Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog
Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog
Posted by ma403
10 July 2024On Thursday 20 June 2024 the University of Exeter Department of Health and Community Sciences hosted the 8th National Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) Research Conference. This year’s event was organised by Antoinette Davey, Jon Evans, and Ian Porter with a focus on the development and implementation of patient outcome measures across diverse clinical settings. The day began with opening remarks fromClaire Hulme, Professor of Health Economics, Head of Department of Health and Community Sciences, who highlighted the strong tradition of patient centred research in Exeter.
We were privileged to be joined byBaroness Cumberlege, who gave a plenary address reflecting on First Do No Harm, the Report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review. Baroness Cumberlege was appointed in 2018 by the then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to chair the Review, which investigated reports from women patients about harmful side effects from medicines and medical devices, and how the health service had responded. Baroness Cumberlege spoke movingly on how patients must be at the centre of all the decisions about their care, stressing that “patient reported outcomes and experience measures are not merely nice to do, they are essential.” She reflected on a health system that was disjointed, siloed, unresponsive, defensive, and failed to listen to patient concerns. One of the key recommendations of the Review directly led to the role of Patient Safety Commissioner being established.
Baroness Cumberlege was joined in the plenary session by Georgina Jones, Professor of Health Psychology at Leeds Beckett University, who presented on work she and her colleagues have conducted in response to the Cumberlege Report. The APPRAISE project is a three-year National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) funded study aiming to better support women in reporting the impact of pelvic floor surgery on their quality of life. This work includes the development of a new questionnaire that will provide a way that patient outcomes and the risks and benefits of an intervention can be measured, quantified and compared.
Another plenary session was delivered via video link by Professor Jose Valderas, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Centre for Research in Health Systems Performance at the National University of Singapore, who was previously Professor of Health Services and Policy Research in Exeter. Professor Valderas presented on an international project that the Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) is participating in. The PaRIS-initiative, led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), includes the development of generic patient reported indicators that are relevant and appropriate for adults with chronic conditions using primary care, and the implementation of these quality indicators in participating countries.
The conference showcased a high quality and breadth of research, with posters and oral presentations covering different aspects of PROMs implementation, including psychometrics, qualitative research, pilot and feasibility studies, along with the patient and carer perspective. The day concluded with a thought-provoking panel session, on Advanced Psychometrics and Implementation of PROMs in Clinical Practice, chaired by Dr Jon Evans. The session featured Wendy Copeland-Blair, Assistant Director of Clinical Outcomes at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Olivia Wooding, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Anji Kingman, Clinical Outcomes Manager at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Angus McNair, Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Bristol, and Andy Judge, Professor at the University of Bristol and member of the National Joint Registry PROMs Working Group.
