After over a year of virtual, digital, and online events, it has never been more evident that facetime is a much-needed component for events. With this in mind, we are delighted to be hosting our audience of healthcare professionals in the latter half of this year at London, Newcastle, Birmingham, and Liverpool as our primary care brands return to face-to-face events.

Pulse LIVE, Nursing in Practice and Management in Practice are now open for registrations, and as usual can promise an exciting agenda of expert-headed sessions, interactive talks, a showcase of relevant products and services and the opportunity to meet the healthcare community once more.

Our face-to-face event line-up for 2021:

Pulse LIVE and Nursing in Practice:

• London – 30 September
• Liverpool – 5 October
• Birmingham – 11 November

Management in Practice:

• London – 14 September 2021
• Birmingham – 9 November 2021
• Newcastle – 30 November 2021

Pulse LIVE is the must-attend, free event for all practising, GMC-registered GPs and trainees. Put together by the team behind the award-winning Pulse and Pulse Learning, Pulse LIVE supports the education and development of grassroots GPs.

Nursing in Practice Events have toured the UK for 15 years, with a series of clinically-led conferences, welcoming over 40,000 primary care and community nurses.

Management in Practice Events feature a multi-stream agenda and supporting exhibition, giving Practice Managers, GP Partners, PCN and CCG staff, Primary care admin teams, and IT/HR/Support teams the chance to take a day away from practice to focus on their plans and strategy for 2021 and beyond.

In this issue of Hospital Pharmacy Europe, guest editorial Dr Tiene Bauters discusses how the pandemic has resulted in major changes in the delivery of scientific meetings and congresses, and how she envisages that a ‘hybrid approach’ enabling both virtual and physical attendance will best fulfil the intellectual and social needs of congress attendees in future. 

Stomas are not commonly understood by all healthcare professionals and can be mismanaged. In a gastroenterology focus, a team from St Mark’s Hospital, UK, discusses what stomas are, the different types, the consequences of living with a high output stoma and the pharmacological and dietary management of this condition.  

Emerging evidence suggests that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluvoxamine are effective in the treatment and prevention of acute and long COVID. An opinion piece in this issue discusses the real-world evidence and ongoing clinical trial programmes and argues that there is a need to evaluate available evidence for promising interventions and to adopt a rational, ethical approach to reducing deaths and the need for hospitalisations.  

We’re thrilled to announce that Cogora has been shortlisted six times at the prestigious British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) Talent Awards 2021.

Pulse is up for Best Scoop; Best Deputy Editor; Best Section Editor; Best Digital Writer (B2B); and Best Editorial Assistant.

Nicola Merrifield; Sofia Lind; Costanza Pearce and Ellie Philpotts were singled out in the respective categories.

Meanwhile, Cogora features twice for Best Scoop, with both Ellie Philpotts’ Pulse exclusive on the Covid vaccine DES being due to be announced as soon as the following month, and Rachel Carter’s splash for The Pharmacist on Amazon getting the green light to push ahead with UK pharmacy trademark, among the frontrunners.

The winners will be revealed in a virtual ceremony on 1 July.

The BSME is the only society in the UK exclusively for magazine and website editors and senior editorial staff, and have already granted Pulse a number of wins and shortlists over the years, including ‘Cover of the Year’ and ‘Best Section Editor/ Team.

The Pulse June cover feature was on NHS England’s order to GPs to ‘open up’ and provide face-to-face appointments for GPs, which has dominated the news agenda. Our survey of 800 GPs, taken in the days leading up to NHS England’s announcement, revealed that GPs didn’t feel ready to return to ‘business as usual’.

We have an analysis detailing how a Covid vaccine booster programme might look in the autumn, based on discussions with numerous experts.

In the clinical section, we have key questions on domiciliary oxygen, alongside a guide on treating ongoing cough in patients with Long Covid, and a refresher on supporting diabetes patients during the time of Covid.

The 2021 Pulse LIVE and Nursing in Practice digital events have now launched across the HCP Connect^TM platform. Taking place between now and mid-August, the events feature live days of webinars themed around specific clinical areas and delegates can watch all webinars on-demand in-between.

So far, over 1,600 GPs have attended the Pulse virtual event and over 700 Nurses have attended Nursing in Practice. This week’s Women’s Health and Paediatrics webinars for Pulse LIVE were particularly popular with abnormal bleeding providing our most watched webinar so far. Delegates have also been visiting virtual stands and downloading sponsored resources throughout. Feedback has been fantastic with 90% of delegates rating sessions as ‘excellent’.

The next live webinars take place on 27th May for Nursing in Practice, focused on Chronic Conditions, and 3rd June for Pulse LIVE, covering pain, elderly care and cancer.

As the UK begins to open up, we are looking to the Autumn when face to face events resume for all our Media brands. However if you are interested in digital or virtual opportunities or perhaps would like to investigate hybrid solutions, please do get in touch.

Pulse revealed almost 100 GP surgeries shut in 2020, causing an estimated 263,000 patients to relocate to a different practice as a result. The story on practice closures was picked up by the national press.

Pulse Deputy Editor Nicola Merrifield was interviewed about the practice closures on LBC, and the story was also picked up by the Telegraph, the ‘I’ newspaper and the Express.

The findings from our annual investigation, based on sending freedom of information requests to all CCGs and health boards across the UK, comes after years of high numbers of practice closures, up from just 18 shutting in 2013.

GPs told us the same problems causing closures remain – including retirements, not enough staff, high workloads and escalating premises costs – and that tackling the Covid-19 pandemic has been another pressure to add to the list.

One year on from the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent increased awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement, plus the effects of Covid on ethnic minority people, Pulse looks at systemic racism within general practice.

Pulse looks into how the outcomes for minority ethnic GPs are worse than their white colleagues, and ask why this is.

Our annual investigation into practice closures revealed that almost 100 practices closed in 2020, bringing the total to almost 800 over the past eight years, forcing an estimated 2.5 million patients to move surgeries.

With the issues around the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots, out top tips article will provide a useful guide to GPs on how they can help patients who may be concerned. 

Elsewhere in our clinical section, we address key questions on alcohol-related problems, breathlessness as a result of long Covid and we launch a new picture quiz series ‘Medical artihmetic’.

We also have a piece from a GP on spending 150 days in hospital with Covid, tips on supporting patients with learning disabilities, and Copperfield explains why life sucks.

We’re thrilled to announce two award nominations for the Pulse team at the PPA Awards.

Pulse Editor Jaimie Kaffash has been nominated for Editor of the Year, and News Editor Sofia Lind has been nominated for the Unsung Hero of the Year.

This comes after a fantastic year for Pulse with page views increasing by 265% year-on-year. Our coverage of Covid-19, and what has been a ‘hellish year for the profession’ was recognised by the British Society of Magazine Editor Awards earlier this year.

In its 41st year, the PPA Awards seeks to recognise, celebrate and elevate the achievements and progress made across the UK publishing and media industry.

Winners will be announced during a virtual awards ceremony on June 23 2021.

As schools went back after the UK’s third national lockdown, we looked at what effect the pandemic has had on children’s mental health on the front cover of the Spring edition of Nursing in Practice.

Nurses, particularly healthcare visitors and school nurses, have seen rising cases of mental health issues among young people who have struggled with being cut off from routine and social interaction with peers.

In the first six months of the pandemic last year there was a 27% rise in the number of children reported as killed or seriously harmed in England. The Children’s Society charity believes this is likely related to the pandemic as children were trapped in houses with their abusers.

Mental health issues for young people, such as eating disorders and suicidal thoughts, became worse and it was harder for them to access services, such as school nurses, who would normally help them.

The pandemic also seems to have increased the proportion of children with mental health issues. NHS Digital statistics show one in six children had a probable mental health condition in July 2020 compared to one in nine in 2017.   

However, we also reflected on the amazing work being done by healthcare professionals to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on young people.

School nurses have been doing ‘walk and talk’ sessions – talking outside to the young people while going for a walk – which enables them to see the young people face to face.

Whilst sometimes there are issues with technology, such as freezing when someone is talking about a sensitive issue, nurses have also used it to great effect. One even managed to stop a young person committing suicide through texting.  

We reported the Government allocated £79m of funding for children’s mental health in March. Although, charities have said this is not enough. The RCN trade union, charities and Nursing in Practice called for a school nurse in every school to avoid children suffering mental health issues into the future.

Although, this would likely require a massive recruitment drive as figures show there has been a 30% drop in the numbers of school nurses in England since 2010.

We are really happy to today launch Pulse PCN, the new hub containing information for primary care network clinical directors, the first of its kind.

It will contain news, views and analysis specifically for clinical directors – although will, of course, be free to any GP who is interested.

To kick off this new project, we have an in-depth analysis of the ‘mission creep’ that is taking place, with clinical directors finding themselves taking on more and more work than they originally expected. We also have the first of a regular column from Dr Nikki Kanani, the medical director of NHS England, discussing the inverse car law and the Covid vaccination programme. And we feature two letters from clinical directors on the new health bill, and musings on how Covid has affected the first couple of years of the PCN project.

In future weeks, we will be featuring Q&As with PCN leaders, a PCN Profile focusing on networks with unusual circumstances, more views, advice on hiring additional roles and other aspects of running a network, and lots more. Keep an eye out on the monthly (not completely 100% factual) bulletin from the Sackwell And Binthorpe PCSSIU in the coming weeks.

There will be a weekly newsletter, the first one of which will go out on Tuesday 8 April. If you wish to be added to the mailing list, contact our subscriptions team: [email protected].

There will also be a quarterly print supplement that will be sent automatically to PCN leaders with Pulse. Again, if you want to ensure you receive this, contact our subscriptions team: [email protected].

Pulse’s workload survey dominates the April issue. The survey of 1,400 GPs of a single day (1 March) reveals that GP workload is as high as ever, with almost half saying that their workload has implications for patient safety.

GPs also say that remote consultation – which has often been seen as a solution for GP workload – has brought about different pressures.

The Pulse clinical section answers key questions around breast problems, and we introduce a new series on Long Covid, with the first article focusing on breathing problems. We showcase our new Covid resource section, providing GPs with advice on precautions with the Covid vaccination, and we also provide a symptom sorter on diarrhoea.  

The CPD this month is on vaccinating hard-to-reach communities, or those that have a high level of vaccine hesitancy.

Elsewhere, we have updates on the vaccination programme as a whole, the future of the QOF and a new study on statins.

The Pharmacist’s initiative in asking community pharmacists about the clinical services they are running has reached a key milestone.

The team has now interviewed over 100 ‘Clinical Ambassadors’ – pharmacists and pharmacy teams who are championing clinical services by offering patients easier access to care such as ‘Fit to Fly’ Covid-19 testing, Covid vaccinations, weight loss programmes, sexual health advice, and chronic pain management.

We ask them about their experience of setting up new initiatives and what they’ve learned to pass on to others.

An exclusive Pulse story on how over 400,000 patients may have been given an inflated risk score under the new QCovid algorithm has been picked up by the Daily Mail and Telegraph.

Pulse learnt that where certain information is missing from a record held by NHS Digital or is recorded as unknown, default values are used by the algorithm – taking a ‘precautionary approach’ with regards to their Covid risk.

NHS Digital explained that this means that patients for whom no weight has been recorded are analysed as if they are obese (BMI 31), as this patient group are the most vulnerable to severe Covid illness. 

The story was picked up by the Daily Mail and Telegraph.

Is the end in sight? This month, Pulse looks at how we are going to exit this pandemic. In our cover feature, we speak to a number of eminent experts, to understand what could happen with the vaccination programme.

Pulse looks at most likely, best, worst and the Armageddon scenarios, and come to the conclusion that it is too early as yet to share the Prime Minister’s confidence that this will be over by June.

Elsewhere, we examine the issues with the low uptake of the Covid vaccines among black, Asian and minority ethnic patients, as well as the change to the structure of the NHS, and the new GP contract. Our CPD this month looks into how to identify and support victims of domestic abuse.

In the clinical section, we have the second part of our feature on HIV, as well as guides on using pulse oximetry and steroids cards.

Pulse won another prestigious award at the annual British Society of Magazine Editors event yesterday evening.

Pulse editor Jaimie Kaffash was given the editor of the year (trade and professional) award at the virtual ceremony yesterday.

The judges praised Pulse’s response the Covid pandemic, with a lot of new resources and news exclusives with a smaller team than before.

They said: ‘In a hellish year for the profession he serves, the winning editor gave his readers great support.’

Mr Kaffash said: ‘I see our role as serving and supporting our readership, who have been doing the real hard work. If we have helped them in any little, then that counts as success for me.

‘This was also an award for the team, who have performed beyond belief. To have produced the news and content they have, while working from home, and with a reduced team has shown something special.’

Pulse has had a number of awards in recent years, with the news team winning team of the year in four of the past five years at the BSME Talent awards, scoop of the year at the same awards in 2020, and Pulse winning editor of the year at the Medical Journalists Association awards in 2020.

Challenges with management of controlled drugs in a hospital pharmacy include time-intensive, mandatory record keeping processes and physical reconciliation of stock, often further compounded by inadequate storage facilities and capacity.

In this issue of Hospital Pharmacy Europe, a team at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust share how the implementation of an automated dispensing cabinet enhanced the efficiency of controlled drug workflow and dispensing between wards and pharmacy and how a training programme will be developed for junior staff who would not have previously undertaken controlled drug duties to build contingency and stability into the pharmacy workforce. 

A plan to eradicate SARS-CoV-2 in Belgium in six weeks using ivermectin was recently put forward by a Belgian virologist. As the number people testing positive grows and hospitals struggle to cope, an opinion piece in this issue discusses the approach and how it deserves serious consideration in other countries too. 

Heart transplantation is undoubtedly one of the most significant and life-changing medical interventions, covering a vast canvas of emotions in addition to its physical implications. Post-operative survival is at an all-time high but, despite this, optimal patient outcomes are not always achieved as the management of the recipients does not necessarily align with their needs. In this issue, Professor Anna Forsberg explores the patient experiences in the three years following heart transplant, based on two studies, and demonstrates how a change of management strategy towards aiding the patient in mastering uncertainty could pave the way to improving patient outcomes in the future. 

Pulse today launches its Covid-19 Primary Care Resources site, designed to free up GPs’ time during consultations.

With the vast numbers of guidance and documents designed to support GPs during the pandemic, many GPs have found it difficult to keep on top of the latest advice, especially during consultations. This new site sums up all the guidance, with links to the original source, and is designed to ensure GPs can access the advice they need during the consultation itself.

The site was designed by Dr Poppy Freeman, a practising GP in Camden, London, at the start of the pandemic and she is now working with Pulse to ensure GPs get the most up-to-date advice in an easy-to-use format. It has around 150 summaries and will be updated constantly, driven by GPs, who will be able to submit requests for further information.

We also have a group of specialists on hand who will be able to answer queries submitted by GPs.