Richard McManus

Nov 28, 2024 | bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com | Alison Chisholm |Sheila Greenfield |James Hodgkinson |Layla Lavallee |Paul D. Leeson |Lucy H Mackillop | +9 more

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote care, or telemedicine, in many clinical areas including maternity care. One component of remote care, the use of self-monitoring of blood pressure in pregnancy, could form a key component in post-pandemic care pathways. The BUMP trials evaluated a self-monitoring of blood pressure intervention in addition to usual care, testing whether it improved detection or control of hypertension for pregnant people at risk of hypertension or with hypertension during pregnancy. This paper reports the qualitative evaluation which aimed to understand how the intervention worked, the perspectives of participants in the trials, and, crucially, those who declined to participate. The BUMP trials were conducted between November 2018 and May 2020. Thirty-nine in-depth qualitative interviews were carried out with a diverse sample of pregnant women invited to participate in the BUMP trials across five maternity units in England. Self-monitoring of blood pressure in the BUMP trials was reassuring, acceptable, and convenient and sometimes alerted women to raised BP. While empowering, taking a series of self-monitored readings also introduced uncertainty and new responsibility. Some declined to participate due to a range of concerns. In the intervention arm, the performance of the BUMP intervention may have been impacted by women’s selective or delayed reporting of raised readings and repeated testing in pursuit of normal BP readings. In the usual care arm, more women were already self-monitoring their blood pressure than expected. The BUMP trials did not find that among pregnant individuals at higher risk of preeclampsia, blood pressure self-monitoring with telemonitoring led to significantly earlier clinic-based detection of hypertension nor improved management of blood pressure. The findings from this study help us understand the role that self-monitoring of blood pressure can play in maternity care pathways. As maternity services consider the balance between face-to-face and remote consultations in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, these findings contribute to the evidence base needed to identify optimal, effective, and equitable approaches to self-monitoring of blood pressure.

Nov 6, 2024 | themandarin.com.au | Melissa Coade |Tom Ravlic |Stephen Bartos |Richard McManus

Paul Brereton has recognised the NACC’s decision not to investigate robodebt, in a message for its inaugural annual report. Last month, inspector Gail Furness found commissioner Paul Brereton was affected by “an error of judgement” and that he should not have participated in decision-making relating to Kathryn Campbell.

Nov 5, 2024 | themandarin.com.au | Peter Gearin |Tom Ravlic |Stephen Bartos |Richard McManus

The Australian Secret Intelligence Service has emerged from the shadows to embark on a recruitment drive. And director-general Kerri Hartland wants YOU. ASIS is Australia’s foreign human intelligence collection agency. It seeks to encourage Australia’s best and brightest that our version of Britain’s MI6 and America’s CIA is worthy of consideration as an employer of choice.

Nov 5, 2024 | themandarin.com.au | Melissa Coade |Tom Ravlic |Richard McManus |Gulcin Ozkan

The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) has confirmed that a reporting trial on after-hours access (AHA) recommended by Stephanie Foster will continue until the end of the 47th Parliament. The reporting mechanism notifies parliamentarians when staff enter the Australian Parliament House building after hours (between 11pm and 5am) daily. It also requires members of parliament (MOP) staff, volunteers, departmental liaison officers and sponsored pass holders to complete an AHA form.

Nov 4, 2024 | themandarin.com.au | Dan Holmes |Tom Ravlic |Richard McManus |Gulcin Ozkan |Daniel Holmes

Public service commissioner Gordon de Brouwer has defended the Public Service Commission’s response to robodebt. The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) Robodebt Code of Conduct inquiry found 12 current and former public servants breached the code 97 times. Former top bureaucrats Kathryn Campbell and Rene Leon are the only public servants named in the report. Addressing senate estimates, de Brouwer said he personally made the decision not to name all the public servants involved.