Nottingham

A diverse range of people engaging, getting involved and taking part in primary healthcare research is important to ensure that research questions, methods and outcomes are relevant and applicable to our diverse population. However, there are many people who are underrepresented and underserved in research. Effective community engagement can address this, along with making inclusion a key condition for NIHR funding.

Traditionally in Afro-Caribbean society, young people visit elder members to learn practical life skills, such as sewing and cooking, parenting and to share experiences. This is known colloquially as visiting ‘Grandma’s House’. We will replicate this generation-to-generation support model to pilot a culturally suitable approach to engaging the public with health, stimulating dialogue and building trust. Grandma’s House, video, including an introduction from its originator Monica Tucker is available (https://youtu.be/Fxhedzl84vg)

We will work with community members in the Beechdale estate of Nottingham City which is diverse and in the most deprived decile nationally. Together, we will highlight, celebrate and apply the community’s shared cultural heritage to strengthening community cohesion, creating educational opportunities, tackling taboos and building stronger relationships between community members, primary healthcare researchers and primary health and social care services.

We will launch and run Grandma’s House events, tying in with national days of celebration such as National Windrush Day (22 June) as mini proof-of-concept activities. We will record these events through informal group activities, analyse the information gathered and build the outcomes into a grant application. The intern will contribute to event delivery, information gathering and analysis.

This 4-week internship provides undergraduate students with a holistic experience in primary care education. Hosted by the University’s Primary Care Education Unit, the aim is to develop students’ understanding of medical education, teaching methodologies, and quality improvement in healthcare education.
Throughout the internship, students will shadow faculty members, observing how primary care teaching is delivered to medical students. They will gain insight into curriculum design and innovative teaching methods. Additionally, students will actively participate in delivering educational sessions, allowing them to develop their own teaching skills under supervision.

A key component is involvement in a Quality Improvement (QI) exercise, where students will assess an aspect of the education unit’s teaching practices or resources. Working collaboratively, they will identify areas for improvement, gather feedback, and propose practical recommendations, enhancing their skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork.

By the end of the internship, students will have a deeper appreciation of primary care education, an improved ability to engage in medical teaching, and hands-on experience in quality improvement. This program is ideal for those interested in medical education, academic careers, or leadership roles in healthcare.

People are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the prime of their working years. However, they often leave the workforce prematurely due to MS symptoms and difficulties managing workplace relationships and performance. Vocational rehabilitation interventions have the potential to improve work outcomes for people with MS, but the evidence is inconclusive to date.

This project involves a multicentre, feasibility, parallel-group randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing a MS vocational rehabilitation (MSVR) intervention plus usual care (n=30) with usual care alone (n=30). This study includes an embedded mixed methods process evaluation. People with MS, aged 18-65 years, in paid employment will be recruited from MS charities.

Participants with MS will be able to include their employers in the intervention to receive information about MS and employment. MSVR involves an initial interview and up to 10 hours of employment support for people with MS and up to four hours of support for employers, over six months. Employees from MS charities will be recruited and trained to deliver the MSVR intervention.

This internship will provide an opportunity to be involved in activities related to the feasibility trial such as screening and recruitment of participants, support with training MS charity staff during the trial, data collection (e.g., administering questionnaires, data analysis, fidelity assessment), and meetings with patient and public involvement partners.

Fentanyl is an opioid analgesic that is approximately 100 to 150 times more potent than oral morphine. It is prescribed for stable persistent (long-term) cancer and non-cancer pains There have been increasing concerns regarding harms associated the prescribing of opioid medicines, including risks of falls and fractures, endocrine and immune effects, dependence and addiction, and overdose. The supply of fentanyl is controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Regulations with strict prescribing requirements and supply records.

The Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Group (CPPSG) have identified potential over-supply issues of fentanyl products through reports from pharmacists on the ground and also wider issues, such as accidental overdoses when multiple patches are used inappropriately, reported through “Prevention of Future Deaths” (Regulation 28) notices .As an initial step, the CPPSG produced a helpful video resource to support community pharmacists (https://pharmacysafety.org/focus-on-fentanyl-video-resource/).

Through a collaboration with CPPSG, project candidates will analyse data of fentanyl medicines supplied from over 100 pharmacies over a minimum of 12 months to describe the usage of fentanyl (compared to prescribing data where the prescription may or may not have been collected) and assess whether supplies match the prescribers' written instructions. It is hoped that this work will go on to inform policy and guideline development to help prescribers and dispensers identify potentially inappropriate prescribing and supply of fentanyl containing medicines.