Things in the library 28 July

Things about antibiotics...
Hitting the news yesterday - this is the comment from NHS Behind the Headlines.  "The researchers behind this review challenge these established ideas by suggesting that shortening the course of antibiotic treatment could be just as effective and that 'finishing the course' could actually be making the problem of antibiotic resistance worse. This narrative review was written by researchers from several UK institutions, including Brighton and Sussex Medical School, the University of Oxford and the University of Southampton. It was published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal and is free to read online .Generally the UK media's coverage was accurate and balanced. The majority of reporting referred to the review as an "opinion piece" and highlighted the importance of people continuing to follow doctors' advice to complete a prescribed antibiotic course.This review raises some interesting points and the guidelines around antibiotic treatments may change in the future. However, for now it's best to stick with current advice to complete the full antibiotic course as prescribed."

Things on rare diseases...
Rare disease study day in Sheffield on 7th September 2017.  Aimed at non-specialist clinicians. This day aims to give an update on important rare diseases in paediatric practice.  Talks will include: overgrowth syndromes, 22q11 deletion syndrome, immunodeficiency and inherited causes of renal cancer. Representatives of the charities Unique and SWAN will give talks on their work.  Attendance is free.  Please contact Dr Alisdair McNeill (consultant in Clinical Genetics),  a.mcneill@sheffield.ac.uk if you would like to attend. CPD accreditation is being sought.

Things about case reviews...
NSPCC have a selection of thematic briefings which highlight the learning from case reviews that are conducted when a child dies or is seriously injured and abuse or neglect are suspected.
Each briefing focuses on a different topic (eg parents with mental health problems, culture and faith, sexual exploitation), pulling together key risk factors and practice recommendations to help practitioners understand and act upon the learning from case reviews.

Things about migrant child health...
The International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health, Geneva, Switzerland (ISSOP) published a position statement on migrant child health this week. The health of migrant children is related to their health status before their journey, the conditions during their journey and at their destination, and the physical and mental health of their caregivers. These children may have experienced numerous forms of trauma including war, violence, separation from family, and exploitation. They may suffer from malnutrition and communicable diseases including vaccine-preventable diseases. In 2015, the number of forcibly displaced people across the globe reached 65.3 million. Of the more than 1 million migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees who arrived in Europe in 2015, nearly one third were children, and 90,000 of these children were unaccompanied.

Things about NHS staff...
Behind Closed Doors : Can we expect NHS staff to be the shock absorbers of a system under pressure? This briefing highlights the latest evidence on NHS staff, their experience at work, the pressures they face and the consequences for patients. The Point of Care Foundation believes that it’s critically important that NHS employers to pay attention to staff and their experience at work because when staff feel positive and engaged with work it has a positive impact on patient experience. Behind Closed Doors therefore recommends that staff experience should be given equal priority with patient experience at all levels of the healthcare system. They would like to see organisations encouraging frontline staff to look after themselves, to pay attention to their own and their colleagues’ wellbeing, to alert their managers to pressures that can be alleviated, and to let them know when they need support.

and also....
NHS Employers have published a briefing on 'Leading a healthy workforce:  engaging board and clinical leaders to take positive action on staff wellbeing. "To achieve a healthy workforce, we need to be clear on what success looks like. Board leads and other leaders can start to make tangible differences immediately by focusing on these key elements: A clear vision and leadership from the top.

• Making the wellbeing of staff central to the organisation’s work.
• Training for all managers on effective leadership and management behaviours
• The importance of staff wellbeing is embedded into organisational culture & known by staff.
• Organisational data is used effectively to inform engagement activity around staff wellbeing, target interventions, evaluate the impact of interventions and amend wellbeing programmes.
• A range of staff wellbeing interventions are provided specifically including both physical and emotional wellbeing and including quick access to treatment and support.
• Information and interventions are accessible, communicated and used to enable staff to take personal responsibility to improve and enhance their own wellbeing.

Things about nature, wellbeing and Sheffield...
Shmapped is an app for your smartphone that invites users to map the good things about Sheffield’s green and built spaces. It is part of the innovative IWUN (Improving Wellbeing through Urban Nature) project run by the Universities of Derby and Sheffield which aims to better understand how different aspects of city living affect our wellbeing. When you download the app, you will be presented with a five-minute questionnaire that asks about your current health and wellbeing. All information you provide is anonymous and you can withdraw it at any time. For 30 days, the app will ask you to note the good things about the area around you. It’s very simple and allows you to share your thoughts and photos in seconds. After the 30 days, you will be asked to complete another questionnaire plus a final short one two months later.

Things about reading...
Don't forget to come and choose your holiday reading from our leisure reading section - or if you are around next Wednesday 2 August at 17:15 come and join our informal Reading Group - this month we are discussing 'Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop cafe' but don't worry if you haven't read it...come along anyway.

Things about personalised medicine...

With the increasing identification of  disease-associated variants in human genetics there is more discussion around personalised treatments. This article uses Cystic Fibrosis as an example to discuss this topic 'Personalized or Precision Medicine?'

Things from Budapest...

(c) Gill Kaye 2017

On my recent holiday (thanks Fran for the guest blog you wrote) we enjoyed some lovely food...and who knew Swiss Roll featured in every cake selection! For a non-healthy street food I can recommend Lángos  It's a deep fried flat bread made of a dough . Lángos can be made with yoghurt, sour cream or milk instead of water, a dash of sugar along with salt and sometimes with flour and boiled mashed potatoes, which is called potato lángos - our potato ones pictured here one with cheese and the other containing salami. Certainly delicious or 'finom' as we learnt to say.

Things in the library 9 June...

Things about cystic fibrosis...
An article in European J Pediatrics was published this week on 'Factors associated with changes in health-related quality of life in children with cystic fibrosis during 1-year follow-up' the authors conclude:

"In the group as a whole, HRQoL improved significantly over time. However, changes over time were significantly influenced by age: below 12 years of age, HRQoL improved in most patients whereas a deterioration was observed in most children >12 years. Strategies how to preserve or ideally to improve HRQoL in adolescence should be developed"


Things about antibiotics...

The World Health Organisation has released the latest edition of its essential medicines list which is updated every two years. WHO has grouped antibiotics into three groups—access, watch, and reserve—indicating which can be used for common infections and which should only be used in rare circumstances.

• WHO recommends that antibiotics in the access group, which includes amoxicillin, be available at all times to treat common conditions.
• The watch group includes antibiotics that are recommended as first or second choice treatments for a small number of infections. In this group are ciprofloxacin to treat cystitis and upper respiratory tract infections which, WHO says, should be dramatically reduced to avoid further development of resistance.
• The third group, reserve, includes antibiotics that should be considered last resort options and used only when all other drugs have failed, such as for life threatening infections from multidrug resistant bacteria. The antibiotics colistin and some cephalosporins should only be used when all other treatments have failed in a bid to combat anti-microbial resistance

Things about chronic illness...
Serious chronic illness can have a detrimental effect on school attendance, participation and engagement, leaving affected students at risk of failing to meet their developmental potential. An improved understanding of factors that help to explain or mitigate this risk can help educators and health professionals deliver the most effective support. This meta-review 'Understanding the school experiences of children and adolescents with serious chronic illness: a systematic meta-review.' critiqued the available evidence examining the link between six chronic illnesses (asthma, cancer, chronic kidney diseases, heart diseases, cystic fibrosis and gastrointestinal diseases) and children's and adolescents' school experiences and outcomes, as well as investigating the medical, school, psychosocial and sociodemographic factors that are linked to poorer or better school outcomes.

Things to read...
If you didn't manage to make it to our  Reading Group this week now is the time to start reading the next book 'Elizabeth is Missing' for our meeting on Wed 5th July at 17:15.  Our last book 'Black Diamonds' scored 67% from the group.
'Elizabeth is missing', reads the note in Maud's pocket in her own handwriting. Lately, Maud's been getting forgetful. She keeps buying peach slices when she has a cupboard full, forgets to drink the cups of tea she's made and writes notes to remind herself of things. But Maud is determined to discover what has happened to her friend, Elizabeth, and what it has to do with the unsolved disappearance of her sister Sukey, years back, just after the war.'

Things to see...
At the Graves Gallery, above the Central Library in Sheffield  (next to the Lyceum), they have an exhibition entitled 'An Earthly Paradise: Gardens in Art' which explores the diverse ways artists have represented these uniquely personal spaces in their work.
The exhibition sees the return of a major work to the city, Stanley Spencer’s Zacharias and Elizabeth (1913-14). The painting, co-owned with Tate, goes on display alongside highlights from Sheffield’s visual art and Ruskin collections, including paintings and works on paper by Paul Cézanne, James Tissot, Evelyn Dunbar and more. The exhibition is on until 12th August and is open Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 4pm  (Wednesdays 1pm – 6pm), entry free.

Things to hear...
At the City Hall on Friday 30th June there is a concert 'The Music of James Bond with The Hallé' , the greatest themes and songs of 007 ...listen to the sounds that gave musical voice to the films in catchy title sequences and haunting songs performed by vocalists Alison Jiear and Matthew Ford with the Hallé orchestra.

Things to taste...
With the elderflowers coming into bloom I think we are going to attempt an elderflower gin this weekend at home! If I have enough flowers left I might try these fritters too.

Things in the library 28 Oct ...

Things about cystic fibrosis...

You may have heard in the news this morning about new drugs for Cystic Fibrosis. This relates to 12 abstracts presented yesterday (27 Oct 2016) at the North American CF Conference. You can see the official press release from the sponsoring pharmaceutical company here and the details of the Clinical Advances in Cystic Fibrosis Research sessions here.

Things about autism...
Also in the news this week has been the impact of early intervention in children with severe autism. This programme of treatment aimed to mainly focus on the parents, who were trained to pick up on communication cues from their child, which are usually much more subtle than in other children. The original article can be read freely online here. The Behind the Headlines analysis states
"This study seems to provide some much-needed good news for parents of children with autism, and has been welcomed by experts and campaigners. However, the lack of statistical significance of some of the results mean we can't be sure the findings are reliable....However, most [experts] seem to think that the results are promising, especially for an intervention that does not require the intensive time and commitment of some other autism treatments."

Things about Familial Hypercholesterolemia screening...
Child–parent screening for familial hypercholesterolemia has been proposed to identify persons at high risk for inherited premature cardiovascular disease. The preview of the article can be accessed here and if you sign in with your NHS Open Athens account you can access the full text. A discussion of the issues from Behind the Headlines can be found here.

Things about Professional Qualifications...
The Dept of Health has just published a response to 'Consultation on the transposition of the revised Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications' a European Directive. In their conclusion they state "Concerns have been expressed that the Directive unduly constrains the ability of regulatory bodies to carry out robust checks of both the clinical and language skills of health professionals from the EEA seeking to practice in the UK. The Governments is mindful of these concerns, and the UK’s decision to exit the European Union will provide an opportunity to review the adequacy of checks on the skills and competence of overseas health professionals that are currently carried out."


Things about medical education...
The GMC have published their 'The state of medical education and practice in the UK report: 2016'. This is their sixth annual report about the state of medical education and practice. They consider some of the current challenges facing the profession and the systems in which it works. They also look at how the make-up of the profession continues to change.
They have published an extensive online resource of the GMC’s registration, education and fitness to practise data. By publishing this information, they aim to promote discussion and debate about some of the practical steps they and others could take in better supporting doctors and improving patient care.

How we can help to alleviate stress...

It is National Stress Awareness Day on Wednesday 2nd November 2016 so we thought we would remind you that the library has colouring sheets and crayons available for you to come and use whenever we are open. We also provide comfy chairs and sell drinks and chocolate biscuits if you need to get away from your work environment for a break. Our selection of Leisure reading includes many books from the Mood Boosting selections as well as Quick Reads.

Things about the NHS and a vision for it future...

NHS five year forward view: a progress report Two years on from the publication of the NHS five year forward view, the King's Fund assess how much progress has been made and what still needs to be done to align policies with the plan.




Things cobwebby...
As the end of the month and the end of Bake off are in my mind (along with plenty of cobwebs!) I thought you might like to combine the two events with this creepy cake!