Thomas Downes

Proud to see our research featured on my news feed this morning:

Frailty index could improve life for younger patients www.bbc.com/news/article...

"Undermining confidence in one of the few safe and effective pain and fever relief drugs in pregnancy risks causing unintended harm."

Pregnant women are often excluded from clinical trials and evidence gaps enable unsubstantiated claims, @louiseckenny.bsky.social
www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Use of unscheduled care in the last year of life for people with multiple long-term health conditions: a retrospective cohort study of 299,361 decedents Background People living with and dying from multiple long-term health conditions are high users of healthcare services. Unscheduled care, the unplanned use of healthcare services, rises dramatically ...

Useful and important primary care research
⬇️
bjgpopen.org/content/earl...

As we head into autumn, in many instances, patient expectations following a community acquired pneumonia can have a profound effect on repeat appointments (“I feel better but I’m still coughing, Doc”). Here’s a timely reminder from NICENG250

VERY EXCITING
launch of the CENTRE FOR EVIDENCE AND VALUES IN HEALTHCARE at the Uni of St Andrews
first event 31st October with Sir David Haslam and Scotland's new patient safety commissioner Karen Titchener
find out more here medicine.st-andrews.ac.uk/centreforevi...
please sign up and come

Participation of Women in Cardiovascular Trials, 2017 to 2023 This systematic review describes the representation of women across a broad range of cardiovascular trials registered from 2017 to 2023.

More women in cardiovascular trials still needed (and CVD trials are pretty good compared to other medical specialties...)

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Applicability of the electronic frailty index in younger and older adults in England: a population-based cohort study Similarly to older adults, the eFI identifies younger adults with frailty at high risk of mortality and emergency hospital admission. The eFI might be a tool to identify individuals for further assess...

The electronic frailty index (eFI) is used to identify older adults (≥65 years) who may be living with frailty. In our new study, we found that the eFI also identifies younger adults (18-64 years) at high risk of mortality and hospital admission:

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

#frailty #medsky

Public/ private medication trial achieves 'remarkable' results A partnership between an NHS Trust and a private social care provider which aimed to reduce medications for residents is set to be rolled out nationwide

Delighted & proud that our carehome meds opt team at East Lancs Hospitals have allowed Evelyn,a 101yo lady to achieve what matters to her. Hoping other carehome providers start to implement now. Empowering care staff.
www.carehomeprofessional.com/medication-n...
#FindyourEvelyn #SafeDeprescribing

MHRA approves UK’s first new type of antibiotic for urinary tract infections in nearly 30 years As with any medicine, the MHRA will keep the safety of gepotidacin under close review.

MHRA approves UK’s first new type of antibiotic for urinary tract infections in nearly 30 years

#Pharmsky #Medsky

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Ever wonder what percentage of hospital admissions are caused by medications? 💊

A systematic review published in the Age and Ageing Journal finds adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and adverse drug events (ADEs) are significant causes of hospitalization in older adults.

buff.ly/4Vuv4T2

As we age, changes in our bodies can affect drug exposure, leading to potentially increased risks of both medication toxicity and treatment failure. 💊

Great review article highlights major age-related physiological changes that can impact drug use:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Scotland’s Quiet Crisis: Why Clinical Research Needs Urgent Rescue — Universities Scotland

Open letter from the heads of Scotland’s medical schools on the threat to the clinical academic workforce.

“If we do not act, we risk weakening the very system that has delivered some of the most transformative advances in modern medicine”

www.universities-scotland.ac.uk/clinicalacad...

Non‐pharmacologicaL InterVEntions for Antipsychotic‐Induced Weight Gain (RESOLVE) in People Living With Severe Mental Illness: A Realist Synthesis Introduction Antipsychotic medications are used to treat individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) but are associated with rapid weight gain and several physical and mental risk factors. Early, p.....

Our realist review from #RESOLVE study funded by @nihr.bsky.social published today
@thementalelf.bsky.social @sapc.ac.uk @cmhpcommunity.pharmsky.app

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

BMA and other national medical organisations come together as a voice for doctors in Europe to call for immediate action in Gaza

Illustrative

A study highlighting sex differences in antihypertensive prescription patterns and efficacy in primary care reveals that women achieve better blood pressure control with lower doses and distinct drug types. This calls for sex-specific optimisation in hypertensive management
➡️doi.org/10.3399/BJGP...

Falling over finishing line in race.

Great day at the North Uist Highland Games today. Just about crossed the line in the Men’s 100m Flat Race for 2nd place!

Polypharmacy Guidance:
Appropriate Prescribing
Making medicines safe,
effective and sustainable
2025-2028
Scottish Government: Effective Prescribing & Therapeutics Division
Consultation on Draft Guidance
#Pharmsky #Medsky

www.gov.scot/publications...

Just ten days left to apply for this Research Fellow position, focused on pharmacoepidemiology and deprescribing.

More information about the DIAMOND programme available at: diamond-deprescribing.eu

Full job description here (deadline July 7th): my.corehr.com/pls/rcsirecr...

Hello 👋. We are the official BlueSky account of the Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity - part of Sage Journals @journals.sagepub.com

Medical journalology and questionable research practices The BJGP is the world’s leading journal in primary care and general practice. I’m happy to defend this assertion but the temptation is to reach for a metric to support the case. And of course, the obv...

The impact factors for 2024 are published today - *sigh* - so this is a good moment to send people to the editorial I wrote last month about them, the BJGP, and QRPs/journalology. #primarycare #BJGP

bjgp.org/content/75/7...

Britain on track to become a ‘National Health State’, says thinktank Resolution Foundation says half of all public spending will be allocated to the NHS and social care by the end of the decade

Please can we fund the NHS and care by taxing the housing wealth of the over 60s? At time of death, if you like. This is huge, unearned money, and going to drive damaging inequality at inheritance. Taxing workers and businesses is much worse for the economy.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...

YouTube video by Top Scotch Penicuik Pram Race 2025

Buzzing that our GP practice team won the prize for best overall costumes and decorared pram at the annual Penicuik pram race 2025 🐝

m.youtube.com/watch?v=AKFC...

Starting an antidepressant is associated with a 2-4-fold increased risk of postural hypotension in the first month in people aged ≥60 years doi.org/10.3399/BJGP... #PrimaryCare #Antidepressant #Hypotension #GeneralPractice #Research

UK’s 50 richest families hold more wealth than 50% of population, analysis finds Equality Trust says billionaires getting ‘ludicrously’ richer, with top two now wealthier than whole of 1990 rich list

"Our analysis also shows the vampiric nature of extreme wealth, which is completely incompatible with the health and wellbeing of the nation,” said Priya Sahni-Nicholas, co-executive director of the Equality Trust
Well said my cousin Priya
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ma...

How long does general practice take? "... to my surprise, I’ve become the sort of doctor that has been in the same clinic for 20 years. I’ve never been bored, I’ve often been anxious, and I’ve been privileged to witness some of

I've worked in the same clinic for 20 years now. I never thought I'd be in one place for so long. I had a few thoughts on being a GP for a long time in the @bjgp.bsky.social
bjgplife.com/how-long-doe...

Tackling medication errors: how a systems approach improves patient safety Objectives Medication errors are a leading source of preventable harm in healthcare, affecting approximately 1 in 30 patients, with a substantial proportion resulting in severe outcomes. In response, ...

doi.org/10.1136/ejhp... Super article - drug errors cause so much harm but this is an optimistic article identifying ways to help - systems, tech, support for fallible humans 👏👏👏👏

When your Royal College and the BMA says PAs should have have a nationally set, limited scope of practice and always be supervised by senior doctors, but GMC is fine with them working autonomously with locally defined scope - ask yourself who is protecting patients from harm?

Super useful reference including key AI definitions and an approach on how to read a paper including AI in its research. Reminder that “AI… is not a panacea, and it raises both practical and ethical challenges”.

doing archival research for a paper on processed foods and single-use plastics, and it is striking how companies like Coca-Cola have been able to delay meaningful environmental action by making the same voluntary commitments over and over

This is from 1999, but could literally be from last year

Da iawn, oeddwn i di gweld hwn yn y newyddion bore ma