City Hospital (formerly Dudley Road Hospital, and still commonly referred to as such) is a major hospital located in Birmingham, England, operated by the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. It provides an extensive range of general and specialist hospital services. It is located in the Winson Green area of the west of the city.It is slated to be replaced by the delayed Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, with the Treatment Centre and separate eye hospital, the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre, remaining on the Dudley Road campus, the rest of which will be redeveloped for housing.
A 31-year-old woman presented to dermatology with a 2-year history of intermittent tense bullae on her face, trunk and arms. Laboratory investigations were in keeping with bullous lupus erythematosus.
INTRODUCTION:The proportion of women entering UK medical schools has increased rapidly, with women now making up 60% of students. The changing gender composition of the medical workforce brings to the forefront the National Health Service's (NHS) need to adapt to help women thrive in the workplace. METHODS:Our Women's Clinical Network organised a free Trust-based half-day event called 'Navigating the NHS and Having a Family', open to all doctors of any gender, grade and specialty, with presentations on topics including NHS family leave entitlements and less than full-time training. Pre-event and post-event surveys collected qualitative and quantitative data. RESULTS:Pre-event, we identified a lack of knowledge regarding family leave entitlements and processes. A quarter of attendees felt it possible to have a great career and a family, pre-event. This rose to over three-quarters, post-event. We also demonstrated improved knowledge on how to navigate the NHS and have a family post-event. DISCUSSION:Changes need to be made to ensure clinicians make informed decisions when planning a family. Our half-day information session highlighted one relatively simple way in which this can be addressed. Integrating events such as ours will help disseminate information effectively and with lasting impact.
AIMS:To evaluate the association between prior diabetes-related hospital admissions and diabetes distress and determine whether structured diabetes education modifies this relationship. MATERIALS AND METHODS:We analysed 14 460 adults from the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD) National FreeStyle Libre Audit. High diabetes distress was defined using the two-item Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS-2; mean score ≥ 3). Diabetes-related hospital admissions during the preceding 12 months were categorised as none, single or recurrent (≥ 2). Multivariable logistic regression examined associations between admissions and distress after adjustment for demographic and clinical factors. Interaction between admissions and structured education was assessed using likelihood ratio testing. RESULTS:Participants had a mean age of 42.3 ± 18.1 years, 47.7% were female and most had type 1 diabetes. High diabetes distress was present in 51.5% of participants. In the complete-case cohort (n = 8017), recurrent diabetes-related admissions were independently associated with high diabetes distress (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.94, 95% CI 1.48-2.57), whereas single admissions were not. Recurrent non-diabetes admissions were not independently associated with distress. Significant interaction was observed between admissions and structured education (p < 0.001). Among individuals with recurrent admissions, distress prevalence was lower among those reporting structured education (64.1% vs. 80.4%). Hypoglycaemia-related and other diabetes-related admissions were independently associated with distress. CONCLUSIONS:Recurrent diabetes-related hospital admissions are strongly associated with diabetes distress, with the independent association driven by recurrent rather than isolated events. Lower distress among individuals reporting structured education supports further evaluation of integrated psychosocial and educational approaches following acute diabetes-related hospital admission.
