An evaluation of personal medical services: the times they are a changin'

The Personal Medical Services (PMS) pilot sites, launched in England in 1997 by the Secretary of State for the then Conservative government, introduced a local contract for primary care, aimed at promoting flexibility, innovation and policy participation. As part of the National Evaluation of PMS, this paper considers the professional and organisational relationships established between service providers working in those PMS sites which specifically set out to address inequalities in access to primary care for vulnerable populations. The introduction of PMS enabled a change of cultural values in primary care, particularly regarding GPs' relationships with nurses and practice staff. However, PMS has not necessarily led to equal partnerships within primary care teams. Rather,in the selected sites evaluated new interprofessional relationships emerged. There was evidence of intra and interprofessional partnerships being forged, providing the basis for further improved intersectoral collaboration. There was also evidence that the GP based medical model made way for a community oriented/public health model with emphasis on health maintenance for the vulnerable.     

EXOGEN Ultrasound Bone Healing System for Long Bone Fractures with Non-Union or Delayed Healing: A NICE Medical Technology Guidance

A routine part of the process for developing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) medical technologies guidance is a submission of clinical and economic evidence by the technology manufacturer. The Birmingham and Brunel Consortium External Assessment Centre (EAC; a consortium of the University of Birmingham and Brunel University) independently appraised the submission on the EXOGEN bone healing system for long bone fractures with non-union or delayed healing. This article is an overview of the original evidence submitted, the EAC’s findings, and the final NICE guidance issued.     

Adaptation of the RAQoL for use in Australia

Quality of life is an important patient-reported outcome of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in addition to structural and functional outcomes. The RAQoL (Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life questionnaire) was developed in the UK and the Netherlands as a disease-specific tool. It was adapted for use in the Australian social context and the reliability and validity was tested. A lay panel assessed the UK version and adapted the wording for use within Australia. Reliability and validity were assessed by a postal survey of the RAQoL and comparator questionnaires to 100 patients with RA. The RAQoL was easily adapted into Australian-English. Test–retest reliability was high with a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of 0.93. RAQoL scores correlated well with patient-perceived disease activity and severity—indicating good validity. The Australian version of the RAQoL is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of quality of life. It is practical, easy to administer and has good potential for use in clinical settings and trials in Australia.     

EQ-5D-5L versus EQ-5D-3L: The Impact on Cost Effectiveness in the United Kingdom

Objectives

To model the relationship between the three-level (3L) and the five-level (5L) EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire and examine how differences have an impact on cost effectiveness in case studies.

Cost-effectiveness of sentinel lymph node biopsy vs inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy in women with vulval cancer

Background:

This study examines the cost-effectiveness of sentinel lymph node biopsy, a potentially less morbid procedure, compared with inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy (IFL) among women with stage I and stage II vulval squamous cell carcinoma.

Methods:

A model-based economic evaluation was undertaken based on clinical evidence from a systematic review of published sources. A decision tree model was developed with the structure being informed by clinical input, taking the perspective of the health-care provider.

Results:

For overall survival for 2 years, IFL was found to be the most cost-effective option and dominated all other strategies, being the least costly and most effective. For morbidity-free related outcomes for 2 years, sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy with 99mTc and blue dye and haematoxylin & eosin (H&E) histopathology, with ultrastaging and immunohistochemistry reserved for those that test negative following H&E is likely to be the most effective approach.

Conclusion:

SLN biopsy using 99mTc and blue dye with ultrastaging may be considered the most cost-effective strategy based on the outcome of survival free of morbidity for 2 years. The findings here also indicate that using blue dye and H&E for the identification of the SLN and the identification of metastasis, respectively, are not sensitive enough to be used on their own.     

Rehabilitation potential of elderly patients with major amputations

This study was undertaken to determine the rehabilitation potential of patients undergoing amputation for vascular disease. A total of 101 patients were studied with a mean age of 69 +/- 14 years, 26 of whom were over age 80. Operative indications were gangrene or ulceration in 80% with rest pain in 20%. Eighteen patients were bilateral amputees. Fifty per cent of the patient population had previous vascular operations. The operative mortality was 13% and was not affected by the age of the patients or the presence of diabetes. Most operative deaths were due to cardiac or septic respiratory complications. Twenty-four of 88 surviving patients were not considered candidates for rehabilitation and the major determining factor was the occurrence of a remote or perioperative stroke. None of these 24 patients was discharged from institutional care. Sixty-four patients were considered rehabilitation candidates with equal distribution in all age groups. Ninety-five per cent of these patients were discharged home with 80% of those patients over 80 being discharged. Eighty-seven per cent of the elderly rehabilitation candidates were fitted with prostheses which compares favourably to other age groups. Seventy-three per cent of the elderly reached their rehabilitation goals (most frequently ambulation with the aid of a walker) which is only slightly less than the younger amputation group. From this study we conclude that amputations which are done for ease of nursing care and patient comfort in debilitated patients have a high mortality rate and rehabilitation goals are unlikely to be met. We have demonstrated high success rates with rehabilitation including patients over age 80. The majority of these patients may be discharged home after a period of aggressive rehabilitation.     

Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound: A New Method of Monitoring Hemispheric Anesthetization During the Intracarotid Amobarbital Procedure

BACKGROUND: Electroencephalography (EEG) is traditionally used to assess the duration of hemispheric anesthetization and to monitor return of function in the anesthetized hemisphere during the intracarotid amobarbital procedure (IAP), but EEG changes are not consistently seen. The authors evaluated the role of continuous transcranial Doppler (TCD) monitoring as an alternative to EEG. METHODS: The authors performed both continuous TCD monitoring and EEG during the IAP in 10 patients with medically intractable partial epilepsy. Mean velocities were monitored continuously in both middle cerebral arteries (MCAs), and changes in MCA velocities on continuous TCD monitoring were time locked with the EEG changes. RESULTS: The average mean MCA velocities were within normal limits bilaterally (50-85 cm/s) in all patients at baseline. Mean MCA velocites increased in all patients to 95-115 cm/s at the start of the test when the patients were asked to raise their hands and start counting. After injection of sodium amobarbital, mean MCA velocities in all patients dropped dramatically on the ipsilateral side to values of 12-39 cm/s and returned to the baseline average value when the hemiparesis recovered. In 8 patients, the duration of delta activity on EEG coincided with the time interval during which the mean MCA velocities were low on TCD monitoring. In 2 patients, despite the presence of hemiparesis clinically and a drop in mean MCA velocities on the ipsilateral side on continuous TCD monitoring, EEG remained normal on the ipsilateral side. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous TCD monitoring may be a more sensitive method than EEG in determining the duration of hemispheric anesthetization during IAP. Because the items for assessment of memory are presented during the period of hemispheric anesthetization, TCD may be useful in more precisely defining the time window for memory testing.     

Systematic reviews of specialist epilepsy services.

BACKGROUND: Concern has been expressed over UK epilepsy service standards but the most clinically effective model of care is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the current evidence on specialist epilepsy clinics compared to general neurology clinics and specialist epilepsy nurses compared to usual care. METHODS: Medline, Psychlit, Embase, Healthplan, GEARS, BIDS ISI, UKCHHO, international HTA websites, InterTASC databases and The Cochrane Library were searched to September 1999. Any studies comparing specialist epilepsy clinics or nurses to generalist services or usual care, reporting physical health, costs or generic quality-of-life outcomes were included. Two people independently applied inclusion and exclusion criteria and extracted data independently. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) quality was assessed by Jadad score and other studies qualitatively by the likelihood of bias. RESULTS: Findings were one RCT and two other studies on epilepsy clinics and four RCTs and a controlled trial on epilepsy nurses. Data synthesis was inappropriate. Epilepsy clinics showed no evidence of reduced seizure frequency or severity, no quality-of-life information and were more expensive. Epilepsy nurse services showed no evidence of reduced seizure frequency or severity, no effect on quality-of-life but were less expensive. CONCLUSION: There is insufficient evidence to demonstrate the superiority of any particular care model for producing better health outcomes.