Exploring impact of Covid-19 on the primary care treatment pathways
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the impact of Covid-19 on the primary care treatment pathways for common infections and long-term conditions: an analysis with OpenSAFELY platform
IRAS ID
303631
Contact name
Tjeerd van Staa
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK, primary care has changed quite dramatically, with many general practices restricting physical consultations and instead providing phone and video consultations. This has affected the monitoring and management of a range of conditions. The effects of Covid-19 are of particular importance in people with diabetes who would ordinarily have their diabetes and associated comorbidities frequently monitored through diabetic reviews at their GP practice and at diabetes clinics within the NHS. It is not yet understood what impact the lack of access to services has had on these patients in terms of their diabetes control, cardiovascular risk factors, diabetes-related complications, and mortality. In this proposed part of the project, we aim to examine rates of hospitalisation, ICU admissions, diabetes-related complications and associated adverse events by combining data from primary and secondary care, and to investigate specific causes of mortality in people with diabetes.
There are also concerns that, due to the increase of number of telephone or web appointments or patients not consulting their GP, that more antibiotics may be given inappropriately as it is difficult to diagnose remotely or patients may not have been treated appropriately for common infections. Prior to Covid-19, improvements in antibiotic prescribing in primary care (also known as antibiotic stewardship) were a major priority for the NHS. This was related to increased rates of infections in which antibiotics no longer work (known as antibiotic resistance). This part of the project will provide up-to-date information to antibiotic stewardship activities in primary care. Specific aims are to evaluate (i) the impact of Covid-19 on the primary care treatment pathways for common infections, (ii) effects on antibiotic prescribing and (iii) evaluate the effects of prior antibiotic exposure on severity of outcomes in Covid-19 infections (including during and after hospital admission).REC name
South Central - Oxford A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/SC/0287
Date of REC Opinion
17 Aug 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion