Improve Your Knowledge on a Wealth of Topics at Guidelines Live 2023

Dr Toni Hazell Looks Forward to the Broad Range of Sessions at This Year’s Conference

I am looking forward to being back at Guidelines Live on 22 and 23 November 2023, both as a speaker and a chair. As a portfolio GP, I have a variety of clinical and nonclinical interests, which are reflected in the topics I will be talking about. 

My first talk on Tuesday (11.00–11.45 in Clinical Auditorium 4), in a stream that I will also be chairing, is about the primary:secondary care clinical interface and shared care—how can we interact with our secondary care colleagues in a way that makes management safe and effective, without the need for unresourced work to be passed to primary care? 

In the afternoon (16.20–17.00 in Clinical Auditorium 3), I will be speaking on the primary care aspects of HIV. Patients with HIV remain under the care of their consultant for life, and antiretrovirals are only prescribed in secondary care at the moment. However, there is still a role for the GP in the broader holistic care of these patients, as well as in offering appropriate testing to reduce the number of people living with undiagnosed HIV in the UK. 

On Wednesday morning (10.15–11.00 in Clinical Auditorium 3), I will be speaking about vaccine hesitancy, an extremely topical subject given the recent warnings about possible outbreaks of measles in London.¹ This talk will discuss the history of vaccinations and the false claim of a link between the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and autism, before moving on to a practical approach to mythbusting that can help those who are vaccine hesitant but may be reassured if given the facts. In the afternoon (14.40–15.25 in Clinical Auditorium 2), I will be giving a contraception update in the Women’s Health Stream. 

At lunchtime on both days, I will also be doing a sexual health update on the Health Bites Stage (13.55–14.15 on Tuesday, and 12.50–13.10 on Wednesday). This will cover some general aspects of care, such as safeguarding and how to take an effective sexual history, and includes updates on specific infections. 

Partner Focus Established as a charity in 2014, Antibiotic Research UK is addressing one of the biggest health challenges of our time—antibiotic-resistant infections. If the world does not act now, the number of deaths related to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is predicted to rise to up to 10 million by 2050.[A] The aims of Antibiotic Research UK are to develop new antibiotic treatments, engage with the public and healthcare professionals (GPs, pharmacists, dentists), and support people experiencing antibiotic-resistant infections through our Patient Support Service. The charity changes lives by fostering innovation and helping people living with AMR, giving them hope in their fight against resistant infections. Antibiotic Research UK's mission is to tackle the global threat of drug-resistant infections, and its vision is a world free from death and suffering due to drug-resistant infections. The charity focuses on four main areas of work: research—discovering new antibiotics and alternatives to antibiotics information and support—helping people who are living with AMR raising awareness of AMR—understanding the impact of resistant infections, with a renewed focus on complex urinary tract infections antibiotic stewardship—conserving the antibiotics we already have and using them more appropriately. Join Antibiotic Research UK's session Antimicrobial resistance—public and patient pandemic in the Public Health Stream at Guidelines Live on 21 November 2023.  [A] United Nations Environment Programme. Bracing for superbugs: strengthening environmental action in the One Health response to antimicrobial resistance. Nairobi, Kenya: UNEP, 2023. Available at: www.unep.org/resources/superbugs/environmental-action