Sexual history taking in primary care

STIs still carry a degree of stigma in society and to enable a patient to feel free to disclose information to the health professional they need to be confident that their privacy will be respected....

Understanding the use of pulse oximetry in COVID-19 disease

The fundamental principle in pulse oximetry is that when light is shone through a substance, some of that light is absorbed as it passes through the substance and the light that is not absorbed can be...

Evidence-based strategies to promote vaccine acceptance

The range of psychological, physical and contextual barriers to vaccination uptake are set out in a previous paper (While, 2021).

Is health coaching the next panacea in healthcare reform?

According to the WHO (2020), causes of death can be grouped into three categories: communicable, noncommunicable and injury, with non-communicable disease accounting for 74% of deaths globally in 2019...

Spirometry going forward – should we restart?

As the diagnostic element of the hub is currently only myself undertaking testing, the risk assessment that is recommended has been based on my personal safety and that of my patients. It also...

Violence in primary care: a growing problem?

Professor Gautam Gulati is a consultant forensic psychiatrist and Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Limerick. ‘The following violent scenario,’ Prof Gulati told Practice...

Improving health outcomes for people with learning disabilities

A project led by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust aimed to address this by increasing the number of annual health checks carried out with people with a learning disability over 12 weeks. The...

A wish list for the new health secretary

‘Practice Nursing provides nurses working in general practice with the tools to reach their full potential and deliver the best possible care to their patients. Our monthly journal informs and...

News Focus

The NHS will offer a range of tests including blood pressure, heart rhythm and cholesterol checks when people have their COVID-19 booster or flu jabs at vaccination centres this autumn..

Supporting people to self-manage their allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis symptoms that are not controlled lead to adverse effects that significantly impact quality of life; these include headache, sore throat, hearing problems, sleep disturbance, poor...

Improving outcomes for older people with diabetes

There are increasing numbers of people with diabetes over the age of 65 years. This is principally driven by the rise in prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) that correlates with greater rates of...

Understanding primary prevention of cardiovascular disease

The NHS Health Check programme was designed to identify people with risk factors for CVD and ensure that they had access to the support and medication they might need to reduce that risk (Waterall,...

Understanding vaccine hesitancy: the evidence

The WHO commissioned a systematic review due to concern related to influenza vaccine hesitancy across the globe, which was particularly evident during the 2009–2010 H1N1 pandemic (WHO, 2016). The...

Make your voice heard on standards of specialist practice

What the practice nurse needs to know about Lyme disease

Infected ticks can be found all over the UK and are found in woodland, heathland and parkland, but have also been found in urban parks and gardens. You can be bitten and infected at any time of the...