Dafydd Loughran

Concentric Health · https://concentric.health

Introduction The surgical consent process is a crucial discussion between patient and surgeon, which is predominantly documented utilizing hand-written forms. The exchange of individualized information allows the patient to make a truly informed decision. Digital consent (also known as electronic consent or e-consent) has been shown to improve accu...

Aim Paper consent processes often contain errors of omission, illegibility, and unwarranted variation. Missing paper-consent forms can cause delays, cancellations, and poor theatre efficiency. Digital consent reduces errors, empowers patients in clinical decision discussions and improves patient perception of Shared Decision Making (SDM). This stud...

Aims Paper consent processes have been demonstrated to contain errors of omission, illegibility and unwarranted variation. Missing paper-consent forms can cause delays, cancellations and poor theatre efficiency. Digital consent is known to reduce errors, empower patients in clinical decision discussions and improve patient perception of Shared Deci...

You’ve almost certainly never discussed carbon impact as part of consent and shared decision making. Should you start to?

Introduction: The importance of shared decision making (SDM) for informed consent has been emphasised in the updated regulatory guidelines. Errors of completion, legibility and omission have been associated with paper-based consent forms. We introduced a digital consent process and compared it against a paper-based process for quality and patient...

Our digital environment is more complex than ever, with more threats to our data. How can we protect ourselves?

Introduction Paper-based consent processes are associated with errors of omission, illegibility and unwarranted variation. During the COVID-19 pandemic the Royal College of Surgeons (England) released guidelines supporting the use of remote consent. The aim was to evaluate the introduction of Concentric, a digital consent application, into clinical...

In this study, paper-based surgical consent is demonstrated to have significant errors of omission and legibility. These errors were improved by the introduction of a procedure-specific, patient-bespoke, semi-digital consent form application. Patient-reported experience of their involvement in shared decision-making is described for paper-based con...

Background: The Supreme Court case of Montgomery vs Lanarkshire Health Board in 2015 was a landmark case for consent practice in the UK which shifted focus from a traditional paternalistic model of consent towards a more patient-centered approach. Widely recognised as the most significant legal judgment on informed consent in the last 30 years, th...

Background We evaluate the efficacy and safety of metallic ureteric stenting using the Cook Resonance® stent in the treatment of chronic ureteric obstruction of benign and malignant aetiology. Published experience of using this stent in this context is limited. We add to the body of literature on this topic. Methods All patients who had a Resonance...

Background: There is currently conflicting evidence surrounding the effects of obesity on postoperative outcomes. Previous studies have found obesity to be associated with adverse events, but others have found no association. The aim of this study was to determine whether increasing body mass index (BMI) is an independent risk factor for developme...

Background Surgical mortality data are collected routinely in high-income countries, yet virtually no low- or middle-income countries have outcome surveillance in place. The aim was prospectively to collect worldwide mortality data following emergency abdominal surgery, comparing findings across countries with a low, middle or high Human Developmen...

As the law around surgical consent continues to evolve, surgeons and those in training risk being caught red-faced and defenceless. Despite repeated concerns regarding surgical consent being raised by the General Medical Council of the UK, how much is changing on the National Health Service shop floor? This report investigates the variation between...

Background Last year the Director General of the World Health Organisation warned that ‘the medical advances of the past 80 years are at risk of being wiped away at a stroke’, due to progressive antibiotic resistance. Widespread unnecessary antibiotic use cannot go on and the World Health Organisation is getting increasingly worried. Until the 1980...

This case report details the second described case of Whipple's disease-related thrombocytopenia in the medical literature. Whipple's disease is a rare multisystem infection caused by the actinomycete Tropheryma whipplei, first described by George Whipple in 1907. The key clinical manifestations are weight loss, diarrhoea and malabsorption, but art...