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Showing posts from June, 2016

Message from the President of Imperial College London on the EU Referendum

"Imperial College London is, and will remain, a European university, whatever your view of the referendum outcome. We are very proud of the innovations, ideas and inspiration that come from the European members of Imperial’s global community. We are determined that political changes will not hold Imperial back from delivering excellence in research and education for the benefit of global society. We will vigorously defend our international values if they are threatened and will continue to think and act internationally. Our European students, staff and partners are crucial to the current and future success of this great university, and we look forward to continued strong ties with Europe and the world over the coming years. We are urgently seeking clarification from the government on the visa and fee status of non-UK European Union students, as well as other key policy areas for the College as the UK negotiates its future relationship with Europe. We will update the community, an

Healthcare use among preschool children attending GP-led urgent care centres

Urgent care centres (UCCs) were developed with the aim of reducing inappropriate emergency department (ED) attendances in England. We aimed to examine the presenting complaint and outcomes of care for young children attending two general practitioner (GP)-led UCCs in West London with extended opening times.  The findings were published in BMJ Open .  Only 3% of all attendances to the GP-led UCCs were among preschool children over a 3-year period, with nearly a quarter of them being repeat attenders. Although the large majority of children attending were registered with a GP, over two-thirds attended out of hours. The most common reason for attending the GP-led UCC was for a respiratory disease, mainly an upper respiratory tract infection. The most commonly prescribed medications were for infections. Only one in five preschool children who attended required a referral to a paediatrician or an emergency doctor.  Two-thirds of preschool children attending GP-led UCCs do so out of hou