Locum doctor working and quality and safety: a qualitative study in English primary and secondary care.

BACKGROUND: The use of temporary doctors, known as locums, has been common practice for managing staffing shortages and maintaining service delivery internationally. However, there has been little empirical research on the implications of locum working for quality and safety. This study aimed to investigate the implications of locum working for quality and safety. METHODS: Qualitative semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 130 participants, including locums, patients, permanently employed doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals with governance and recruitment responsibilities for locums across primary and secondary healthcare organisations in the English NHS. Data were collected between March 2021 and April 2022. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and abductive analysis. RESULTS: Participants described the implications of locum working for quality and safety across five themes: (1) 'familiarity' with an organisation and its patients and staff was essential to delivering safe care; (2) 'balance and stability' of services reliant on locums were seen as at risk of destabilisation and lacking leadership for quality improvement; (3) 'discrimination and exclusion' experienced by locums had negative implications for morale, retention and patient outcomes; (4) 'defensive practice' by locums as a result of perceptions of increased vulnerability and decreased support; (5) clinical governance arrangements, which often did not adequately cover locum doctors. CONCLUSION: Locum working and how locums were integrated into organisations posed some significant challenges and opportunities for patient safety and quality of care. Organisations should take stock of how they work with the locum workforce to improve not only quality and safety but also locum experience and retention.

Comparing the clinical practice and prescribing safety of locum and permanent doctors: observational study of primary care consultations in England.

BACKGROUND: Temporary doctors, known as locums, are a key component of the medical workforce in the NHS but evidence on differences in quality and safety between locum and permanent doctors is limited. We aimed to examine differences in the clinical practice, and prescribing safety for locum and permanent doctors working in primary care in England. METHODS: We accessed electronic health care records (EHRs) for 3.5 million patients from the CPRD GOLD database with linkage to Hospital Episode Statistics from 1st April 2010 to 31st March 2022. We used multi-level mixed effects logistic regression to compare consultations with locum and permanent GPs for several patient outcomes including general practice revisits; prescribing of antibiotics; strong opioids; hypnotics; A&E visits; emergency hospital admissions; admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions; test ordering; referrals; and prescribing safety indicators while controlling for patient and practice characteristics. RESULTS: Consultations with locum GPs were 22% more likely to involve a prescription for an antibiotic (OR = 1.22 (1.21 to 1.22)), 8% more likely to involve a prescription for a strong opioid (OR = 1.08 (1.06 to 1.09)), 4% more likely to be followed by an A&E visit on the same day (OR = 1.04 (1.01 to 1.08)) and 5% more likely to be followed by an A&E visit within 1 to 7 days (OR = 1.05 (1.02 to 1.08)). Consultations with a locum were 12% less likely to lead to a practice revisit within 7 days (OR = 0.88 (0.87 to 0.88)), 4% less likely to involve a prescription for a hypnotic (OR = 0.96 (0.94 to 0.98)), 15% less likely to involve a referral (OR = 0.85 (0.84 to 0.86)) and 19% less likely to involve a test (OR = 0.81 (0.80 to 0.82)). We found no evidence that emergency admissions, ACSC admissions and eight out of the eleven prescribing safety indicators were different if patients were seen by a locum or a permanent GP. CONCLUSIONS: Despite existing concerns, the clinical practice and performance of locum GPs did not appear to be systematically different from that of permanent GPs. The practice and performance of both locum and permanent GPs is likely shaped by the organisational setting and systems within which they work.

The use of locum doctors in the NHS - results of a national survey of NHS Trusts in England.

BACKGROUND: Locum working in healthcare organisations has benefits for individual doctors and organisations but there are concerns about the impact of locum working on continuity of care, patient safety, team function and cost. We conducted a national survey of NHS Trusts in England to explore locum work, and better understand why and where locum doctors were needed; how locum doctors were engaged, supported, perceived and managed; and any changes being made in the way locums are used. METHODS: An online survey was sent to 191 NHS Trusts and 98 were returned (51%) including 66 (67%) acute hospitals, 26 (27%) mental health and six (6%) community health providers. Data was analysed using frequency tables, t-tests and correlations. Free-text responses were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Most NHS Trusts use locums frequently and for varying lengths of time. Trusts prefer to use locums from internal locum banks but frequently rely on locum agencies. The benefits of using locums included maintaining workforce capacity and flexibility. Importantly, care provided by locums was generally viewed as the same or somewhat worse when compared to care provided by permanent doctors. The main disadvantages of using locum agencies included cost, lack of familiarity and impact on organisational development. Some respondents felt that locums could be unreliable and less likely to be invested in quality improvement. NHS Trusts were broadly unfamiliar with the national guidance from NHS England for supporting locums and there was a focus on processes like compliance checks and induction, with less focus on providing feedback and support for appraisal. CONCLUSIONS: Locum doctors provide a necessary service within NHS Trusts to maintain workforce capacity and provide patient care. There are potential issues related to the way that locums are perceived, utilised, and supported which might impact the quality of the care that they provide. Future research should consider the arrangements for locum working and the performance of locums and permanent doctors, investigating the organisation of locums in order to achieve safe and high-quality care for patients.

Locum doctors in English general practices: evidence from a national survey.

BACKGROUND: Locum doctors give practices flexibility to deliver patient services but there are concerns about the impact of locum working on continuity of care, patient safety, team function, and cost. AIM: To explore locum working in English general practices, and understand why and where locum doctors were needed and how they were engaged, supported, perceived, and managed. DESIGN AND SETTING: An online survey was sent to 3745 practices. METHOD: Quantitative responses were analysed using frequency tables, t-tests, and correlations. Free-text responses were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: In total, 605 (16.2%) responses were returned between June and December 2021. Practices made frequent use of locums, preferring regular locums familiar with processes and patients. Disadvantages of agency locums included cost, lack of patient familiarity, and impact on continuity of care. Care provided by locums was generally viewed as the same but sometimes worse compared with permanent GPs. Some practices reported that locums did not always perform the full range of duties, resulting in increased workload for other staff. Practices were largely unfamiliar with national guidance for organisations engaging locums, and, although processes such as verifying documentation were conducted, far fewer responders reported providing feedback, support for revalidation, or professional development. CONCLUSION: Locum working is an essential part of English general practice, but this research raises some concerns about the robustness of arrangements for locum working and the impact on quality and safety of care. Further research is needed about the clinical practice and performance of locums, and to explore how locum working can be organised in ways that assure safe and high-quality care.

Association of strong opioids and antibiotics prescribing with GP burnout: a retrospective cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Prescribing of strong opioids and antibiotics impacts patient safety, yet little is known about the effects GP wellness has on overprescribing of both medications in primary care. AIM: To examine associations between strong opioid and antibiotic prescribing and practice- weighted GP burnout and wellness. DESIGN AND SETTING: A retrospective cross-sectional study was undertaken using prescription data on strong opioids and antibiotics from the Oxford- Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre linking to a GP wellbeing survey overlaying the same 4-month period from December 2019 to April 2020. METHOD: Patients prescribed strong opioids and antibiotics were the outcomes of interest. RESULTS: Data for 40 227 patients (13 483 strong opioids and 26 744 antibiotics) were linked to 57 practices and 351 GPs. Greater strong opioid prescribing was associated with increased emotional exhaustion (incidence risk ratio [IRR] 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.10 to 1.24), depersonalisation (IRR 1.10, 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.16), job dissatisfaction (IRR 1.25, 95% CI = 1.19 to 1.32), diagnostic uncertainty (IRR 1.12, 95% CI = 1.08 to 1.19), and turnover intention (IRR 1.32, 95% CI = 1.27 to 1.37) in GPs. Greater antibiotic prescribing was associated with increased emotional exhaustion (IRR 1.19, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.37), depersonalisation (IRR 1.24, 95% CI = 1.08 to 1.49), job dissatisfaction (IRR 1.11, 95% CI = 1.04 to 1.19), sickness-presenteeism (IRR 1.18, 95% CI = 1.11 to 1.25), and turnover intention (IRR 1.38, 95% CI = 1.31 to 1.45) in GPs. Increased strong opioid and antibiotic prescribing was also found in GPs working longer hours (IRR 3.95, 95% CI = 3.39 to 4.61; IRR 5.02, 95% CI = 4.07 to 6.19, respectively) and in practices in the north of England (1.96, 95% CI = 1.61 to 2.33; 1.56, 95% CI = 1.12 to 3.70, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study found higher rates of prescribing of strong opioids and antibiotics in practices with GPs with more burnout symptoms, greater job dissatisfaction, and turnover intentions; working longer hours; and in practices in the north of England serving more deprived populations.

Use of locum doctors in NHS trusts in England: analysis of routinely collected workforce data 2019-2021.

OBJECTIVES: Temporary doctors, known as locum doctors, play an important role in the delivery of care in the National Health Service (NHS); however, little is known about the extent of locum use in NHS trusts. This study aimed to quantify and describe locum use for all NHS trusts in England in 2019-2021. SETTING: Descriptive analyses of data on locum shifts from all NHS trusts in England in 2019-2021. Weekly data were available for the number of shifts filled by agency and bank staff and the number of shifts requested by each trust. Negative binomial models were used to investigate the association between the proportion of medical staffing provided by locums and NHS trust characteristics. RESULTS: In 2019, on average 4.4% of total medical staffing was provided by locums, but this varied substantially across trusts (25th-75th centile=2.2%-6.2%). Over time, on average two-thirds of locum shifts were filled by locum agencies and a third by trusts' staff banks. On average, 11.3% of shifts requested were left unfilled. In 2019-2021, the mean number of weekly shifts per trust increased by 19% (175.2-208.6) and the mean number of weekly unfilled shifts per trust increased by 54% (32.7 to 50.4). Trusts rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as inadequate or requiring improvement (incidence rate ratio=1.495; 95% CI 1.191 to 1.877), and smaller trusts had a higher use of locums. Large variability was observed across regions for use of locums, proportion of shifts filled by locum agencies and unfilled shifts. CONCLUSIONS: There were large variations in the demand for and use of locum doctors in NHS trusts. Trusts with poor CQC ratings and smaller trusts appear to use locum doctors more intensively compared with other trust types. Unfilled shifts were at a 3-year high at the end of 2021 suggesting increased demand which may result from growing workforce shortages in NHS trusts.

Association Between Patient Factors and the Effectiveness of Wearable Trackers at Increasing the Number of Steps per Day Among Adults With Cardiometabolic Conditions: Meta-analysis of Individual Patient Data From Randomized Controlled Trials.

BACKGROUND: Current evidence supports the use of wearable trackers by people with cardiometabolic conditions. However, as the health benefits are small and confounded by heterogeneity, there remains uncertainty as to which patient groups are most helped by wearable trackers. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of wearable trackers in patients with cardiometabolic conditions to identify subgroups of patients who most benefited and to understand interventional differences. METHODS: We obtained individual participant data from randomized controlled trials of wearable trackers that were conducted before December 2020 and measured steps per day as the primary outcome in participants with cardiometabolic conditions including diabetes, overweight or obesity, and cardiovascular disease. We used statistical models to account for clustering of participants within trials and heterogeneity across trials to estimate mean differences with the 95% CI. RESULTS: Individual participant data were obtained from 9 of 25 eligible randomized controlled trials, which included 1481 of 3178 (47%) total participants. The wearable trackers revealed that over the median duration of 12 weeks, steps per day increased by 1656 (95% CI 918-2395), a significant change. Greater increases in steps per day from interventions using wearable trackers were observed in men (interaction coefficient -668, 95% CI -1157 to -180), patients in age categories over 50 years (50-59 years: interaction coefficient 1175, 95% CI 377-1973; 60-69 years: interaction coefficient 981, 95% CI 222-1740; 70-90 years: interaction coefficient 1060, 95% CI 200-1920), White patients (interaction coefficient 995, 95% CI 360-1631), and patients with fewer comorbidities (interaction coefficient -517, 95% CI -1188 to -11) compared to women, those aged below 50, non-White patients, and patients with multimorbidity. In terms of interventional differences, only face-to-face delivery of the tracker impacted the effectiveness of the interventions by increasing steps per day. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with cardiometabolic conditions, interventions using wearable trackers to improve steps per day mostly benefited older White men without multimorbidity. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42019143012; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=143012.

Investigating the links between diagnostic uncertainty, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intention in General Practitioners working in the United Kingdom.

Background: General Practitioners (GPs) report high levels of burnout, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intention. The complexity of presenting problems to general practice makes diagnostic uncertainty a common occurrence that has been linked to burnout. The interrelationship between diagnostic uncertainty with other factors such as burnout, job satisfaction and turnover intention have not been previously examined. Objectives: To examine associations between diagnostic uncertainty, emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), job satisfaction, and turnover intention in GPs. Methods: Seventy general practices in England were randomly selected through the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre (RCGP-RSC). A total of 348 GPs within 67 these practices completed a 10-item online questionnaire which included questions on GP characteristics, work-life balance, job satisfaction, sickness presenteeism, diagnostic uncertainty, turnover intention as well as EE and DP. Associations between diagnostic uncertainty and each of EE, DP, job satisfaction, and turnover intention were evaluated in multivariate mixed-effect ordinal logistic regressions whilst adjusting for covariates, to account for the correlation in the three outcomes of interest. Results: Almost one-third of GPs (n = 101; 29%) reported experiencing >10% of diagnostic uncertainty in their day-to-day practice over the past year. GPs reporting greater diagnostic uncertainty had higher levels of EE [OR = 3.90; 95% CI = (2.54, 5.99)], job dissatisfaction [OR = 2.01; 95% CI = (1.30, 3.13)] and turnover intention [OR = 4.51; 95% CI = (2.86, 7.11)]. GPs with no sickness presenteeism had lower levels of EE [OR = 0.53; 95% CI = (0.35, 0.82)], job dissatisfaction [OR = 0.56; 95% CI = (0.35, 0.88)], and turnover intention [OR = 0.61; 95% CI = (0.41, 0.91)]. Conclusion: Diagnostic uncertainty may not only negatively impact on the wellbeing of GPs, but could also have adverse implications on workforce retention in primary care.

Clinical code usage in UK general practice: a cohort study exploring 18 conditions over 14 years.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic Read code usage for 18 conditions by examining their frequency and diversity in UK primary care between 2000 and 2013. DESIGN: Population-based cohort study SETTING: 684 UK general practices contributing data to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with clinical codes for at least one of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, hypertension (HT), coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure, stroke, hypothyroidism, chronic kidney disease, learning disability (LD), depression, dementia, epilepsy, severe mental illness (SMI), osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and cancer. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: For the frequency ranking of clinical codes, canonical correlation analysis was applied to correlations of clinical code usage of 1, 3 and 5 years. Three measures of diversity (Shannon entropy index of diversity, richness and evenness) were used to quantify changes in incident and total clinical codes. RESULTS: Overall, all examined conditions, except LD, showed positive monotonic correlation. HT, hypothyroidism, osteoarthritis and SMI codes' usage had high 5-year correlation. The codes' usage diversity remained stable overall throughout the study period. Cancer, diabetes and SMI had the highest richness (code lists need time to define) unlike AF, hypothyroidism and LD. SMI (high richness) and hypothyroidism (low richness) can last for 5 years, whereas cancer and diabetes (high richness) and LD (low richness) only last for 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: This is an under-reported research area and the findings suggest the codes' usage diversity for most conditions remained overall stable throughout the study period. Generated mental health code lists can last for a long time unlike cardiometabolic conditions and cancer. Adopting more consistent and less diverse coding would help improve data quality in primary care. Future research is needed following the transfer to the Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) coding.

Locum doctor use in English general practice: analysis of routinely collected workforce data 2017-2020.

BACKGROUND: Numbers of GP locums in the NHS have grown in recent years, yet evidence on the scale and scope of the locum workforce in general practice is sparse. AIM: To identify characteristics, geographical patterns, and drivers of GP locum use. DESIGN AND SETTING: Observational study of routine data from general practices in England. METHOD: Descriptive analyses of national GP workforce data between December 2017 and September 2020 were conducted to determine the volume and geographical distribution of locum use and examine the characteristics of locums compared with other GP types. Locum full-time equivalent (FTE) was modelled using negative binomial regression and estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for associations between outcome and characteristics of practices and population. RESULTS: In December 2019, total locum FTE was 1217.9 compared with 33 996.6 for total GP FTE. Locums represented 3.3% of total GP FTE, which was fewer than other GP types. Median locum age was 42 years (interquartile range [IQR] 36 to 51) FTE and the majority were UK qualified (660 of 1034 [63.8%] total locum FTE), were male (642.6 of 1178.9 [54.5%] total locum FTE), and had long-term employment (834.1 of 1127.9 [74.0%]) total locum FTE. Rurality (IRR 1.250 [95% CI = 1.095 to 1.428]), inadequate Care Quality Commission ratings (IRR 2.108 [95% CI = 1.370 to 3.246), and single-handed practice (IRR 4.611 [95% CI = 4.101 to 5.184) were strong predictors of locum use. There was substantial variation in locum use between regions. CONCLUSION: GP locum use remained stable over time. Compared with other GPs, locums were younger male GPs, a substantial percentage of whom did not qualify in the UK, and those who served underperforming practices in rural areas. This is likely to reflect recruitment or high turnover challenges in these practices/areas and can provide a greater understanding of general practice workforce challenges in England.

Effectiveness of collaborative care in reducing suicidal ideation: An individual participant data meta-analysis.

To assess whether CC is more effective at reducing suicidal ideation in people with depression compared with usual care, and whether study and patient factors moderate treatment effects. METHOD: We searched Medline, Embase, PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, CENTRAL from inception to March 2020 for Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) that compared the effectiveness of CC with usual care in depressed adults, and reported changes in suicidal ideation at 4 to 6 months post-randomisation. Mixed-effects models accounted for clustering of participants within trials and heterogeneity across trials. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42020201747. RESULTS: We extracted data from 28 RCTs (11,165 patients) of 83 eligible studies. We observed a small significant clinical improvement of CC on suicidal ideation, compared with usual care (SMD, -0.11 [95%CI, -0.15 to -0.08]; I2, 0·47% [95%CI 0.04% to 4.90%]). CC interventions with a recognised psychological treatment were associated with small reductions in suicidal ideation (SMD, -0.15 [95%CI -0.19 to -0.11]). CC was more effective for reducing suicidal ideation among patients aged over 65 years (SMD, - 0.18 [95%CI -0.25 to -0.11]). CONCLUSION: Primary care based CC with an embedded psychological intervention is the most effective CC framework for reducing suicidal ideation and older patients may benefit the most.

Impact of a national primary care pay-for-performance scheme on ambulatory care sensitive hospital admissions: a small-area analysis in England.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to spatially describe hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) in England at small-area geographical level and assess whether recorded practice performance under one of the world's largest primary care pay-for-performance schemes led to reductions in these potentially avoidable hospitalisations for chronic conditions incentivised in the scheme. SETTING: We obtained numbers of ACSC hospital admissions from the Hospital Episode Statistics database and information on recorded practice performance from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) administrative dataset for 2015/2016. We fitted three sets of negative binomial models to examine ecological associations between incentivised ACSC admissions, general practice performance, deprivation, urbanity and other sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Hospital admissions for QOF incentivised ACSCs varied within and between regions, with clusters of high numbers of hospital admissions for incentivised ACSCs identified across England. Our models indicated a very small effect of the QOF on reducing admissions for incentivised ACSCs (0.993, 95% CI 0.990 to 0.995), however, other factors, such as deprivation (1.021, 95% CI 1.020 to 1.021) and urbanicity (0.875, 95% CI 0.862 to 0.887), were far more important in explaining variations in admissions for ACSCs. People in deprived areas had a higher risk of being admitted in hospital for an incentivised ACSC condition. CONCLUSION: Spatial analysis based on routinely collected data can be used to identify areas with high rates of potentially avoidable hospital admissions, providing valuable information for targeting resources and evaluating public health interventions. Our findings suggest that the QOF had a very small effect on reducing avoidable hospitalisation for incentivised conditions. Material deprivation and urbanicity were the strongest predictors of the variation in ACSC rates for all QOF incentivised conditions across England.

The importance of teamwork climate for preventing burnout in UK general practices.

This short report aims to investigate the association between teamwork and burnout among general practitioners (GPs). A two-stage survey was conducted. In stage one, validated self-report measures of burnout and teamwork were completed by 50 GPs across 12 general practices in Greater Manchester, UK. In stage two, staff members across 3 of the 12 general practices (GPs, nursing staff, managers and admin staff) responded to free text questions about teamwork (n = 20). The results of the stage one survey showed that teamwork in GPs was significantly negatively associated with the emotional exhaustion (r = -0.326, P < 0.05) and depersonalization (r = -0.421, P < 0.01) domains of the burnout measure and significantly positively associated with the personal accomplishment (r = 0.296, P < 0.05) domain. Free text responses in stage two were assigned into three themes: (i) addressing organizational barriers which might threaten teamwork, (ii) promoting the view of teamwork as a shared responsibility among all staff members of the general practice and (iii) implementing improvement strategies which can be embedded in the busy environment of general practices. GPs and other staff members of general practices valued the importance of teamwork for boosting their morale and mitigating burnout. Future research should focus on designing and embedding brief teamwork improvement strategies in general practices.

Self-management interventions to reduce healthcare use and improve quality of life among patients with asthma: systematic review and network meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the different self-management models (multidisciplinary case management, regularly supported self-management, and minimally supported self-management) and self-monitoring models against usual care and education to determine which are most effective at reducing healthcare use and improving quality of life in asthma. DESIGN: Systematic review and network meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: Medline, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EconLit, Embase, Health Economics Evaluations Database, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, PsycINFO, and ClinicalTrials.gov from January 2000 to April 2019. REVIEW METHODS: Randomised controlled trials involving the different self-management models for asthma were included. The primary outcomes were healthcare use (hospital admission or emergency visit) and quality of life. Summary standardised mean differences (SMDs) and 95% credible intervals were estimated using bayesian network meta-analysis with random effects. Heterogeneity and publication bias were assessed. RESULTS: From 1178 citations, 105 trials comprising 27 767 participants were included. In terms of healthcare use, both multidisciplinary case management (SMD -0.18, 95% credible interval -0.32 to -0.05) and regularly supported self-management (-0.30, -0.46 to -0.15) were significantly better than usual care. For quality of life, only regularly supported self-management (SMD 0.54, 0.11 to 0.96) showed a statistically significant benefit compared with usual care. For trials including adolescents/children (age 5-18 years), only regularly supported self-management showed statistically significant benefits (healthcare use: SMD -0.21, -0.40 to -0.03; quality of life: 0.23, 0.03 to 0.48). Multidisciplinary case management (SMD -0.32, -0.50 to -0.16) and regularly supported self-management (-0.32, -0.53 to -0.11) were most effective at reducing healthcare use in patients with symptoms of severe asthma at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: This network meta-analysis indicates that regularly supported self-management reduces the use of healthcare resources and improves quality of life across all levels of asthma severity. Future healthcare investments should provide support that offer reviews totalling at least two hours to establish self-management skills, reserving multidisciplinary case management for patients with complex disease. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO number CRD42019121350.

Is health research undertaken where the burden of disease is greatest? Observational study of geographical inequalities in recruitment to research in England 2013-2018.

BACKGROUND: Research is fundamental to high-quality care, but concerns have been raised about whether health research is conducted in the populations most affected by high disease prevalence. Geographical distribution of research activity is important for many reasons. Recruitment is a major barrier to research delivery, and undertaking recruitment in areas of high prevalence could be more efficient. Regional variability exists in risk factors and outcomes, so research done in healthier populations may not generalise. Much applied health research evaluates interventions, and their impact may vary by context (including geography). Finally, fairness dictates that publically funded research should be accessible to all, so that benefits of participating can be fairly distributed. We explored whether recruitment of patients to health research is aligned with disease prevalence in England. METHODS: We measured disease prevalence using the Quality and Outcomes Framework in England (total long-term conditions, mental health and diabetes). We measured research activity using data from the NIHR Clinical Research Network. We presented descriptive data on geographical variation in recruitment rates. We explored associations between the recruitment rate and disease prevalence rate. We calculated the share of patient recruitment that would need to be redistributed to align recruitment with prevalence. We assessed whether associations between recruitment rate and disease prevalence varied between conditions, and over time. RESULTS: There was significant geographical variation in recruitment rates. When areas were ranked by disease prevalence, recruitment was not aligned with prevalence, with disproportionately low recruitment in areas with higher prevalence of total long-term and mental health conditions. At the level of 15 local networks, analyses suggested that around 12% of current recruitment activity would need to be redistributed to align with disease prevalence. Overall, alignment showed little change over time, but there was variation in the trends over time in individual conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Geographical variations in recruitment do not reflect the suitability of the population for research. Indicators should be developed to assess the fit between research and need, and to allow assessment of interventions among funders, researchers and patients to encourage closer alignment between research activity and burden.

Prevalence of mental illness in primary care and its association with deprivation and social fragmentation at the small-area level in England.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to spatially describe mental illness prevalence in England at small-area geographical level, as measured by prevalence of depression, severe mental illness (SMI) and antidepressant prescription volume in primary care records, and how much of their variation was explained by deprivation, social fragmentation and sociodemographic characteristics. METHODS: Information on prevalence of depression and SMI was obtained from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) administrative dataset for 2015/16 and the national dispensing dataset for 2015/16. Linear regression models were fitted to examine ecological associations between deprivation, social fragmentation, other sociodemographic characteristics and mental illness prevalence. RESULTS: Mental illness prevalence varied within and between regions, with clusters of high prevalence identified across England. Our models explained 33.4-68.2% of variability in prevalence, but substantial variability between regions remained after adjusting for covariates. People in socially cohesive and socially deprived areas were more likely to be diagnosed with depression, while people in more socially fragmented and more socially deprived areas were more likely to be diagnosed with SMI. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that to tackle mental health inequalities, attention needs to be targeted at more socially deprived localities. The role of social fragmentation warrants further investigation, and it is possible that depression remains undiagnosed in more socially fragmented areas. The wealth of routinely collected data can provide robust evidence to aid optimal resource allocation. If comparable data are available in other countries, similar methods could be deployed to identify high prevalence clusters and target funding to areas of greater need.

Spatial distribution and temporal trends in social fragmentation in England, 2001-2011: a national study.

OBJECTIVE: Social fragmentation is commonly examined in epidemiological studies of mental illness as high levels of social fragmentation are often found in areas with high prevalence of mental illness. In this study, we examine spatial and temporal patterns of social fragmentation and its underlying indicators in England over time. SETTING: Data for social fragmentation and its underlying indicators were analysed over the decennial Censuses (2001-2011) at a small area geographical level (mean of 1500 people). Degrees of social fragmentation and temporal changes were spatially visualised for the whole of England and its 10 administrative regions. Spatial clustering was quantified using Moran's I; changes in correlations over time were quantified using Spearman's ranking correlation. RESULTS: Between 2001 and 2011, we observed a strong persistence for social fragmentation nationally (Spearman's r=0.93). At the regional level, modest changes were observed over time, but marked increases were observed for two of the four social fragmentation underlying indicators, namely single people and those in private renting. Results supported our hypothesis of increasing spatial clustering over time. Moderate regional variability was observed in social fragmentation, its underlying indicators and their clustering over time. CONCLUSION: Patterns of social fragmentation and its underlying indicators persisted in England which seem to be driven by the large increases in single people and those in private renting. Policies to improve social cohesion may have an impact on the lives of persons who experience mental illness. The spatial aspect of social fragmentation can inform the targeting of health and social care interventions, particularly in areas with strong social fragmentation clustering.

Association between a national primary care pay-for-performance scheme and suicide rates in England: spatial cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Pay-for-performance policies aim to improve population health by incentivising improvements in quality of care.AimsTo assess the relationship between general practice performance on severe mental illness (SMI) and depression indicators under a national incentivisation scheme and suicide risk in England for the period 2006-2014. METHOD: Longitudinal spatial analysis for 32 844 small-area geographical units (lower super output areas, LSOAs), using population-structure adjusted numbers of suicide as the outcome variable. Negative binomial models were fitted to investigate the relationship between spatially estimated recorded quality of care and suicide risk at the LSOA level. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were adjusted for deprivation, social fragmentation, prevalence of depression and SMI as well as other 2011 Census variables. RESULTS: No association was found between practice performance on the mental health indicators and suicide incidence in practice localities (IRR=1.000, 95% CI 0.998-1.002). IRRs indicated elevated suicide risks linked with area-level social fragmentation (1.030; 95% CI 1.027-1.034), deprivation (1.013, 95% CI 1.012-1.014) and rurality (1.059, 95% CI 1.027-1.092). CONCLUSIONS: Primary care has an important role to play in suicide prevention, but we did not observe a link between practices' higher reported quality of care on incentivised mental health activities and lower suicide rates in the local population. It is likely that effective suicide prevention needs a more concerted, multiagency approach. Better training in suicide prevention for general practitioners is also essential. These findings pertain to the UK but have relevance to other countries considering similar programmes.Declaration of interestNone.