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BACKGROUND: The Baveno VI consensus identifies patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) who can safely avoid screening endoscopy. However, concordance in clinical practice with this guidance is unknown. We audited clinical practice and the provision of transient elastography (TE) aiming to identify potential cost savings and benefits. METHODS: Retrospective data collection from 12 sites across London over 6 months by reviewing oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) reports, platelet count and TE results as well as information on site-specific provision of TE. RESULTS: Three-hundred and fifty-one screening procedures were identified; 177 (50.43%) had a TE test performed within the preceding 12 months; 142 (80.23%) patients with a recent TE test did not meet criteria for screening OGD. TE provision varied widely between sites. CONCLUSION: Improving concordance with the Baveno criteria through improved provision of TE would have benefits for patients, healthcare systems and the environment and would help to address the challenges of moving on from the COVID-19 pandemic.

ObjectiveThe National Health Service (NHS) produces more carbon emissions than any public sector organisation in England. In 2020, it became the first health service worldwide to commit to becoming carbon net zero, the same year as the COVID-19 pandemic forced healthcare systems globally to rapidly adapt service delivery. As part of this, outpatient appointments became largely remote. Although the environmental benefit of this change may seem intuitive the impact on patient outcomes must remain a priority. Previous studies have evaluated the impact of telemedicine on emission reduction and patient outcomes but never before in the gastroenterology outpatient setting.Method2140 appointments from general gastroenterology clinics across 11 Trusts were retrospectively analysed prior to and during the pandemic. 100 consecutive appointments during two periods of time, from 1 June 2019 (prepandemic) to 1 June 2020 (during the pandemic), were used. Patients were telephoned to confirm the mode of transport used to attend their appointment and electronic patient records reviewed to assess did-not-attend (DNA) rates, 90-day admission rates and 90-day mortality rates.ResultsRemote consultations greatly reduced the carbon emissions associated with each appointment. Although more patients DNA their remote consultations and doctors more frequently requested follow-up blood tests when reviewing patients face-to-face, there was no significant difference in patient 90-day admissions or mortality when consultations were remote.ConclusionTeleconsultations can provide patients with a flexible and safe means of being reviewed in outpatient clinics while simultaneously having a major impact on the reduction of carbon emissions created by the NHS.

Background Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates in the UK are poor, and non-medically trained individuals have been identified to perform substandard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Millions watch televised medical dramas and, for many, these comprise their only education on CPR. This study aims to investigate the quality of CPR portrayed on these programmes and whether this has an effect on public knowledge. Methods Prospective observational study of 30 consecutive episodes of three popular medical dramas. Public knowledge of CPR and viewing habits were assessed with a survey of non-medically trained personnel. Results 90 episodes were reviewed with 39 resuscitation attempts shown. Chest compression rates varied from 60 to 204 compressions per minute with a median of 122 (95% CI 113 to 132). Depth varied from 1.5 to 7.5 cm with a median of 3 (3.15–4.31). Rate and depth were significantly different from the UK Resuscitation Council Guidelines (2010) (p Conclusion Televised medical dramas depict CPR inaccurately and laypersons may be less well informed about the correct technique the more they tune into these programmes. While there may be other confounding variables, given the popularity of television medical dramas, the poor depiction may be significantly contributing to poor public CPR knowledge and represent a potential new avenue of public education.

Introduction Anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy has revolutionised ulcerative colitis (UC) treatment, particularly in moderate-to-severe disease. However, these drugs tend to perform less well in the maintenance of remission. Route of administration may influence efficacy and network meta-analyses of trial data indicate a superiority of intravenous drugs (IV; Infliximab; IFX) over subcutaneous (SC; adalimumab; ADA). We conducted a retrospective multicentre case-control study to compare the efficacy of these two drugs. Methods Patients administered IFX or ADA as their first biologic, identified from therapy databases of five UK hospitals, were included, if they had completed induction dosing and entered maintenance. Patients receiving IFX as ‘rescue’ therapy were excluded. Data was collected for pre-biologic disease activity (Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index (SCCAI), C-reactive protein and calprotectin) and throughout anti-TNF therapy. The primary end-point for comparison was the number of patients in clinical remission at 52 weeks (combined features of continuing IFX or ADA therapy and SCCAI score ≤3). Data was collected for duration of therapy, or up to last follow-up, if beyond 52 weeks. Results 78 IFX (40.3±14.6 years, 33F) and 63 ADA (36.8±14.6 years, 27F) patients were analysed. There were no statistically significant differences in demographics or pre-biologic disease activity between the two groups. At 52 weeks, 58 (74%) IFX patients and 29 (46%) ADA patients remained on therapy (p=0.009) and in remission (26 (33%) vs 5 (8%), p=0.0003). Primary non response was the reason for treatment cessation in 15 (24%) ADA patients and 4 (5%) IFX patients (p=0.0012). Conclusions Our results from a real-world cohort mirror those produced in the network meta-analyses of clinical trials for these agents, suggesting that IFX is superior to ADA in UC maintenance of remission, demonstrated by improvement in SCCAI scores and treatment continuation at 52 weeks. There were no significant differences in colectomy rates, hospital admission for acute flares or adverse events in the study timeframe. Reference . Danese S, Fiorino G, Peyrin-Biroulet L, Lucenteforte E, Virgili G, Moja L, Bonovas S, (2014), Biological agents for moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis., Ann Intern Med, 160:704–11.