Assessing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on influenza-like illness surveillance trends in the community during the 2023/2024 winter in England.

Objectives: Influenza-like-illness (ILI) is a commonly used symptom categorization in seasonal disease surveillance focusing on influenza in community and clinical settings. However, SARS-CoV-2 often causes presentation with a similar symptom profile. We explore how SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals can influence surveillance trends for the World Health Organization, the United States Centre for Disease Control, and the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) ILI criteria.

How can specialist investigation agencies inform system-wide learning for patient safety? A qualitative study of perspectives on the early years of the English Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch.

Objectives: System-wide learning for patient safety is a core challenge for the health care sector, despite the prevalence of localised reporting and learning approaches. There is growing interest in how health care services could emulate other safety-critical sectors with the introduction of specialist safety investigation agencies to inform sector-wide safety. This paper reports on a study of the introduction and early operation of one such agency in the English health and care system.

Modelling multiplex testing for outbreak control.

During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and lateral flow device (LFD) tests were frequently deployed to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2. Many of these tests were singleplex, and only tested for the presence of a single pathogen. Multiplex tests can test for the presence of several pathogens using only a single swab, which can allow for: surveillance of more pathogens, targeting of antiviral interventions, a reduced burden of testing, and lower costs.

Role of coproduction in the sustainability of innovations in applied health and social care research: a scoping review.

Background: Innovations such as toolkits and frameworks are developed through applied health and social care research, to address identified gaps in quality or safety of care. The intention is to subsequently implement these innovations into practice to bring about improvements. Challenges can arise from poor choice of implementation strategies or lack of alignment to local contexts.