The role of nutrition and exercise in maintaining muscle mass, strength and function pre and post falls and fractures. With an ageing population, strategies that help older adults to maintain their independence for longer are increasingly important.
Helping older adults to stay independent for longer
NICE Chronic Heart Failure guideline update 2018
The updated Chronic Heart Failure guideline from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence was published in September. This article covers the key recommendations relevant to primary care.
The 2017 ESC/EACTS Guidelines For VHD management
ESC/EACTS guidelines for Valvular Heart Disease (VHD) management were updated in 2017 and has since impacted individual patient suitability for Aortic Stenosis treatment. A visual summary of the latest VHD management guidelines is now available. Download yours now!
Can we safely recommend HRT?
Claire Bellone, clinical nurse specialist at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Trust, gives her personal view on how primary healthcare professionals can work with women with menopausal symptoms and implement the recommendations of the NICE guideline on the diagnosis and management of menopause.
Updated NICE guideline of type 2 diabetes management in adults
Professor Mike Kirby highlights the key updates in the new NICE guidelines on the management of type 2 diabetes in adults and how these impact your practice. The updated guideline focuses on an individualised approach to patient care with recommendations on patient education, dietary advice, managing cardiovascular risk, managing blood glucose levels, and identifying and managing long-term complications.
Heart failure guidelines: Causing confusion in primary care
Chronic heart failure (CHF) continues to be a leading cause of death and readmission to hospital in the UK. Since the availability of specialist CHF services is variable, many patients rely on practice nurses to review their care. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines have proved very helpful, but are now a cause for confusion as new evidence changes the management of heart failure.
JBS3: A ‘heart age’ approach to cardiovascular risk
The long-awaited Joint British Societies’ consensus recommendations for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (JBS3) were issued at the end of March.
Whatever has happened to QOF?
After several years of incremental adjustments and more new indicators, massive changes have been made to the new Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). So let us have a look at the facts and think about the implications of these changes for our daily routines from April.
Hepatitis B: A closer look at prevention and treatment
Liver disease is the fifth largest cause of mortality in England, after heart disease, cancer, stroke and respiratory disease. Of this ‘big five’, liver disease is the only major cause of death that is rising year on year, and it affects people at a younger age. It is also becoming clear that chronic hepatitis B infection is making an increasing contribution to the rising death toll from liver disease. Recently published NICE guidelines now give practice nurses and GPs a key role in the initial assessment and onward referral of patients to specialist services, and their subsequent care.
After brain attack: the new stroke guidelines
Most people now survive a first stroke, but many patients are left with significant disability. In this article, our very own BATman ‘goes through rehab’ to review recently published NICE guideline. This aims to ensure that all stroke survivors have access to effective, individualised rehabilitation, both in the hospital and during long-term follow-up in the community.
NHS Health Checks: time to raise awareness about dementia
The NHS Health Check is changing again. Since the beginning of April 2013, practice nurses have been expected to raise the issue of dementia when seeing patients aged 65-74. But why (I can hear you ask)? Surely we have enough to do! This article explains why dementia matters, and sets out your role in the NHS Health Check.
CPR: to breathe or not to breathe?
UK guidelines recommend hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as an option for untrained people, or when ventilation is difficult. But standard CPR with ventilation remains best practice, and it is vital to ensure that everyone in the practice knows how to use basic life support to save a patient’s life after cardiac arrest.
