Knowledge @lert for Wednesday 13th January
Update 13 Jan: Covid hospital admissions fall in London and the south east for first time since Xmas – HSJ
Hospital admissions of covid positive patients in London and the south east have fallen for the first time since before the Christmas break, giving the first substantive indication that the third wave may have peaked in two of the regions where it began.
Daily publication of Covid-19 admissions and bed occupancy data – NHS England
This file contains Covid data on measures of hospital admissions and the number of beds occupied by Covid patients and the number of MV beds (beds capable of supporting mechanical ventilation) occupied by Covid patients. Daily Admissions and Beds 12 January 2021 (XLSX, 162KB)
Clinical practice guide for improving the management of adult Covid-19 patients in secondary care -Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT)
Drawing on the GIRFT programme’s data-driven methodology and the wealth of experience of its national clinical leads, this advice covers infection prevention and control, emergency medicine, critical care, anaesthesia, acute and general medicine, respiratory medicine, diabetes care, and geriatric medicine and community care, as well as looking at cross-cutting themes such as trust leadership and management, research and clinical coding.
Medical gases – Specialist Pharmacy Service (web page updated 11th January 2021)
The medical gases webpage has been updated to include several new/updated documents pertinent to the management of medical gases during the COVID pandemic, e.g. Management of Oxygen during periods of high utilisation, and an Oxygen Good Housekeeping Summary.
COVID-19 Workload Prioritisation Unified Guidance, BMA/RCGP
This guidance has been developed by the RCGP and the BMA GP’s Committee for clinicians working in general practice in the UK. It replaces prior guidance on workload prioritisation during COVID-19, including “response levels” and “RAG ratings”.
Please note: The situation with COVID-19 is rapidly changing. This guidance is correct at the time of publishing – 11th January 2021
| Title | Reference number | Published | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suspected neurological conditions: recognition and referral | QS198 | 08 January 2021 | 08 January 2021 |
| The PLASMA system for transurethral resection and haemostasis of the prostate | MTG53 | 06 January 2021 | 06 January 2021 |
| Encorafenib plus cetuximab for previously treated BRAF V600E mutation-positive metastatic colorectal cancer | TA668 | 06 January 2021 | 06 January 2021 |
| Antimicrobial prescribing: delafloxacin for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections | ES32 | 05 January 2021 | 05 January 2021 |
| Optilume for anterior urethral strictures | MIB241 | 05 January 2021 | 05 January 2021 |
| Artificial intelligence in mammography | MIB242 | 05 January 2021 | 05 January 2021 |
| Artificial intelligence for analysing chest CT images | MIB243 | 05 January 2021 | 05 January 2021 |
SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination, RCGP (updated 12th January 2021)
This 15-minute RCGP Learning module introduces the new SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations, explaining how they work and the infrastructure necessary to deliver them successfully.
SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with liver disease: responding to the next big question – Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Until now, researchers have focused on the contribution of specific liver disease phenotypes, including transplantation and immunosuppression, to COVID-19 susceptibility and outcome. However, the hepatology community must now urgently turn its attention to characterising SARS-CoV-2 vaccine responses in these vulnerable patient groups.
Could we do better on hospital acquired covid-19 in a future wave? David Oliver, consultant in geriatrics and acute general medicine, BMJ (Published 13 January 2021)
Hospitals are currently in the eye of a covid-19 storm, driven by a rapid rise in community infection rates and more new emergency cases presenting daily. But before the current surge there were concerns about covid infection acquired or identified during a hospital stay.