July’s ‘project of the month’ shines a spotlight on the GSU’s work that has established pathways to rural communities in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries

Rural surgery is a growing area of research within the NIHR Global Surgery Unit. Based on previous studies co-ordinated across the Unit such as FALCON and CHEETAH, data has been obtained from many centres based in rural areas across the organisation’s global network. Structures, process and outcomes from these centres are not known and there is a need for further research into this. Rural based communities are often under-represented within surgical based research, despite the fact that so many patients within LMICs may reside within rural settings.

Currently, work is being carried out on data from approximately 17K patients enrolled on both FALCON and CHEETAH to understand the patient-level factors and operative-level factors that govern these centres. Various colleagues from across the Unit are also working on further data to set research priorities in rural surgery that will help influence research carried out across the network.

The Rural Surgery Operations Team are looking to release a publication in the next few months, in addition to a Delphi planned thereafter to engage the network and further afield.

More information on the Unit’s work across rural communities can be found by clicking here.