The OPEN (Out-Of-Hours Prescribing: Enhancing Communication) study, led by researchers from the University of Bristol's Centre for Academic Primary Care and the University of Southampton, will explore the routine management of common infections out-of-hours. The team recently received NHS ethics and Health Research Association approval to begin data collection.
With the help and permission of NHS patients and staff, they aim to record 300 routine out-of-hours health care encounters, including telephone calls, primary care centre visits and home visits, in organisations serving over two million people across the South and West of England.
The study will focus on how communication between patients and out-of-hours practitioners, such as GPs, pharmacists, nurses and paramedics, can influence prescribing in cases of common infections. The findings will be used to optimise communication training to guide healthcare practitioners in best prescribing practices.
Out-of-hours services are where patients access primary health care outside of normal working hours on week days, or any time on weekends. Not much is known about what happens during out-of-hours consultations because previous research has mostly focused on primary care consultations during normal working hours.
Dr Rebecca Barnes from the Centre for Academic Primary Care at the University of Bristol and Professor Geraldine Leydon-Hudson from the University of Southampton who are leading the study said:
“We are very excited to be working with out-of-hours service providers across the South and West of England. Our project takes a new approach in an under-researched setting and we hope to make an important contribution in the drive to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing and tackle antimicrobial resistance.”
The OPEN study is a multidisciplinary collaboration between the Universities of Bristol, Southampton, Oxford and University College London funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research.
Watch a short video about the study.
For more information, contact: open-project@bristol.ac.uk