July 2010
More new faces join the PMR group
Over the summer we welcome a number of new staff to the team. Ann McCulloch joins the Glasgow nursing team. On the SMS teams we welcome Julie Wallace, Heather Coventry, Leanne Stephen, Alanna Perratt and Niall Brennan to Glasgow, and Frieda Brookmann to Edinburgh. We are also looking forward to two new doctors joining the medical team. Dr Chloe Beale and Dr Anne Byrne will start in August. For more information about our staff, please visit our staff pages.
COMPASS Masterclass confirmedThe COMPASS Collaborative in Edinburgh are hosting a series of research masterclasses for academics, researchers, clinicians and policy makers interested in Complex Interventions and the MRC Framework. The next Masterclass is now confirmed. Prof Alex Jadad (Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Toronto) will speak about 'Complex Interventions using eHealth and Social Media' on November 4th 2010. For further information, please click here
June 2010
Symptom Monitoring Service (SMS) screens its 20,000th patient
The SMS which screens for Major Depression and monitors common symptoms in cancer out patients now operates in six health boards across Scotland. The total number of patients who have completed the SMS since its inception in 2008 crossed the 20,000 mark this month. More than 1,500 patients complete the screening every month.
May 2010
Dr Jane Walker presents at RSM conference
Dr Walker spoke about 'SMaRT Oncology-3. Depression management in lung cancer: Issues conducting an RCT' at the conference on 'Managing mental disorders in advanced disease'. The conference was attended by clinicians and researchers from psychiatry and palliative care, and was hosted by the Royal Society of Medicine's psychiatry section and the COMPASS and CECo supportive and palliative care collaboratives.
PMR Training Day at the Edinburgh Cancer Research CentrePMR staff from both the Edinburgh and Glasgow sites came together at the Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre on 14th May for one of our major 2010 training days. The day was about personality and personality disorders. There was also a team building exercise in Edinburgh city centre.
PODS completes recruitmentThe persistence of distress study (PODS) has now completed recruitment. This prospective cohort study aims to determine whether cancer patients who have been found to have a high level of distress when assessed by the SMS in the cancer clinic, remain distressed over time. 329 patients have been recruited from clinics at the Glasgow and Edinburgh Cancer Centres and will be followed up for 6 months.
Date announced for the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Compass Collaborative
Compass is a UK National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) research collaborative between the University of Edinburgh, Kings College, London, and the University of Leeds for supportive and palliative care research. Next year's Annual Scientific meeting has now been scheduled and will take place on 14-15 April 2011 at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh.
April 2010
PACE Trial completes one year follow up
This large-scale trial is the first in the world to test and compare the effectiveness of four of the main treatments currently available for people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). Data collection for the one year follow up has now been completed. The trial data is currently being analysed in preparation for publication of the findings. Further information regarding publication will be posted on the PACE trial website when available. For more information please visit the website on www.pacetrial.org
March 2010
Symptom Monitoring Service now operating in six regions in Scotland
With the addition of a Symptom Monitoring Service (SMS) to Ninewells hospital in Tayside, and selected cancer clinics throughout the region, the SMS team are now operating in six NHS boards across Scotland. Other regions include Lothian, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Lanarkshire, Forth Valley and Fife.
SMaRT Oncology-2 now half way through recruitmentAnother milestone has been reached in the SMaRT Oncology-2 trial. With the 250th patient recruited to the trial we are now half way towards the recruitment target for this study.
PMR publishes 3 new papers
A paper titled, "The problems reported by cancer patients with major depression" was published this month in Psycho-Oncology. This paper describes the problems reported by 98 patients with cancer and major depression at the start of their treatment 'Depression care for people with cancer'. It was concluded that patients with cancer and depression report a wide variety of problems that include, but go beyond, concerns about cancer and depression. Particularly notable were the concerns about other people's well-being and difficulties in interpersonal relationships.
Further details of this article can be found at the Wiley InterScience website.
Other papers published this month include,
- "Screening for suicidality in cancer patients using Item 9 of the nine-item patient health questionnaire; does the item score predict who requires further assessment?", General Hospital Psychiatry
- "Patient and general practitioner preferences for the treatment of depression in patients with cancer: how, who, and where?”, Journal of Psychosomatic Research
