New data shows that people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in Wales have been vaccinated with both doses more quickly than the general population. MS is a Chronic Neurological disease and affects an estimated 5,600 people in Wales, 130,000 people in the UK. Researchers from the UK MS Register, based in Swansea University Medical School looked…
New statistics published on infants in care proceedings today reveal that the number of cases has continued to grow in England and Wales in recent years. Statistics also show that in most cases involving newborn babies, parents are given very little formal notice that care proceedings have been issued and the case is to be…
A Swansea University Medical School led study is the first national level analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) attacks and deaths. The study was undertaken in partnership with researchers at Edinburgh University’s Usher Institute, and colleagues in the EAVE II study; a real-time monitoring project of COVID-19…
The first population-level study of COVID-19 transmission between pupils and staff in a school environment has shown that the opening of schools in Wales between September and December 2020 was not associated with an increased risk of staff testing positive. The study, which was carried out by the One Wales COVID-19 response team, found that…
In the article posted on BMJ news on the 20th April 2021, its claimed that up to 800,000 vulnerable people, shielding from COVID-19, did not receive adequate support, such as food parcels, owing to incomplete health records. This meant that local authorities, tasked with identifying those most at risk, could not contact many on the…
A new observational study by Adolescent Mental Health Data Platform (ADP), published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, is the first to examine suicides occurring during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from multiple countries were analysed. The authors discovered that suicide numbers remained largely unchanged or declined in the pandemic’s early months. The…
Six months on from its launch, Health Data Research UK’s (HDR UK) National Core Studies Data & Connectivity programme has proven to be a crucial component of the UK’s COVID-19 response. In a recent letter from HDR UK Director, Andrew Morris, and CEO, Caroline Cake, Swansea University’s SAIL Databank was thanked for its important contribution…
ADR Wales has been recognised as an exemplar for data collaboration in the new Digital Strategy for Wales. The Strategy, which sets out the roadmap for digital services and inclusion in Wales highlighted the role played by the ADR Wales partnership which brings together Government and academia to provide data driven analysis to areas of…
New research finds no cases of the rare blood disorder have been identified in the COVID-19 vaccinated population of Wales. A rapid evaluation of the Welsh healthcare data was undertaken to respond to an urgent request for information on COVID vaccine-related blood clots. The focus of the analysis was to understand whether reports of a…
Shielding vulnerable people has been central to the response to COVID-19, but how well does it work? A Swansea University research team are to examine the evidence, to see what lessons can be learned for the future. Working with the NHS, the researchers, from the University’s Medical School, will consider how shielding affected deaths, hospital and intensive…
