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A new study has found no correlation between satisfaction with GP opening hours and the number of visits to A&E in England. The observational study was led by Imperial College London and is published today in BMJ Quality & Safety. Lead author Dr Thomas Cowling from Imperial and colleagues compared patients' experiences of GP surgeries with the number of A&E visits in their areas in England from 2011-2012 to 2013-2014.

Nearly 80% of all scenes throughout season 11 of MTV's popular hyper-reality show 'Geordie Shore' contained alcohol content or alcohol use according to the results of a new study published today by researchers in our Department for Health with collaborators at the University of Nottingham. The authors behind the paper - published Sunday 21 January in the journal Alcohol & Alcoholism - suggest that more needs to be done to protect young viewers from alcohol imagery and its harmful effects, including a potential review of age classification policy for the programme.

Whitehall is failing to fully exploit the expertise of non-executive directors (NEDs) to improve the way departments' policies and plans are devised and implemented despite their high calibre, commitment and experience, a study by UCL's Constitution Unit has found. The study, which was led by Professor Robert Hazell, found civil servants "greatly valued" the advice and expertise of NEDs but that the non-executive directors themselves found the role frustrating and felt they could be much more effective if the system only allowed.

Conflict in Ukraine has increased the risk of HIV outbreaks throughout the country as displaced HIV-infected people move from war-affected regions to areas with higher risk of transmission, according to analysis by scientists. Ukraine, which has the highest HIV prevalence in Europe, has been at war since 2014 following political unrest in the country.

New research, from an international group of health policy experts led by the University, reports a mixed picture of transparency in public decisions-making around new medicine approvals in Poland, one of Europe's largest pharmaceutical markets. Despite a troubled relationship with the European Commission, Poland has been hailed as a leader in modernising its assessment systems in establishing whether new drugs represent good value for money and merit significant public investment.

New research, from an international group of health policy experts led by the University, reports a mixed picture of transparency in public decisions-making around new medicine approvals in Poland, one of Europe's largest pharmaceutical markets. Despite a troubled relationship with the European Commission, Poland has been hailed as a leader in modernising its assessment systems in establishing whether new drugs represent good value for money and merit significant public investment.

Political pledges to reduce immigration are splitting up families, according to new research which urges the Government to revise its policies in order to reduce 'collateral damage' inflicted on partners and children. In the first study of its kind, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), researchers at the University of Bristol explored how a precarious immigration status impacts on family life.

Protecting an area for wildlife can work-but only if there is robust political governance. That's the research conclusion of twenty-three years of bird counting by an international team of researchers, including a scientist from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath and published in the journal Nature .

Community screening for osteoporosis could prevent more than a quarter of hip fractures in older women - according to new research involving researchers from the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol and local hospitals, and led by the University of East Anglia (UEA). The study, published today in The Lancet, reveals that a simple questionnaire, combined with bone mineral density measurements for some, would help identify those at risk of hip fracture.

Researchers from Lancaster University are exploring whether technology could be the key to tackling the UK's loneliness epidemic by better connecting older adults with their communities. Ironically, isolation and loneliness have spread rapidly as communication has become easier - particularly among older adults.

Online GP consultation systems may not be the silver bullet for reducing GP workload and patient waiting times that government policymakers are hoping for, NIHR-funded research from the University of Bristol has found. These systems offer the potential to revolutionise use of primary care, but only with careful implementation and effective marketing, the researchers concluded.

Billions of dollars of financial investment in global conservation has significantly reduced biodiversity loss, according to a new Oxford University research. Image credit: Shutterstock Billions of dollars of financial investment in global conservation has significantly reduced biodiversity loss, according to a new Oxford University research.

Telephone consultations to determine whether a patient needs to see their GP face-to-face can deal with many problems, but a study led by researchers at the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research (University of Cambridge and RAND Europe), found no evidence to support claims by companies offering to manage these services or by NHS England that the approach saves money or reduces the number of hospital referrals.

Researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a new type of MRI scan to predict the risk of having a stroke, thanks to funding from the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The non-invasive technique, described in a paper published in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging , produces a quantitative result that can accurately indicate whether plaques in the carotid arteries - those that supply the brain with blood - are rich in cholesterol, and therefore more likely to cause a stroke.

Evidence in a new research report published today shows that the government of Uzbekistan acted as an organised crime network, with state agencies conducting racketeering activity that benefited political heiress Gulnara Karimova, the elder daughter of Islam Karimov, the leader of Uzbekistan from 1989 to his death in 2016.

A UCL-led study found that homeless people who are terminally ill are falling between cracks in services, and not able to access the same level of support as others. Researchers from the UCL Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, Pathway, St Mungo's and Coordinate My Care worked with homeless people and care professionals and found that many homeless people who may be approaching the end of their lives are living in homeless hostels.

Teenage pregnancy rates have dropped in areas of the country most affected by government cuts to spending on sex education, according to a new study. In recent years local authorities in England have been forced to make significant cuts to public expenditure, with one particular health target affected: reducing rates of teen pregnancy.

Researchers at the University of Bristol's Centre for Academic Primary Care are looking for men who are concerned that they are, or have been, abusive in their relationships with women to take part in a new study that will help improve how we support men in changing their behaviour. Abusive behaviour can involve a range of actions, including physically hurting someone, pushing or shoving them, frightening them, or controlling or pressuring them into doing what you want or not doing what they want.

Researchers into the common hearing condition 'tinnitus' are calling for help from the public for a new study to try to improve future medical investigations into the problem. The COMIT'ID study is being run by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre based at The University of Nottingham.

Research led by University of Birmingham scientists in collaboration with Northwestern University in Chicago, US, has provided fresh insight into the role of male hormone in supporting and disrupting the production of eggs by ovarian follicles. The study, newly published online in the journal Endocrinology, measured for the first time the production of hormones by the isolated ovarian follicle during its development, using highly sensitive and specific mass spectrometry.