Unreliability of the NICE Traffic Light tool

The Traffic Light tool from NICE is designed to identify children at risk of serious illness, and it is widely used in general practice for the assessment of acutely unwell children. This new research shows that the Traffic Light tool is unreliable in detecting and excluding serious illness in children presenting to UK general practice with an acute illness. The authors state that this system is not suitable for use as a clinical tool in general practice. Further research is required to update or replace the Traffic Light system.

Primary care workforce composition

More full-time equivalent GPs are associated with higher quality and patient satisfaction, according to new research. Full-time-equivalents in newer staff roles are negatively associated with several outcomes. These results indicate that efforts to address the supply of GPs by broadening the workforce can impact outcomes, including patient and GP satisfaction; and that different types of healthcare professionals are not simple substitutes for one another. The quantity and quality of services will depend on who is employed to work in the primary-care setting.

Colchicine for COVID-19: the PRINCIPLE trial

New research shows colchicine does not improve time to recovery in people at higher risk of complications with COVID-19. This study randomised patients with COVID-19 to usual care, usual care plus colchicine (500 µg daily for 14 days), or usual care plus other interventions. It found that time to self-reported recovery was similar in the colchicine group compared with usual care, and there was an increase in time to self-reported recovery for colchicine versus usual care. COVID-19-related admissions to hospital/deaths for the colchicine and usual-care groups were similar.