Research Paper of the Year (overall winner)

Dr David Kessler was co-author, with Dr Nicola Wiles (lead author) and others, of the RCGP’s Research Paper of the Year (overall winner). The paper, published in The Lancet Psychiatry last year, presented the results of a 5-year clinical trial, the CoBalT Study, which found that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) delivered alongside antidepressants is both clinically- and cost-effective over the long-term for patients whose depression has not responded to drug therapy alone.

Full paper: Wiles NJ, Thomas L, Turner N, Garfield K, Kounali D, Campbell J, et al. Long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for treatment-resistant depression in primary care: follow-up of the CoBalT randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2016;3(2):137-44.

Research Paper of the Year (Children, Reproduction, Genetics, Infections category)

Professor Alastair Hay was lead author of this category award-winning paper, which reported on findings of the DUTY Study. The study team developed a clinical rule to help GPs identify and treat urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children. UTIs in children are notoriously difficult to diagnose in primary care because symptoms can often be vague and unclear.

Full paper: Hay AD, Sterne JA, Hood K, Little P, Delaney B, Hollingworth W, et al. Improving the Diagnosis and Treatment of Urinary Tract Infection in Young Children in Primary Care: Results from the DUTY Prospective Diagnostic Cohort Study. Annals of family medicine. 2016;14(4):325-36.

Poster prizes

Dr Peter Edwards won both first and ‘highly commended’ prizes in the ‘Inspiring the Future’ poster competition, which recognises outstanding contribution to primary care research. Both posters explored aspects of safety-netting advice in primary care consultations, which he completed as part of his Academic Foundation Programme. Safety-netting advice helps patients identify when to seek medical help if they fail to get better, their condition worsens, or if they have further concerns about their health.

Dr Sam Merriel was co-author of a poster that won the 'International' research poster prize, which was on the topic of whether migrants and overseas visitors should be charged for primary care.

Student of the Year and GPSOC Event of the Year

As well as awards recognising outstanding research, there were awards for students Alexa Lazarou, who won the Student of the Year award, and Hannah Niesser, who accepted the award for GPSOC Event of the Year on behalf of the Bristol GPSOC Committee for organising the South West Student Conference. Both were delighted, with Alexa saying:

“It was a truly wonderful feeling to receive the Student of the Year Award. The enthusiasm and dedication of the Bristol GPSOC committee and the generosity of all the GPs who gave up their time to help at our events made the year incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. I think the award is a reflection of the RCGP’s move towards supporting student initiatives and enthusing the next generation of GPs.”

Hannah said:

“We are very chuffed to have won! We had never done an event as big as this before, so it was a huge step up! The whole committee worked really hard together to make it work.”