The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) was introduced to standardise early warning scores (EWS) in England. It has been recommended that NEWS should be used in pre-hospital care but there is no published evidence that this improves outcomes. In 2015, the West of England Academic Health Science Network region standardised to NEWS across all healthcare settings. Calculation of NEWS was recommended for acutely unwell patients at referral into secondary care. ⋯ To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating that use of NEWS in pre-hospital care is associated with improved outcomes in patients with SOS.
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Bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics changes over time. Knowledge of the susceptibility is important for antibiotic treatment guidelines in general practices. ⋯ The antibiotic susceptibility percentages to the agents tested were stable over the 10-year period, except for ciprofloxacin as was the prevalence of ESBL producing E. coli. Surveillance with regular intervals is warranted.
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The prevalence of diverticulosis and acute diverticulitis is increasing in developed countries. For those with diverticulosis the lifetime risk of developing acute diverticulitis is about 4-25%. Mild, uncomplicated diverticulitis can be, and often is, managed safely in a primary care setting, avoiding unnecessary admission. ⋯ The management of diverticulitis in this primary care centre is not fully concordant with NICE guidelines. There is a need to improve adherence, in particular antibiotic regimen when deciding to prescribe antibiotics.