Skip to main content

Professor Paul Aylin's Inaugural Lecture

Image
By
It was a great privilege for me to introduce Professor Paul Aylin on the evening of 5 November 2015 on the occasion of his inaugural lecture. Professor Aylin is based in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health (part of the School of Public Health) at Imperial College London and is co-director of the Dr Foster Unit. He trained in Public Health Medicine and spent three years at the Office for National Statistics before coming to Imperial College in 1997. He became a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine in 2001. He is a non-executive director at West London Mental Health NHS Trust.

Professor Aylin’s current research focuses on exploring variations in indicators of quality and safety using routinely collected administrative data including: out of hours hospital mortality; continuous monitoring of performance and safety; case-mix adjustment; and cancer care and indicators for late diagnosis. He has been an expert witness to both the Bristol and the Shipman Inquiry, and was instrumental in prompting the original Health Care Commission investigation into emergency services at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Aylin has worked for the last decade to show how overlooked administrative data can identify anomalies worthy of investigation. After creating algorithms to pick out outliers such the Bristol heart scandal and the patients of convicted murderer Harold Shipman, His team looked at above-expected death rates for a range of conditions and procedures within hospitals. Together they repeatedly identified Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust as worthy of investigation, leading to the initial review which prompted a number of high profile inquiries.

In the UK health sector, recent controversy around the collection of patient data has only been exceeded by reports of institutional failings. Professor Aylin’s lecture charted the history of patient data statistics in healthcare to show the benefits of these rich sources of data. He brought story right up to date with new research on patient care during hospitals out-of-hours, and safety in primary care.

View the video of Professor Aylin's lecture.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Family Medicine Residency Training Program in Saudi Arabia

By
Dr Ahmed Al-Mujil is a Family Medicine Doctor from Saudia Arabia on a one year attachment to the Academic Dept of Primary care at Imperial.   In this blog he gives us a unique insight into Family Medicine training in Saudia Arabia. The Family Medicine Residency Training Program in Saudi Arabia was established in 1994, at which time the first edition of the curriculum was written. Since then, Family Medicine and medical education have undergone significant changes. The curriculum was revised many times, until recent adoption of the Canadian Medical Education Directive for Specialists- CanMeds competencies framework in which the “competent physician” seamlessly integrates the competencies of all seven CanMEDS Roles. (Medical expert, Collaborator, Communicator , Leader , Health Advocate, Scholar and Professional). The duration of training in Family Medicine is four years starting from the first of October every year. All trainees must go through the rotations in their traini...
1 comment
Read more

What's it like being an Imperial College Community GP tutor? Dr Jose Crespo gives his views

By
I decided to become a General Practitioner when I realised that a robust primary care system is essential in the development and functioning of any Community. As GPs, we are the first port of call of all illnesses, whether acute or chronic, and we must remain up to date at all times to ensure excellent care. With this in mind, I was determined to not just become a GP, but to explore the different opportunities available to us. This determination led me to have a taste of performing my medical duties in a wide variety of places: traditional GP surgeries, hospitals, prisons, walk-in centres, out of hours services, 111 telephone service, urgent care centres and private practice. These experiences have offered me valuable insight into what makes the fibres of our Community function and why some medical problems are significantly skewed in some ethnicities, social circles or economic groups. But gaining this rewarding knowledge and exposure would somehow be fickle if I were not able to s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Farewell to Dr Jenny Lebus - Our longest serving member of staff

By
It is with great sadness that we say a fond farewell to Dr Jenny Lebus who will be retiring at the end of June after 32 years of service at the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College London and its predecessor medical schools. . Jenny began her academic teaching career when her trainer, Dr James Scobie, who was a GP tutor for the old Charing Cross Medical School, invited her to accompany him to a study day with the students. Her interest was ignited and she joined a department that at that time consisted of three people when General Practice occupied only one week of a five-year curriculum. Despite having no administrative support or funding to pay general practices, Jenny was successful in recruiting practices and saw the course and department steadily grow from humble beginnings. From that one week in Year 4, the course grew to two weeks in Year 4 and two weeks in Year 5, whilst also changing course names from Core 1 and Core 2, to General Practice and ...
Post a Comment
Read more