Development and evaluation of a high-fidelity, multi-disciplinary simulation training course for high-consequence infectious diseases using fluorescence visualization.

Background: High-consequence infectious diseases (HCIDs) include contact-transmissible viral haemorrhagic fevers and airborne-transmissible infections such as Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome. Assessing suspected HCID cases requires specialized infection control measures including patient isolation, personal protective equipment (PPE), and decontamination. There is need for an accessible course for NHS staff to improve confidence and competence in using HCID PPE outside specialist HCID centres.

Improving hospital-based opioid substitution therapy (iHOST): protocol for a mixed-methods evaluation.

Background: Opioid substitution therapy (also known as 'opioid agonist therapy' or 'medication treatment of opioid use disorder') is associated with improved health and social outcomes for people who use heroin and other illicit opioids. It is typically managed in the community and is not always continued when people are admitted to hospital. This causes opioid withdrawal, patient-directed discharge, and increased costs.

Rapid qualitative analysis in a mixed-methods evaluation of an infection prevention intervention in a UK hospital setting during the COVID-19 pandemic: A discussion of the CLEAN study methodology.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an urgent need for high-quality rapid research. One clinical challenge was how to minimise the risk of transmission in the hospital setting. The CLEAN study conducted a rapid evaluation of the potential utility of a spray-based disinfectant in a hospital setting.

SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics: Towards a more comprehensive approach to routine patient testing.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided the stimulus for the rapid development of a variety of diagnostic testing methods. Initially these were deployed as screening tools to evidence spread of the virus within populations. The recent availability of vaccines against the virus and the need to better understand the parameters of post-infection protective immunity requires development of methods, suitable for use in the routine diagnostic laboratory, capable of characterising the viral immune response in greater detail.