CLAHRC Fellowship 2011: Reflections on the year

Research studies

• General Practitioner (GP) and Community Nurse (CN) symptom management in EoL care; a questionnaire study in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough PCTs.

• Discussing an uncertain future; EoL care in COPD. A systematic literature review and narrative synthesis.

What worked well

• The educational workshops• Dropbox – for the background reading and uploading

the workshop slides.• Having a dedicated protected day each week for

CLAHRC and not going into work on that day• Working on two studies that were realistic within the

time frame and already planned so no time was wasted. Reading through my application I wanted to change the world with an over ambitious project.

What worked well

• Being part of a research team within an academic environment. I felt I have had great support from Stephen Barclay, Natalie Momen and their colleagues at the IPH.

• Other fellows- insights into their working lives – inner workings of PCT management, running a psychiatric service etc

What did not work so well

• Very little (these slides!)• Action Learning Set – a harsh criticism but I felt

quite pressured over time and within my projects there was not the need for such discussions.

• Workshops – more time for the advance reading and not scheduling during half term (meant I had to miss one out of the eleven!)

What I will take forward

• An understanding of the hard work behind each paper!• Skills in the critical evaluation of published literature• Understanding of organisational culture and change

management• Practical approach and confidence in undertaking research• An ongoing(hopefully lifelong) interest in research and desire

to apply it in practice• Connections within the CLAHRC, Cambridgeshire PCT, Dept.

Of Public Health and Primary Care