Department of Public Health and Primary Care

📢 Save the Date!

The Primary Care Unit, University of Cambridge, will host the Society for Academic Primary Care South East 2026 Conference, on 29-30 January at Madingley Hall, Cambridge.

Visit our website for more info: www.phpc.cam.ac.uk/sapc-se-2026

#PCU #SAPCSE2026 @pcucambridge.bsky.social

Today we hosted the London International Youth Science Forum!
They met researchers from @dphpc.bsky.social &
The Early Cancer Institute, heard talks (Dr Will Watson, cardiology clinical lecturer, pictured) & had tours of the Clinical Research Facility @cambridgebiocampus.bsky.social @cuh.nhs.uk

"Three cheers for the Master and Chancellor!"

Cambridge University's new Chancellor, Lord Smith, received a round of applause and warm congratulations at graduations at Senate House today.

Find out more about Lord Smith and the role of Chancellor 👇
bit.ly/45l2elq

Text on a blue background reads: Webinar: Timely access to end-of-life medications - tackling a painful problem. Speakers including Professor Sarah Yardley, senior research fellow Sally-Anne Francis, Dr Rosanna Fennessy and Dr Ikumi Okamoto will be exploring this pressing issue at the next webinar from the NIHR ARC Palliative and End of Life Care National Leadership. Microsoft Teams webinar. Tues 16th Sept, 11am-12pm. There is an image of pills coming out of a bottle

Register for our webinar on Tuesday 16 Sept, 11am-12pm, where will be discussing the pressing issue of timely access to end-of-life medication 👇

events.teams.microsoft.com/event/1dfcdf...

Lord Chris Smith has been elected as the new Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

Lord Smith said “To be elected as Chancellor of the University I love is a huge honour. I’m thrilled."

Read more about Lord Smith and the Chancellor election 👉 www.cam.ac.uk/about-the-un...

The new maternity task force and the investigation will be co-produced with families, says Wes Streeting in response to a question from @shaunlintern.bsky.social see our BMJ piece here www.bmj.com/content/390/... #insighttoimpactmatneo

Do you have an autoimmune disease?

Help researchers at University of Cambridge understand what triggers or prevents your flares with our anonymous survey to improve care:

bit.ly/4kOQeyg

The survey will close on Friday 18 July 2025!

The concept of personalised health is at the centre of a renewed NHS and its 10 Year Health Plan says Prof Mike Inouye (thank you @mikeinouye.bsky.social)as we put 'Making personalised health work for population health' in the spotlight.

Read it here: lnkd.in/eRDY5q2j
#personalisedhealth

Close up of a newborn baby in an incubator

Maternity care hasn't been short of inquiries, reviews or recommendations, so the announcement of a new investigation may raise questions and eyebrows. In this BMJ editorial, janekohara.bsky.social, instagraham.bsky.social & marydixonwoods.bsky.social discuss the need for change ths.im/4lPL1WS

📢New study alert 📢

Could “rescue packs” (antibiotics + steroids) help prevent hospital readmissions?

Read the paper: ths.im/4lCgCev
THIS Summary: ths.im/3TU7GFj

@thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk #COPD #PHPC #THISINSTITUTE #RESEARCH

Look out for people who might struggle to stay cool. Older people, people with long-term health conditions and young children may need help keeping cool

With an Amber Heat-Health alert declared for 6 regions of England - and several others seeing yellow alerts - it's worth watching out for those who might find it difficult to cope with high temperatures. ☀️ 🌡️

Find out the latest here: www.gov.uk/government/n...

At the heart of life-changing science The Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Heart & Lung Research Institute is a thriving community of scientists and clinicians, the largest concentration of its kind in Europe, focused on tackling the world's bigge...

Today, @vpd-hlri.bsky.social is three years old!

@royalpapworth.bsky.social @cuh.nhs.uk @cuhpartners.bsky.social @thebhf.bsky.social @cambridgebrc.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk

www.cam.ac.uk/stories/hear...

Ageing well in the community - how can we make it happen? Our keynote speaker, Dr Louise Lafortune, is a Principal Research Associate at Cambridge Public Health and leads its Lifecourse and Ageing research. Across the world, cities and communities aim to become ‘age-friendly’. This means they are trying to become places that help older people stay well and active, and enjoy fulfilling lives. Dr Lafortune will outline how research and older adults actively help shape the places we live to foster healthy ageing.

How can we help shape the places we live to foster healthy aging?
Watch Dr Louise Lafortune, Principal Research Associate at Cambridge Public Health @cam.ac.uk talk about aging well in the community.
@cuh.nhs.uk @cph.bsky.social @nihr.bsky.social @dphpc.bsky.social

bit.ly/46sv4RM

Blue screen with NHS logo

We welcome publication of the new 10-year health plan. We're here to build evidence in line with the plan through projects like:
• Evaluating ambient voice technology and launching a new online community
• Supporting design and planning of large-scale change programmes
Find out more: ths.im/4laMCq3

Doctor Informed: Why is it so hard to speak out about patient safety? In the previous episodes of Doctor Informed, we’ve heard why it’s so important to talk about patient safety concerns, and some of the mechanisms that allow hospital staff to raise them, but knowing…

What is a ‘voiceable concern’? And why is speaking up about patient safety often so hard? In this episode of @bmj.com’s podcast, Doctor Informed, ‪@marydixonwoods.bsky.social and Zoe Fritz dive into the issues.‬‬

From research to reality Success in establishing wider transformation efforts as part of the 10-Year Health Plan depends on delivering a research-and-innovation-powered NHS. The report discusses how to achieve this.

With the NHS 10-Year launched today, new RAND Europe research supported by @wellcometrust.bsky.social highlights research & innovation as essential factors enabling NHS transformation, from better care to workforce & economic resilience.

Read the report: www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

🚨 Our new study of 147,979 pregnancies 🤰🏻 across 9 Chinese provinces finds that combined PM₂.₅ and ozone exposure increases low birth weight risk - with critical exposure windows from preconception to the second trimester.

📄 Led by Haitong Zhe Sun, read full:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Link https://bit.ly/4esBUZL for learning more about the AI tool for early mental health support for children and young people

👉 Our colleagues @cam.ac.uk are building an AI tool to help identify early signs of anxiety & depression in children/young people and need YOUR HELP!
👉 Are you a young person (16-24y) with lived experience of mental health difficulties OR a parent/guardian supporting?
👉 They want to hear from you!

A diagram of clinicians’ considerations around offering rescue packs to patients discharged following COPD exacerbation There are three nested ovals depicting different levels of considerations, with text inside. The largest oval has the heading “Macro-level considerations” and includes three text boxes: antibiotic stewardship; preventing hospital admissions; and pressures in the NHS. The middle oval has the heading “Meso-level considerations” and includes three text boxes: following national guidance and audit requirements; hospital clinicians’ access to patients’ primary care records; and local access to primary care. The smallest oval has the heading “Micro-level considerations” and includes two text-boxes: patient’s self-management skills and empowering patients.

Screenshot of the paper's pdf. Title: Respiratory Clinicians’ Views on Offering “Rescue Packs” to Patients Discharged After COPD Exacerbation: Qualitative Interview Study Authors: Karolina Kuberska, Graham Martin, John R. Hurst, Mona Bafadhel Abstract “Rescue packs” for COPD exacerbations, consisting of a course of antibiotics and steroids, have become part of self-management strategies for many patients living with COPD. Currently, in the UK, rescue packs are guideline-recommended but not routinely offered on hospital discharge. They are, however, commonly prescribed by primary care teams. This study examined hospital-based respiratory clinicians’ views on offering patients rescue packs following hospitalisation for COPD exacerbations. We conducted 24 individual and joint semi-structured interviews via telephone or videocall with 30 clinicians (respiratory consultants, respiratory registrars and specialist nurses) in 20 UK hospitals to understand variation in practice around, and views on, offering rescue packs to discharged COPD patients. Interview data were analysed using the constant comparative method. Clinicians’ views on offering rescue packs were a mixture of concerns and recognition of potential benefits. Concerns included antimicrobial resistance, individual overuse of antibiotics, and potential side effects of steroids, especially in patients with poorer understanding of their own condition, with lower self-management skills, or who found it difficult to access primary care. Recognised benefits included the potential to prevent future exacerbations, empowering patients by supporting COPD self-management, and circumventing the difficulties of securing an urgent primary care appointment. There was a consensus that supporting patients in self-management of COPD was key to effective care. Given the increasing role of self-management for patients living with COPD, it is vital to ensure that patients are able to appropriately use rescue packs.

📢New publication📢

Respiratory Clinicians’ Views on Offering “Rescue Packs” to Patients Discharged After COPD Exacerbation: Qualitative Interview Study
doi.org/10.1080/1541...

@instagraham.bsky.social @profhurst.bsky.social @monabafadhel.bsky.social

🎉Congratulations to Ben Bowers on his new appointment to Assistant Professor of Primary Care within the Primary Care Unit!
@drbenbowers.bsky.social @pcucambridge.bsky.social
#PCU

Summer has arrived and we are bringing together our community to watch Wimbledon and 18 free films on a big screen at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus between 30th June and 14th July.

Completely free and open to everyone, find out more: cambridge-biomedical.com/event/big-sc...

👂We want to hear about your experience with flares in your rheumatology conditions.

📑Help the Primary Care Unit shape future care by completing their anonymous survey: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

@pcucambridge.bsky.social #rheumatology #research #PrimaryCare #PCU #DPHPC

Millions of people worldwide 🌍 are chronically exposed to environmental arsenic.

In this new📄, we explore whether associations between environmental arsenic & risk of adverse cardiometabolic 🫀 outcomes change in the presence of common genetic 🧬 variations. ⬇️

www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Picture of 2 awards next to a pot of flowers on a garden table.

🎉🎉Congratulations to the Department of Public Health and Primary Care Green Impact team on receiving their 6th Platinum Green Impact award and first Excellence award at the University of Cambridge Sustainability Showcase.
#GreenImpact #Sustainability

What’s been tried: A curated catalogue of efforts to improve access to general practice Carol Sinnott, Evleen Price, Akbar Ansari, Rebecca Fisher, Jake Beech, Hugh Alderwick and Mary Dixon-Woods. BJGP Open 9 January 2025; BJGPO.2024.0184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0184

Although there are record numbers of appointments, patient satisfaction with access to NHS general practice is decreasing. We reviewed & sorted 449 sources into a themed, curated catalogue of interventions to help guide improvement. THIS summary: ths.im/44njDJG Full paper: ths.im/4lgXkew

Big ideas. Global thinkers. Real reform.

Registration is open for the 6th International Health Care Reform Thought Leaders Meeting! Join and discuss the future of reform in health care.

Taking place 18–19 Sept | Møller Institute, Cambridge UK

www.eventbrite.com.au/e/6th-intern...

#GlobalHealth

Women in the foreground with two people in the background waiting in a waiting room

Despite 40-plus years of interventions, patient satisfaction with access to NHS general practice continues to drop. We reviewed and sorted 449 previous attempts at improving access into a catalogue for policymakers, researchers, and clinicians. THIS summary: ths.im/44njDJG Full paper: ths.im/4lgXkew

Join the Early Cancer Institute and @dphpc.bsky.social for a seminar with Prof Martin Widschwendter on innovative epigenetic approaches for primary and secondary prevention of women's cancers.

📅 23 June, 3-4pm
Find out more & register: zurl.co/FDqaZ @cambridge-scm.bsky.social

Community nurse working in Northern Ireland? Please could you help with our short survey study (10 mins) exploring community nurses' end of life care work. Help us to influence policy and recognise nurses considerable contributions:

Please share! Survey:
cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

The Edison Histotripsy System. A text overlay below the image reads: "New research: Cambridge to offer cutting-edge ultrasound treatment for NHS cancer patients in UK first".

Cambridge NHS cancer patients will be the first in the UK to receive treatment using cutting-edge ultrasound technology.

@cuh.nhs.uk has acquired a HistoSonics system – thanks to a generous donation from the Li Ka Shing Foundation.

Find out more 👇
bit.ly/45hDF9C

#ChangingTheStoryOfCancer