Aquarius Population Health

Improving the NHS Blood Culture Pathway in England

Bloodstream infections (BSI) are common and cause severe disease and death. Blood cultures are used to identify whether patients have a bacterial or fungal BSI and assess whether the microbe will be resistant to any antimicrobial therapies (AMTs) helping clinicians to prescribe AMTs to patients who truly need them. NHS England’s blood culture audit indicated low adherence to best practice guidelines and trusts have raised concerns regarding the resource implications of achieving compliance.

Continue Reading–>

Cervical screening and HPV testing: Opportunities for rapid tests

We explored the use of a rapid, on-demand human papillomavirus (HPV) test. Interviews with UK experts revealed that a co-located, on-demand HPV test following cytology could reduce the time to cervical screening results by up to a week, with a near-patient primary HPV test followed by cytology triage could radically change the testing paradigm. A follow-up tool we built in Excel was used to understand cervical screening burden and HPV testing across Europe.

Continue Reading–>

The cost of pelvic inflammatory disease and potential cost-savings of chlamydia screening

We worked with clinicians from St Georges University who had published a trial estimating the incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) among women screened and unscreened for chlamydia. Patient data was analysed, and the average cost of managing PID was estimated to be £163 in community and hospital settings, and that over £60,000 could be saved in London alone from screening for chlamydia. This paper has been cited widely and results have informed policy and further modelling studies.

Continue Reading–>