FEATURE ARTICLES

New guidance on surgical instrument disinfection and sterilisation practice, due to be published soon, was discussed at a succession of seminars held by the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM) and titled Decontamination: Focus on HTM 01. JAMES VERRINDER reports on the final event in the series.

With particular focus on the perioperative setting, JOHN BEESLEY outlines legal requirements of manual handling regulations and emphasises that risk of injury must be adequately assessed.

The NHS must look at ways to save money while retaining optimum standards of patient care, says JOHN BENTLEY, business director, Surgical Division, Mölnlycke Health Care UK.

An advanced surgical system is proving to be significantly advantageous for prostate cancer patients. The Clinical Services Journal reports.

Dr SIMON ECCLES, consultant in emergency medicine at the Homerton University Hospital, London, and the national clinical lead, NHS Connecting for Health, talks to The Clinical Services Journal about the vital role the National Programme for IT will play in the future delivery of healthcare.

As patient care becomes more complex and frequently involves more than one department, Dräger Medical has developed a system that not only allows data to be collected at a single point, but also enables this information to be accessed remotely.

Following on from her article in the February issue of The Clinical Services Journal, this month Dr ELOISE CARR reports on the results of research into the effect of postoperative pain on patient outcomes.

Increased use of antimicrobial technologies could have major importance in the fight against the spread of bacteria in the healthcare environment. Maintaining an effective infection control regime is essential, and this is recognised by patients who are being given choice as to where they are treated. TREVOR PAYNE reports.

The BMA has warned that NHS debt is taking its toll on the ability of accident and emergency departments in England to deliver care. The Clinical Services Journal reports.

Tackling infections in the healthcare setting needs common sense, a clear pursuit of good hygiene practice, sound product purchasing and the maintenance of a collective responsibility, a specially convened meeting in Staffordshire determined. NICHOLAS MARSHALL reports.

The need for the clinical professions to be closely involved in the driving forward of effective utilisation of information technology is underlined in a British Computer Society’s Health Informatics Forum Strategic Panel report. The Clinical Services Journal reviews the document.

Medical speech recognition has come a long way since its early days. What was originally nice-to-have software for technology-loving healthcare professionals has now become an indispensable working tool that physicians and medical transcriptionists use to make essential gains in efficiency and productivity, thereby reducing report turn-around times and improving patient care. CSJ reports.

The healthcare setting remains complex and at times chaotic. Adding e-health into this mix is proving to be an arduous process. DEBBIE LEE RN DipN CIM MBA looks into some of the reasons why this continues to be the case.

JANE REID, chair of the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP), talks to The Clinical Services Journal about issues the organisation faces and how it is committed, through supporting members, to furthering the delivery of quality patient care and safety.

A clinical trial may provide additional validation for the use of a novel molecular image agent in oncology applications. The Clinical Services Journal reports.

The role of design in reducing adverse incidents and medical errors within the NHS is vital. COLUM LOWE, head of design and human factors, National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), examines the route to improvement.

Eight cases of hospital-associated transmission of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) positive community-associated MRSA have been reported in the West Midlands. But what exactly is this bug and how can it best be dealt with? CSJ reports.

The recently published operating framework for the NHS in England sets out the priorities for the year ahead. The Clinical Services Journal reports on the significant changes.

Dr ELOISE CARR explores the effect of postoperative pain on patient outcomes following surgery. The second part of this article will be published in the March 2007 edition of The Clinical Services Journal.

New NICE obesity guidelines aim to effect change both inside and outside the NHS. The Clinical Services Journal reports.