitalised patients did not receive asthma management in primary care following hospital discharge, particularly among patients from black ethnic minority groups. Primary and secondary care services should develop systems for ensuring the timely follow-up of asthma patients after hospital discharge and address the observed health inequities.

In this episode, we talk to Patrick Burch, a GP and a THIS Institute PhD fellow at the Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research at the University of Manchester.

Title of paper: An observational study of how clinicians, patients and the health care system create the experience of joined up, continuous primary care in the absence of relational continuity

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2023.0208

The way that many modern healthcare systems are designed increasingly relies on the assumption that, in the absence of relational continuity, any competent clinician can deliver joined up, continuous care if they have access to clinical notes. This study of a primary care environment, where patients are usually seen by a clinician they have not seen before, demonstrates multiple connected patient, clinician, and system factors that appear important for a patient to experience joined up, continuous care. Considering these factors in the design of primary care systems may have the potential to improve experience for patients.

In this episode, we talk to Dr Shoba Dawson, a Senior Research Fellow within the School of Medicine and Population Health at the University of Sheffield .

Title of paper: Understanding non-recreational prescription medication sharing behaviours: A systematic review

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2023.0189

Sharing of prescription medicines for non-recreational purposes is a form of inappropriate medication use and such practices can cause delays in seeking medical care, masking the symptoms and severity of disease and could potentially result in the progression of the health condition. The reasons why people engage in medication sharing, how they assess the potential risks and benefits of these practices, and the factors which influence these behaviours are poorly understood. This systematic review shows that prescription medication sharing for non-recreational purposes is common with analgesics and antibiotics being the most commonly shared medications. Data on the prevalence and predictors of these behaviours are however limited. This review highlights that prescription medication sharing for non-recreational purposes is a potentially important medicines safety issue and significant public health concern which merits healthcare provider intervention, public awareness efforts and further research.

In this episode, we talk to Dr Cathy Morgan, a Research Fellow within the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration at the University of Manchester, and Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham, GP and Professor of General Practice Research at Keele University. 

Title of paper: Identifying prior signals of bipolar disorder using primary care electronic health records

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0286

Delayed diagnosis and treatment of BD of between 6-10 years leads to adverse patient outcomes. No published studies examine the timings of early signals of BD in a primary care setting and/or use electronic health records. Routinely collected data identified early signals of undiagnosed BD: previous depressive episodes, sleep disturbance, substance misuse, those receiving 3 or more different psychotropic medication classes in a year, escalating self-harm, twice as many face-to face consultations and missing scheduled appointments. Awareness of collective early signals can be used to prompt consideration of BD and offer timelier referral for specialist assessment of a BD diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment.

Joining me today are the Editor in Chief of the BJGP and my two fellow associate editors, Sam Merriel and Tom Round. This week we’re taking the time to reflect back on some of the most read research here at the BJGP, looking at the top 10 papers of 2023.  

BJGP Top 10 research 

This collection of Top 10 research most read and published in 2023 brings together high-profile primary care research and clinical innovation. Listen to the accompanying podcast in which BJGP Editors discuss the Top 10: 

10. Cancer risk and fatigue

Read the research here: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0371 

9. Antibiotics for LRTIs

Read the research here: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0239 

8. Why do GPs do blood tests?

Read the research here: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2023.0191 

7. What motivates GPs' work? 

Read the research here:https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0563 

6. Opioids, antibiotics, and GP burnout 

Read the research here:https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0394 

5. Non-drug interventions in mental health 

Read the research here: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0343 

4. Nitrofurantoin failure for UTIs

Read the research here: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0354 

3. Perimenopause in ethnic minorities 

Read the research here:https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0569 

2.  Suicide risk in middle-aged men

Read the research here:https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0589 

1. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs)

Read the research here: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0181 

In this episode, we talk to Professor Kate Brain, who is a Professor of Health Psychology, within the School of Medicine at Cardiff University.

Title of paper: Satisfaction with remote consultations in primary care during COVID-19: a population survey of UK adults

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2023.0092

Remote consultations became more widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to date. However, patterns of association between demographic characteristics and satisfaction with GP remote consultations during the pandemic were unclear. People with higher levels of educational qualification were found to have greater levels of satisfaction with remote GP consultations. Those with lower educational levels may benefit from further support with remote consultations.