Newsletter - 48th Edition - April 2021
NOW WITH UPDATED LINKS
Welcome to the 48th Edition of the NELA newsletter! We know it's been a while since we've been in touch, but are pleased to announce several updates on how NELA has been progressing over the past few months. Thanks as ever to all of our local teams for continuing to engage with, and support, NELA during these difficult times.
NELA Interim Report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Emergency Laparotomy in England and Wales
We are pleased to announce the publication of an interim report on the impact that the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had on emergency laparotomies between March - September 2020. Key findings indicate:
• A 20% overall reduction in the number of patients who had emergency bowel surgery compared to the same period the previous year.
• 30-day inpatient mortality for COVID-19 patients was 26% higher than expected, however mortality in non-COVID patients was lower than expected.
• Standards of care for patients needing emergency bowel surgery appear to have been maintained during this period.
The full report can be found here: www.nela.org.uk/COVID-19-Report#pt
Year 7 Annual Report
Data collection for Year 7 (December 2019 - November 2020) closed on 31st January 2021. The NELA team are working on the analysis now and expect to publish the findings from Year 7 in the autumn 2021. We thank all of our local teams who helped contribute data to this report despite ever-changing challenges due to the pandemic.
Year 8 Data Collection
Data collection for Year 8 (December 2020 - November 2021) began 1st December 2020 and is currently ongoing. Changes to the proforma for Year 8 can be found here: http://data.nela.org.uk/Support/YEAR-8-NELA-Patient-Audit-Questions-Proforma-Activ.aspx.
Quarterly Reports
NELA have continued to produce quarterly reports for participating sites, which provide insight into how your site is performing against key NELA standards. The 2020 Q3 reports were published 23 March 2021. You can find the reports here.
Upcoming NELA Events
• 19th April 2021: Moving on from COVID19: What next for Emergency Laparotomy? (online webinar). Join us for an interactive webinar to discuss the impact of COVID19 on emergency laparotomy patients and how we can build on what we have learnt over the last year to think differently about what makes high quality care for this high risk group of patients. Click here to learn more and register.
• 18-20th May 2021: Anaesthesia 2021
External Survey Requests
The following external research projects are looking for survey respondents. If you'd like to take part, please review and feel free to contribute:
• Do you look after patients with acute mesenteric ischemia in theatre or critical care?
We are conducting a survey and Delphi process about vasoactive agent (e.g. noradrenaline, vasopressin) use in patients with acute mesenteric ischemia. The aim of the survey is to establish variations in management of acute mesenteric ischemia in critical care and theatres, specifically in regard to the use of vasoactive agents (e.g. noradrenaline, vasopressin). We will use the process to assess feasibility for a multicentre trial, and we are specifically looking for feedback from clinicians in general surgery, critical care and anaesthesia. The team conducting this project is based in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and members include Patrice Forget (Anaesthetics), Callum Kaye (Anaesthetics & ICU), George Ramsay (General Surgery) and Eimear McClenaghan (Trainee). Additional information and the survey itself can be found here.
Updates to the National Patient Opt-Out
That national data opt-out was introduced on 25th May 2018 enabling patients to opt out from the use of their data for research purposes. The deadline for trusts to comply has been extended to 30th September 2021. More details about how this will be implemented within NELA can be found here.
New NELA Staff
NELA are pleased to welcome the following new staff to our team:
• Lyndsay Pearce: NELA Surgical and Research Lead
• Iain Anderson: NELA Project Board Chair
• Christine Taylor: RCoA and NELA Research Manager
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If you have any questions or would like to contact the Project Team email - info@nela.org.uk
