Stoke GP awarded national charity's first GP research fellowship to help elderly arthritis patients
A Stoke GP is the first in the country be awarded an Arthritis Research Campaign fellowship aimed at GPs, to try and improve and standardise the way elderly patients with joint pain are treated by family doctors around the UK.
Dr Christian Mallen, of the Millrise Medical Practice in Milton, Stoke-on-Trent, has been awarded a part-time Primary Care Research Fellowship by the medical research charity of £143,672 over four years.
Up to 300 elderly arthritis patients in five GP practices in North Staffordshire will be recruited to take part in the research study.
Although osteoarthritis is a very common joint condition in elderly people - arthritis accounts for one in five visits to a doctor - the way it is managed and treated by GPs varies enormously from practice to practice.
Although some GPs take arthritis in elderly people seriously by suggesting a variety of pain control and coping strategies, referring patients to see a physiotherapist and recommending exercise and weight loss programmes, many more are dismissive, telling patients there is nothing that can be done for them.
"How an elderly person with arthritis is treated by their GP depends entirely on which GP they see; I hope my research will lead to a standardised approach so that all GPs ask them the same questions, and assess what level of care and treatment their patients are going to need," explained Dr Mallen. He will carry out his study at the primary care sciences research centre at Keele University.
Dr Mallen aims to identify those patients who will do badly as early as possible to ensure that they can receive a properly tailored package of care. Patients taking part in the study will be followed up for six months to find out what sort of impact arthritis is having on their quality of life, and to assess how they are coping. Patient education, and referral for physiotherapy and joint replacement surgery are all areas that are ripe for improvement.
"I hope this research will enable elderly patients with arthritis to be given the same treatment, advice and support from their GP, irrespective of where they happen to live," he added.
