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Aims: There is no comprehensive data collection outlining the numbers and types of interventional radiology (IR) procedures in the United Kingdom. Similarly, limited data are available on the IR facilities and workforce within the National Health Services (NHS) trusts. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the number/type of IR procedures, facilities, and workforces across England and Wales., Materials and Methods: This retrospective study used the 2000 Freedom of Information Act to obtain information regarding the IR procedures performed in NHS trusts in England and Wales from 2017 to 2021. We collected additional information on IR workforce and facilities, including the number of IR consultants, nurses, trainees, and angiographic suites and day case units; analysed procedures by complexity; and performed data analysis by region., Results: A total of 1,340,352 IR procedures were analysed. An increasing trend was observed in the number of IR procedures from 2017 to 2021 (p=0.07, R=0.93). There were more intermediate and complex procedures than simple ones (p=0.0001). Notable geographical variation was observed in terms of IR facilities including angiographic suites and day case units, and the number of IR consultants, nurses, and trainees., Conclusions: The IR field continues to grow as evidenced by increasing trends in the number and complexity of the procedures over the years. There is an uneven IR workforce, services, and facilities distribution across England and Wales. Therefore, there is a crucial need for centralised data collection to evaluate and monitor interventions besides comprehensive revision of UK IR service provision., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Effective medical staffing is pivotal for a successful healthcare system, demanding strategic planning to ensure a high-quality service. Although the UK's doctor to population ratio has improved over time, it remains below global averages. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges, resulting in an unprecedented NHS waiting list with Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) surgeries ranking third highest in waiting times amongst all specialties., Methods: This study utilized a national jotform survey to gather data from ENTUK members, primarily focusing on consultant staffing within ENT departments across the UK. Additional information collected encompassed registration status, part-time roles, gender, vacancies, locum roles, associate specialists, registrars and other junior doctors, and advanced nurse practitioners. When survey responses were inadequate, direct communication was established with departmental consultants or secretaries, followed by Freedom of Information requests as necessary. All data were compiled using Microsoft Excel., Results: Among the 65 responses to the ENTUK survey, 53 individual trusts were identified. These included 41 English acute trusts, with supplementary participation from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Data from 749 consultants across 115 English acute trusts were collected in combination with a Freedom of Information request., Conclusion: Despite an increased number of ENT consultants, the persistence of unfilled posts coincides with mounting waiting lists. The pandemic's effects, including early retirements and part-time roles, emphasise the urgency of expanding training positions to counterbalance these shifts. Local and national interventions are essential to fortify and diversify the ENT workforce through a variety of strategies., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Workforce planning of future requirements depends on accurate data and the GUM consultant and trainee workforce is reviewed annually by Health Education England (HEE) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) to make recommendations for specialty training numbers. A deep dive exercise in 2017 undertaken with HEE revealed that the headcount was reasonably accurate but there was much less certainty around the whole-time equivalent (WTE). The aim of this study was to triangulate the multiple sources of data regarding Consultants in the specialty, to identify and complete the gaps in data., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Competing Interests: Competing interests: MM and CP are members of Independent SAGE.

Background: Recent major concerns about the quality of healthcare delivered to older adults have been linked to inadequate staffing and a lack of patient-centred care. Patient experience is a key component of quality care - yet there has been little research on whether and how staffing levels and staffing types affect satisfaction amongst older adult hospital inpatients. This study aimed to evaluate the association between registered nurse and healthcare assistant staffing levels and satisfaction with care amongst older adult hospital inpatients, and to test whether any positive effect of higher staffing levels is mediated by staff feeling they have more time to care for patients., Methods: Survey data from 4928 inpatients aged 65 years and older and 2237 medical and nursing staff from 123 acute and community medical wards in England, United Kingdom (UK) was collected through the Royal College of Psychiatrist's Elder Care Quality Mark. The cross-sectional association between staffing ratios and older adult patient satisfaction, and mediation by staff perceived time to care, was evaluated using multi-level modelling, adjusted for ward type and with a random effect for ward identity., Results: Higher numbers of patients per healthcare assistant were associated with poorer patient satisfaction (adjusted β = - 0.32, 95% CI - 0.55 to 0.10, p < 0.01), and this was found to be partially mediated by all ward staff reporting less time to care for patients (adjusted β = - 0.10, bias-corrected 95% CI - 1.16 to - 0.02). By contrast, in both unadjusted and adjusted models, the number of patients per registered nurse was not associated with patient satisfaction., Conclusions: Older adult hospital patients may particularly value the type of care provided by healthcare assistants, such as basic personal care and supportive communication. Additionally, higher availability of healthcare assistants may contribute to all ward staff feeling more able to spend time with patients. However, high availability of registered nurses has been shown in other research to be vital for ensuring quality and safety of patient care. Future research should seek to identify the ideal balance of registered nurses and healthcare assistants for optimising a range of outcomes amongst older adult patients.

Objective: Clinical Imaging contributes to screening, diagnosis, planning and monitoring of treatment and surveillance in cancer care. This literature review summarises evidence about radiographer reporting to help imaging service providers respond to Health Education England's 2017 Cancer Workforce Plan project to expand radiographer reporting in clinical service provision., Key Findings: Papers published between 1992 and 2018 were reviewed (n = 148). Evidence related to dynamic examinations (fluoroscopy, ultrasound) and mammography was excluded. Content was analysed and summarised using the following headings: clinical scope of practice, responsibilities, training, assessment, impact in practice and barriers to expansion. Radiographer reporting is well established in the United Kingdom. Scope of practice varies individually and geographically. Deployment of appropriately trained reporting radiographers is helping the NHS maintain high quality clinical imaging service provision and deliver a cost-effective increase in diagnostic capacity., Conclusion: Working within multiprofessional clinical imaging teams, within a defined scope of practice and with access to medical input when required, reporting radiographers augment capacity in diagnostic pathways and release radiologist time for other complex clinical imaging responsibilities., (Copyright © 2019 The College of Radiographers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: There is considerable variation in non-conveyance rates between ambulance services in England. The aim was to explore variation in how each ambulance service addressed non-conveyance for calls ending in telephone advice and discharge at scene., Design: A qualitative interview study., Setting: Ten large regional ambulance services covering 99% of the population in England., Participants: Between four and seven interviewees from each ambulance service including managers, paramedics and healthcare commissioners, totalling 49 interviews., Methods: Telephone semistructured interviews., Results: The way interviewees in each ambulance service discussed non-conveyance within their organisation varied for three broad themes. First, ambulance service senior management appeared to set the culture around non-conveyance within an organisation, viewing it either as an opportunity or as a risky endeavour. Although motivation levels to undertake non-conveyance did not appear to be directly affected by the stability of an ambulance service in terms of continuity of leadership and externally assessed quality, this stability could affect the ability of the organisation to innovate to increase non-conveyance rates. Second, descriptions of workforce configuration differed between ambulance services, as well as how this workforce was used, trained and valued. Third, interviewees in each ambulance service described health and social care in the wider emergency and urgent care system differently in terms of availability of services that could facilitate non-conveyance, the amount of collaborative working between health and social care services and the ambulance service and complexity related to the numbers of services and healthcare commissioners with whom they had to work., Conclusions: This study suggests that factors within and outside the control of ambulance services may contribute to variation in non-conveyance rates. These findings can be tested in a quantitative analysis of factors affecting variation in non-conveyance rates between ambulance services in England., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Introduction: Teaching and training practices in England serve less ethnically diverse and urban environments than non-teaching practices. However, it is not known if these trends are consistent across the country., Methods: We linked data on teaching and training status for all North-East England practices to practice characteristics, locality and patient variables, calculated the association with each variable and compared to the national figures., Results: Teaching and training practices in North-East England are larger than non-teaching and non-training practices (mean list size (SD) 9109 (4080) vs. 5547 (5325), p < 0.001), have fewer patients per GP (1649 (404) vs. 2302 (1245), p < 0.001), higher patient satisfaction (43.45 (1.61) vs. 42.77 (2.14), p < 0.005) and quality and outcomes framework scores (98.3% (2.2%) vs. 95.5% (6.9%), p < 0.001), and are less likely to be in deprived areas (OR = 0.63; 95% CI 0.42-1.44). However, rurality, ethnic diversity, and patients' health status were not significantly associated with teaching and training status., Conclusions: In North-East England, general practices' teaching and training status is not associated with serving an urban or more ethnically diverse locality, in contrast with the national picture. The national profile may mask significant regional variations.