The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has passed its first peak in Europe. ⋯ The first SARS-CoV-2 peak in England has been associated with excess mortality. Planning for subsequent peaks needs to better manage risk in males, those of black ethnicity, older people, people with learning disabilities, and people who live in multi-occupancy dwellings.
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It is recognised that medical tests are overused in primary care; however, it is unclear how best to reduce their use. ⋯ This review indicates that it is possible to reduce the use of low-value medical tests in primary care, especially by using multiple components including reminders, audit/feedback, and patient-targeted interventions. To implement these strategies widely in primary care settings, more research is needed not only to investigate their effectiveness, but also to examine adverse events, cost-effectiveness, and patient-reported outcomes.
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Observational Study
Variability in size and characteristics of primary care networks in England: observational study.
General practices in England have been encouraged by national policy to work together on a larger scale by creating primary care networks (PCNs). Policy guidance recommended that they should serve populations of 30 000-50 000 people to perform effectively. ⋯ More than 40% of the PCNs were not of the recommended size, and there was substantial variation in their composition and characteristics. This high variability between PCNs is a risk to their future performance.