News

PCRS-UK News

PCRS-UK Affiliated Local Nurse groups

PCRS-UK now has 35 affiliated local nurse groups. Have you thought about setting up a group in your area? We make it easy!

A local nurse group is the ideal way to bring nurses in your area together. It provides a forum to help you and your colleagues develop your clinical skills and knowledge, share best practice with peers, and benefit from a network of support. It only takes one person to take the lead. That could be you! We can help with by providing resources, a startup pack and an experienced buddy to support you, plus more.

Nurse Group Leaders Meeting 12th October 2012. Conference Aston, Central Birmingham

The PCRS-UK is running this one-day workshop for nurse group leaders entitled “Are you In Tune with your local group?” — offering lots of innovative ideas to help support you with your group and make all your local meetings a great success.

Email Mel Whiting to book your place (mel@pcrs-uk.org) or phone 0121 767 1928.

Note: Available only to UK members of PCRS-UK

PCRS-UK Respiratory Leaders Programme

Join the Respiratory Leaders Programme and we'll give you all the support you need to take the lead, motivate and inspire best practice within your locality. It's designed to enable UK primary care health professionals to take the next step. Visit our respiratory leader web pages for more information at http://www.pcrs-uk.org/sigs.

Respiratory Leaders Friday 9th and Saturday 10 November 2012, Aston Conference Centre, Birmingham

This innovative 1.5 day event will focus on developing influencing and negotiating skills for respiratory leaders who are engaging with CCGs to develop respiratory services in their locality and enable you to further enhance your leadership skills. Places are limited.

If you are interested in attending this event or would like more information on how you can join the Respiratory Leaders programme contact Mel Whiting at mel@pcrs-uk.org or phone 0121 767 1928 to reserve a place.

Note: Available only to UK premium members of PCRS-UK

PCRS-UK Quality Award Programme

PCRS-UK Quality Award — get the recognition you deserve

The PCRS-UK Quality Award is no ‘walk in the park’, but for those who participate it offers an opportunity to develop and bring together the team and focus on critical areas of development.

The Award, developed in conjunction with the British Thoracic Society, Royal College of General Practitioners, Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists, Asthma UK, British Lung Foundation, Education for Heath and Respiratory Education UK, sets out the standards that best define high quality respiratory care in primary care, providing:

• Recognition of practices providing a high standard of respiratory care — serving as a quality assurance mark not only for patients, but also commissioning groups and the wider NHS.

• A developmental framework that can be used at practice, locality and national level to promote, support and reward quality respiratory care in the primary care setting.

We have comprehensive support material to guide you through each step of doing the award, and we are developing new suggestions for simple audits and other tips to help you through the process.

If you are interested in participating in the quality award visit the website at http://www.pcrs-uk.org/quality_award to register your interest (currently available only to UK-based PCRS-UK members) and receive your copy of our Getting Started publication to help you get prepared to participate.

Becoming a member of PCRS-UK

Whether you're a primary care nurse searching for tried and tested protocols, a GP looking for guidance on COPD diagnosis and management, or a respiratory specialist interested in the latest research, it pays to become a member of the Primary Care Respiratory Society UK. As a member you'll have unlimited access to a wealth of specialist respiratory care information including newly published resources such as our new opinion sheets on asthma in adolescents and tuberculosis.

Join today and get the support of the UK's leading respiratory-care specialists

Membership packages available from as little as £27.00 per year

Great reasons to join PCRS-UK today

• Make life easier. Become a PCRS-UK member and discover a wealth of credible respiratory care information and resources all in one place

• Keep pace with developments. From COPD guideline changes to managing asthma, there's a best practice resource waiting for you

• Get help with professional development. Save time. It's ready to download and share with your practice staff

• Benefit from expert advice. From managing allergic rhinitis to using spirometry, you'll find a range of concise, easy-to follow Opinion Sheets available free exclusively to members of the society via our website

• Hard copy of the Primary Care Respiratory Journal. As the flagship publication of the PCRS-UK, this international academic journal provides all the latest primary care respiratory research and top class editorial comment, discussion and educational articles

• Read regular e-alerts. Get the latest respiratory information, news and updates, sent direct to your inbox.

IMPRESS

Relative value of COPD interventions

This landmark piece of work from IMPRESS (www.impressresp.com) is one of the first attempts to evaluate the relative value of different interventions for a long term condition like COPD, when applied to a population. Its conclusions are that we can improve the outcomes for the diagnosed and undiagnosed population by rebalancing the current spend on COPD care towards smoking cessation as a treatment and also pulmonary rehabilitation programmes, and reducing the overuse of some inhaled medicines.

Download the executive summary or full report at http://www.impressresp.com/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=82

IPCRG News

IPCRG working locally, collaborating globally

The IPCRG has had a busy two months following up new contacts and proposals created during the recent Edinburgh conference.

Conferences

IPCRG 6th World Conference Webcasts

These will be available on our new web environment by August. Please excuse the delay whilst we find the best value hosting solution.

2013 Scientific conference

Uppsala 23–24 May 2013

Registration and abstract submission: opens 1 December 2012

Abstract deadline: 10 March 2013

We are also planning a meeting of the Research Network to develop proposals for funding applications on Saturday 25th May in Uppsala.

IPCRG 7th World conference, Athens 21–24 May 2014

Following a detailed evaluation, the IPCRG will shortly appoint a professional conference organiser to work with us as a partner on all our future conferences, starting with Athens. Meanwhile, the Chair of the Scientific Committee, Ioanna Tsiligianni, will shortly be inviting IPCRG colleagues to take up roles on the Scientific Committee and the Advisory Panel. Our aim is to ensure a mix of experience and “new blood”. If you have an interest in being involved, do let us know please.

Education

Our Discussion paper has now been accepted for publication in the PCRJ. It is currently published in the Online first section of the PCRJ website (www.thepcrj.org) and will be included in the forthcoming December 2012 issue — McDonnell J, Williams S, Chavannes NH, et al. Effecting change in primary care management of respiratory conditions: a global scoping exercise and literature review of educational interventions to inform the IPCRG's E-Quality initiative. Prim Care Respir J 2012;21 http://dx.doi.org/10.4104/pcrj.2012.00071

Both our E-quality projects that test educational interventions which lead to measurable improvements in clinical performance are on track:

1. Spirometry — transposition to a new country of an existing programme

Spirometry Fundamentals and Spirometry 360 were developed by the University of Washington in the USA and have been widely tested there. They combine a modular distance learning programme, some hands-on teaching, and a ‘train the trainer’ programme that creates an expert team which can then deliver a remote internet-based “read-over” and feedback service for those professionals who have been through the programme (see http://www.spirometrytraining.org/). The E-Quality faculty and funding has been used to facilitate the transposition of this programme to another country, Australia, and to generate learning about what it takes to do this.

2. Evaluation of the impact of an educational intervention

The current working title is: What is the impact of ‘CHAMPS’ (Changing Asthma Management Practices), a 1-day training programme on asthma diagnosis and management, on the clinical practice of primary care physicians in the private sector from Pune City in India: a pilot randomised controlled trial.

Closing date for calls for second round applications to be received by Sam Louw by 27th August 2012.

Research

Work has started to build the E-faculty to support the project in Chile.

FRESH AIR Uganda has completed recruitment of 300 men and 300 women (aged > 30 years) early and on budget. We congratulate the team on this great achievement and on the project's designation as a WHO-GARD demonstration project, recognising that It goes beyond a ‘burden of disease’ study by combining elements of research, education and intervention. We will be disseminating the learning about how to translate the protocol to other settings and how to sustain the interest and competence in the local health teams.

External affairs

We continue to advocate for the role of primary care in the prevention and management of chronic respiratory disease and were heartened by the increasing support of this at the WHO-GARD annual meeting in St Petersburgh. Niels Chavannes represented primary care at the Planning Committee, and another of our directors, Osman Yusuf, also attended representing low and middle income countries.

A team of four contributed to the strengthening of primary care competence in chronic respiratory disease by running four workshops at the Wonca Europe meeting in Vienna in July.

IPCRG Board and sub-committees

We now have confirmed memberships for 2012/13. If you wish to find out more about how to get involved, please contact us. Alternatively if you wish to make contact with others but without a formal committee, please consider setting up a space on www.theipcrg.org. Use the website to make contact.

We thank Anders Østrem who has stepped down from the Board but will continue to advise on conference planning.

Board of Directors

President: Niels Chavannes, Netherlands

Immediate Past President: Miguel Roman Rodriguez, Spain

Treasurer: Ron Tomlins, Australia

President Elect: Vacant

Co-optees: Ioanna Tsiligianni, Greece (Chair of Scientific Committee 2014 and Director with Research Portfolio), Osman Yusuf (Director representing Low and middle income countries), Kristine Whorlow, Australia (Treasurer Elect), Jaime C de Sousa, Portugal

Sub-Committee Chairs

1. Education

Co-Leads: Hilary Pinnock, UK and H. John Fardy, Australia

Members: Anders Østrem, Ron Tomlins, Nick Zwar, Liz Grant, James Stout

Coordinator: Juliet McDonnell

2. Research

Chair: Mike Thomas

Members: Karin Lisspers, Jaime C de Sousa, loanna Tsiligianni, Andrew Cave, Frederik van Gemert, Osman Yusuf, (representatives for tobacco dependence and respiratory infection to be confirmed)

Research network

This network is open to anyone with a research role in asthma, COPD, tobacco dependence, allergic rhinitis, rhinosinusitis and respiratory infection. Please contact us if you wish to be connected. The next meeting is in Vienna, 4th September, during the European Respiratory Society meeting.

3. Governance

Chair: Ron Tomlins, Australia

Members: Alasdair Norton, Barbara Varney, Sian Johnson, Kristine Whorlow

Observer: Geoffrey Williams

Senate

H John Fardy (Australia); Monsur Habib (Bangladesh); Johan Buffels (Belgium); Alan Kaplan (Canada); Theodora Zachariadou (Cyprus); Marianne Stubbe Østergaard (Denmark); Dimitris Giannopolous (Greece); Reggie Spelman (Ireland); Antonio Infantino (Italy); Jim Reid (New Zealand); Anders Østrem (Norway); Osman Yusuf (Pakistan); Sarath Paranavitane (Sri Lanka), Miguel Roman Rodriguez (Spain); Bjorn Stallberg (Sweden); Ivo Smeele (The Netherlands); Dermot Ryan (UK), Javiera Corbolan (Chile)

Contact: Sam Louw — BusinessManager@theipcrg.org

Siân Williams

Executive Officer

ERS General Practice and Primary Care Group 1.6 news

ERS Congress, Vienna, 1st-5th September 2012

Group Members' Meeting

This will take place on ***Monday 3rd September in Room Schubert 3, from 17.00 — 17.50.***

PCRJ Award for the best quality abstract submitted to Group 1.6

There were over 100 primary care abstracts selected for the ERS Congress in Amsterdam last September, and the top five were shortlisted for the inaugural PCRJ Award. Worth €500, and kindly funded by the Primary Care Respiratory Journal, the PCRJ Award will once again be awarded to the best primary care abstract submitted to Group 1.6 for the 2012 ERS Congress in Vienna. The award is particularly aimed at encouraging young researchers to submit their work.

The winning abstract will be announced during the Group meeting in Vienna on Monday 3rd September at 17.00. This year the competition is as tough as ever, and seven abstracts have been shortlisted for the Award:

1. Abstract Number: 1026

Title: Can the organisation of COPD care in primary health care centres help preventing exacerbations in COPD patients?

Josefin Sundh, Scott Montgomery, Christer Janson, Eva Österlund Efraimsson, Björn Ställberg and Karin Lisspers. Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden; Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden.

2. Abstract Number: 1434

Title: More than 50% of patients visit a general practitioner (GP), general physician (Gen P) or a pediatrician (P) in India for respiratory symptoms: Results of a one-day point-prevalence study in 2,04,912 patients across 22 states and 5 union territories in India

Komalkirti Apte, Monica Barne, Sapna Madas, Jaideep Gogtay, Sushmeeta Chhowala, Nadar Mahajan and Sundeep Salvi. Chest Research Foundation, Pune, Maharashtra, India; CIPLA LTD, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

3. Abstract Number: 3635

Title: Lower incidence of asthma exacerbations with FENO-guided anti-inflammatory treatment: A randomised controlled trial

Jörgen Syk, Andrei Malinovschi, Gunnar Johansson, Anna-Lena Undén, Kjell Alving. Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

4. Abstract Number: 767

Title: Comparative study of respiratory symptoms, lung function, BMI and exercise capacity in patients with COPD associated with tobacco smoke (TS) and biomass smoke (BS) exposure

Lalita Fernandes and Anthony Mesquita. Goa Medical College, St. Inez, Caranzalem, Goa, India.

5. Abstract Number: 3627

Title: Adherence to a maintenance exercise programme 1 year after pulmonary rehabilitation: What are the predictors of drop-out?

Ankie Heerema-Poelman, Johan Wempe, Ilse Stuive. University Medical Center, Groningen, Netherlands.

6. Abstract Number: 4542

Title: Diagnostic delay of pulmonary embolism in primary and secondary care: A retrospective study

Stefan Walen, Roger Damoiseaux, Steven Uil, Jan Willem van den Berg. Pulmonary Diseases, Isala Klinieken, Zwolle, Netherlands; General Practice “De Hof van Blom”, Hattem, Netherlands.

7. Abstract Number: 4990

Title: Are disease management programs for COPD cost-effective?

Melinde Boland, Apostolos Tsiachristas, Annemarije Kruis, Niels Chavannes, Maureen Rutten-van Mölken. Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.

Joining the ERS

Are you an ERS member? If you're not and you regularly attend the ERS Congress, why not join the ERS and receive all the membership benefits? If you are thinking of joining, please ensure that you join Group 1.6, the General Practice and Primary Care Group.

Niels Chavannes, Chair Group 1.6

Bjorn Stallberg, Secretary Group 1.6