Impact of Weather on GP Home Visiting
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Does weather impact on GP workload? A study of the impact of weather on GP home visiting in Hertfordshire.
IRAS ID
221078
Contact name
Melvyn Jones
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
10139/001, UCL REC
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 17 days
Research summary
Treating patients at their own home has always been part of the work of a GP. Almost certainly no research has been done on the effects of weather on the volume of home visits conducted by general practitioners in the UK. Understanding the burden that weather has on home care services by GPs can allow professionals to be better prepared for predicted surges in demand in the future. Benefits of this would include not overworking GPs as well as preventing home visit services from being overstretched, as well as being more efficient in tending to patient’s needs. What’s more, the results of the study could even go as far as influencing local home visit services and a policy to employ predictive strategies, if significant trends are found. The weather variables chosen for this study are minimum, maximum and mean temperatures as well as rainfall rate per day over the 3-year period. The population of Hertfordshire will provide as the sample area for the home visits. This area was chosen as home visits by GPs are organised by one organisation, Herts Urgent Care. A Poisson regression will be used to find any associations.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/YH/0037
Date of REC Opinion
8 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion