News
Improving shared decision making in surgery
Shared decision making is when patients and healthcare professionals work together to agree on a treatment plan. It is a collaborative process that aims to make sure patients’ treatment decisions align with their preferences, values and lifestyle. This is particularly important when making decisions to have surgery because the consequences…
Study find incidents of mental illness can increase for up to a year following severe COVID-19
A new study that examined health data on 18 million people reveals higher incidence of mental illnesses for up to a year following severe COVID-19 in unvaccinated people. Vaccination appeared to mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 on mental illnesses. The University of Bristol-led study, published in…
Around 160,000 joint replacement surgeries lost by COVID-19 pandemic, study finds
Nearly nine months of joint replacement surgery has been lost – around 160,000 fewer operations – since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study led by the University of Bristol has found. The research suggests returning to pre-pandemic levels will not tackle the backlog, and…
New study identifies two proteins that may contribute to stroke recurrence
The study discovered genetic markers in inflammation that may be related to a second stroke or other major cardiovascular event following a stroke. These findings could help identify drug targets to mitigate stroke-related disability and mortality. People who experience an arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischemic…
Three new projects funded by Bristol BRC Director’s Fund
Three new research projects have secured funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Bristol Biomedical Research Centre’s (Bristol BRC) Director’s fund. The Director’s Fund supports exciting new projects across all our research themes which we hope will be developed into something that could directly benefit patients.
Contributing to the BRC Surgical Innovation Group as a public and patient representative
In this blog post, Val Snelgrove talks about her experience of working as a public and patient representative with a team based at the Bristol BRC’s surgical and orthopaedic innovation theme, training opportunities in public involvement and a Learning for Patient and Public Voice (PPV) course she recently attended. My…
Suicide rates lower for almost all ethnic minority groups living in England and Wales
Suicide rates among almost all ethnic minority groups living in England and Wales are lower than among the majority White-British population. However, this does not apply to people from a Mixed-heritage background and those identifying as Gypsy / Irish Travellers, according to a study published in Lancet…
Study highlights challenges in reporting surgical innovation
A study published in the BMJ Open has revealed significant challenges in how surgical innovation is reported and evaluated using the IDEAL framework. The framework, which stands for Idea, Development, Exploration, Assessment, and Long-term study, is designed to guide the development of new surgical procedures and devices.
Optimising timing of psychological interventions could improve their effectiveness
Delivering some psychological interventions at times suited to a person’s chronotype (when they are naturally likely to wake up and go to sleep) could improve how effective the interventions are. Initial evidence from a study supported by the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre has shown that late…