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ERO's bite-sized clinical guides aim to help clinicians to quickly find helpful, trusted clinical algorithms and support without needing to spend time clicking through links and searching through papers.
The need for these resources was identified in research led by Ashley Hawarden, Versus Arthritis Clinical Research Fellow at Keele University and Honorary Rheumatology Registrar at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. Through his PhD research, Ashley examined current practice in identifying, investigating and managing osteoporosis in primary care - an area of importance highlighted by public contributors.
A national electronic survey of and interviews with primary care practitioners from across the UK highlighted the broad scope of practice and the immense time-pressures faced by general practice teams. Ashley explained: "General Practice teams need to access important information efficiently and do not have time to review dense clinical guidance during consultations. These findings have led to the formation of the ‘bitesize clinical guidelines’ section of ERO."
ERO will house ‘snippets’ of relevant clinical guidelines and research evidence such that it is easily accessible. The content will be guided by findings from the national survey and interviews as well as other evidence from the Keele Osteoporosis Research Group.
Ashley continued: "In the survey for example, primary care practitioners described a lack of confidence in ‘treatment breaks’ following treatment with oral bisphosphonates. To find this information in National Osteoporosis Guideline Group (NOGG) guidance primary care practitioners would be required to scroll through 35 pages which is unlikely practical during a clinical consultation. Therefore, we have extracted an easy-access flow diagram such that it is available in ‘one-click’ in the hope that it will aid decision making during primary care consultations."
The bite-sized clinical guides can be found here [weblink]. The PhD has been funded by Versus Arthritis and is being supervised by Professor Zoe Paskins, Professor Clare Jinks and Professor Jo Protheroe at Keele University.
