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Purpose of the Study: In 2010, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended the use of anticoagulants rather than aspirin as pharmacological thromboprophylaxis after hip fracture. We examine the impact of implementing this change in guidance on the clinical incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT)., Study Design: Demographic, radiographic and clinical data were retrospectively collected for 5039 patients admitted to a single tertiary centre in the UK for hip fracture between 2007 and 2017. We calculated rates of lower-limb DVT and examined the impact of the June 2010 change of departmental policy, from use of aspirin to use of low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWH) in hip fracture patients., Results: Doppler scans were performed in 400 patients in the 180 days after a hip fracture, and identified 40 ipsilateral and 14 contralateral DVTs (p<0.001). The rate of DVT reduced significantly following the 2010 change in departmental policy from aspirin to LMWH in these patients (1.62% vs 0.83%, p<0.05)., Conclusions: The rate of clinical DVT halved following the change from aspirin to LMWH for pharmacological thromboprophylaxis, but the number needed to treat was 127. A figure of <1% for the incidence of clinical DVT in a unit that routinely uses LMWH monotherapy following hip fracture provides a context for discussions of alternative strategies, and for power calculations for future research. These figures are important to policy makers and to researchers as they will inform the design of the comparative studies on thromboprophylaxis agents for which NICE has called., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Postgraduate Medical Journal. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Aim: Antiplatelets have been used for decades to prevent atherothrombotic disease, but there is limited 'real-life' prescribing data. We hereby report the prescribing patterns for oral antiplatelets in Wales, UK., Methods/results: Retrospective analysis of anonymized data in Wales from 2005 to 2016 revealed differences in prescribing patterns of oral antiplatelets. Aspirin and dipyridamole use declined with a corresponding increase in clopidogrel prescription. Costs declined with a sharp decrease coinciding with clopidogrel coming off patent. Prasugrel and ticagrelor have shown significant cost contribution (29% of total) despite only forming 1% of total items prescribed in 2016., Conclusion: This first-look analysis of real-life antiplatelet data demonstrates a decrease in the overall prescribing costs with varying patterns. This may aid policy-makers in reviewing funding strategies.

Background: Application to cardiology specialty training is competitive with uncertainty among candidates as to what the secret recipe for a successful appointment is. We aimed to investigate objective variables, which were demonstrated by successful appointees to cardiology training schemes in the UK., Methods: Data from successful cardiology applicants for the years 2014 to 2016 were obtained from the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board under the Freedom of Information Act. These data included basic demographics as well as objective scores awarded for selection categories such as qualifications, academic, teaching and other achievements., Results: There were a total of 976 applicants during the study period, of whom 423 were successfully appointed, generating a competition ratio of 2.3 applicants for each position. There was an increasing proportion of successful female applicants (22% in 2014, 28% in 2015 and 32% in 2016). Median scores for postgraduate exams (14/14), presentations (6/6) and quality improvement (10/10) scores corresponded to maximum possible scores, whereas median scores for additional undergraduate and postgraduate degrees were 0. Median scores for prizes, publications and teaching experience were 6/10, 4/8 and 9/10, respectively., Conclusion: The secret to a successful cardiology training appointment is associated with completion of all postgraduate clinical exams, completion and presentation of quality improvement projects, national presentations and substantial teaching achievements. At least half of the successful candidates had no additional undergraduate or postgraduate degrees but had evidence of some prizes and publications. The ratio of successful female candidates is rising, but remains less than males in cardiology training., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)