Attending the Public Health Research and Science Conference

By Dr Beth Levick, Research Fellow.

Last month (20th - 21st March) I had the opportunity to present our group’s research findings at the PHE Public Health Research and Science Conference.

The conference was hugely varied bringing together researchers, clinicians and public health experts from across the UK, covering topics such as obesity, alcohol and pregnancy grants.
It was a fantastic opportunity to see the breadth of public health research, and see how our work connects in with the research going across the whole field.

I presented findings from our investigation of how radiotherapy is used to treat rectal cancer across England. There are substantial differences between NHS Trusts in what kind of radiotherapy is used, and how it is used. I explained that an important next step from these findings might be to better unify the approach across the NHS.

The audience was interested in the work and keen to recommend we communicate it nationally, especially with the cancer networks. The session chair, who had been involved in the radiotherapy dataset moving to PHE, commented that it was positive to see the data being used in this way to get real insight into clinical practice and patient outcomes.

Unfortunately I do have to report that, my team didn’t win the quiz in the evening, although I did contribute with knowledge of the locations of (some) Tate galleries and Scissor Sisters’ lyrics!

I’m now looking forward to presenting again at the PHE Cancer Services, Data and Outcomes Conference in June and The Association of Coloproctologists of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI) Annual Meeting in July.

Beth is a research fellow using routine data to describe how colorectal cancer is treated across England, and outcomes for patients receiving different treatments.