BUPA Foundation funds five groundbreaking researchprojects

 

14 November 2001

 

Today the BUPA Foundation has announced the five winnersof its prestigious annual awards. The awards recognise excellence in five areas- Health at Work, Epidemiology, Research, Communication and ClinicalExcellence.

 

The awards-winning projects include one in Lambeth, SouthLondon, that is seeking to improve services for stroke patients byunderstanding why stroke is more common in some ethnic populations. Anotheraward-winning project is a multi-agency, co-operative service for developed forpatients in Glasgow. The service is improving the quality of patients' carewhile alleviating pressure on hospital beds in the area.

 

The BUPA Foundation exists to provide finance towards theprevention, relief and cure of sickness and ill health. It has awarded grantsof over 8million for medical research and healthcare initiatives, which willbring long term benefits to patients. Through its grants programme theFoundation concentrates on supporting surgical projects; preventative epidemiologicaland health maintenance projects and health information and communicationprojects.

 

Says chairman of the BUPA Foundation, Professor SirMichael Peckham, "The BUPA Foundation Awards are one way in which theFoundation helps to prevent sickness and ill health. This year the Foundationextended its work by committing an additional 500,000 to fund researchdesigned to improve clinical outcomes."

 

The winners of the BUPA Foundation Awards 2001 are:

 

Clinical Excellence Award

 

An interdisciplinary discharge system developed forpatients in Glasgow has won the BUPA Foundation Award for Clinical Excellence.The Throughcare Services developed within the North Glasgow UniversityHospitals Trust, is improving the quality of patients' care while alleviatingpressure on hospital beds in the area. The team has treated approximately 3,500mostly older patients since it began as a result of winter pressures fundingnearly three years ago.

 

The system is designed to help patients who have been inhospital, but have not yet recovered and cannot manage on their own at home;and those who are not ill enough to be admitted to hospital but are in need ofhealth and social care.

 

It therefore provides an alternative to coming intohospital for some patients and supports patients returning home from hospitalby:

        co-ordinating care in the home for patients who need it;

        ensuring they are visited in their homes by a health careteam a day after leaving hospital and on an ongoing basis; and

        implementing an appropriate package of rehabilitation ifit is needed.

 

Medical director of BUPA, Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen, says,"This is an innovative model of integrated care that involves nurses,therapists, primary and social care. BUPA believes an approach like this, thatbenefits both patients and the health service, should be adopted morewidely."

 

Epidemiology Award

 

Four members of the Stroke Medicine team at King'sCollege, London, have won the BUPA Foundation's Epidemiology Award, for theirresearch into the impact of stroke in a multi-ethnic, deprived inner-city area.

 

As the third most common cause of death and the mostcommon cause of adult disability in the western world, the chronic disease ofstroke is a major burden on healthcare provision. In January 1995, Dr Patel andhis team set up the South London Stroke Register (SLSR), a community-basedregister of first-ever strokes in a multi-ethnic, deprived inner city with apopulation of 235,000.

 

The aim was to conduct a programme of analyses to improveknowledge of the impact of stroke on the patient, population and healthservice. The information that the register provides will enable local servicesto be better planned to meet the needs of the population. By identifying themain causes of strokes and the different ways it effects ethnic groups, it ishoped that improved intervention will result in improved outcomes for patients.

Communication Award

 

The teenage health website, www.teenagehealthfreak.com, thatprovides 'straight talking' health information for teenagers, in anentertaining and unpatronising way, has won the BUPA Foundation CommunicationAward. The aim of the award is to encourage the improvement of effectivecommunication between the medical profession and patients.

 

Dr Ann McPherson, a General Practitioner and a Fellow ofGreen College, Oxford and Dr Aidan Macfarlane, a Consultant in public health,are the brains behind the website, which has received 4.5 million hits in thelast 18 months and answered 8,500 teenage health questions.

 

The site was developed over two years and launched in June2000, following the success of Dr Macfarlane's and Dr McPherson's books, 'TheNew Diary of a Teenage Health Freak' and 'The Diary of the Other Health Freak'.

 

Research Award

 

A research project by the Cardiology Department of theUniversity of Edinburgh, that helps scientists understand the why heart attacksoccur, has won the BUPA Foundation Award for Research. The five-year researchprogramme may be the first step to treating heart attacks the natural way.

 

Heart disease and heart attacks continue to be one of thebiggest health risks in the first world. In the UK, someone has a heart attackevery two minutes; and heart and circulatory disease is the biggest killer, responsiblefor nearly half of all deaths, according to the British Heart Foundation.

 

The research programme used special miniature probes toexamine the heart arteries in great detail. A heart attack occurs when a clotforms in the artery of the heart thereby cutting off its blood supply. Tocombat this problem, the body has developed a natural defence system that iscontrolled by a group of specialised cells lining the artery wall. These cellshave the ability to dissolve clots and to restore blood flow to the heart.However, these protective mechanisms do not always work well and scientists donot yet understand why this is.

 

Scientists used computer technology to reconstruct theheart arteries into three dimensions allowing precise characterisation of theartery and any associated coronary artery disease. Using natural hormones, theystimulated the arteries to see how they responded and how well they were ableto dissolve blood clots. It is hoped this approach could help scientistsunderstand how potential new treatments could be developed and how heartdisease could be prevented.

Health at Work Award

 

Jenny Firth-Cozens, Professor of Clinical Psychology atthe University of Northumbria at Newcastle, has won this year's BUPA FoundationAward for Health at Work for her extensive research into the causes ofdepression and its effects. Findings from the research point the way to bettermanagement of sickness absence in the workplace in a climate where stress anddepression currently account for the most significant cost to the UK economy interms of absence, early retirement, poor performance and litigation.

 

Jenny Firth-Cozens conducted the research over a period ofnearly 20 years into depression in a group of more than 300 doctors, fromstudents to fully qualified status. Her studies explored the balance betweenindividual and workplace factors which may bring out depression in particularjobs. The findings have produced a new depth of knowledge of the problem andprovide strong evidence for designing, implementing and evaluating realimprovements in the workplace.

 

The work suggests tangible ways the incidents ofdepression can be reduced both in the medical profession and in the widerworkplace. The benefits of this ongoing research means that new ways of trainingand support can be developed that can make an impact in the productivity andthe morale of the profession.