FEATURE ARTICLES

Clare Clark, BSc (Hons) Microbiology, technical support manager at schülke UK, believes improved cleaning performance should not be achieved at the expense of material compatibility, or of increasing costs to the health service.

As The Clinical Services Journal discovers, the programme of events for Medica 2018 features product ranges from more than 5000 exhibitors from 70 countries.

Dr Andrew Kemp PhD, principal scientific officer at Q Technologies group, University of Lincoln, believes Bacteria Specific Rapid Metabolic Assay (BSRMA) could take us a step closer to a new era in bacterial detection.

York University was the venue for this year’s annual residential conference for the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP). Almost 400 delegates enjoyed a three stream programme with an enormous variety of topics and speakers with a diverse range of content. Among the visitors was CSJ technical editor, Kate Woodhead RGB, DMS.

York University was the venue for this year’s annual residential conference for the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP). Almost 400 delegates enjoyed a three stream programme with an enormous variety of topics and speakers with a diverse range of content. Among the visitors was CSJ technical editor, Kate Woodhead RGB, DMS.

Monika Nott, inventory management improvement project lead at Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, and participant member of the Southern GS1 and Scan4Safety adoption group, explains how the Trust has embarked on a successful inventory management improvement plan, and what this can mean to clinical teams.

The principles of the Lord Darzi interim report were published in the August 2018 edition of CSJ. Kate Woodhead RGB, DMS, concludes by reviewing the thinking involved in his final report.

The UK’s 2019 exit from the European Union looms, and as the prospect of a ‘No Deal’ Brexit approaches, new challenges abound. One obstacle facing the national healthcare provider - and patients in both the UK and EU - is a potentially disrupted supply of medicines.

For more than 30 years, Birmingham’s Edgbaston was home to the world-famous BBC Pebble MillStudios. Now, the site –which is land-owned by Calthorpe Estates –is being transformed into a 27 acre world class medicaldestination featuring leading hospitals, healthcare centres and the latest cutting-edge medical facilities.

In a bid to address the issues surrounding ultrasonic cleaning technology, David Jones, MD Alphasonics, discusses a project to develop Advanced Ultrasonic Protein Removal Technology for cleaning surgical equipment.

Patient monitoring in theatres is an important aspect of delivering safe, optimal care and the AAGBI outlines the minimum standards of monitoring and the technologies required – both during surgery and recovery.

There is increasing awareness of the need to warm patients with forced air or other warming devices, but infusion and insufflation of cold fluids and gas can also contribute to inadvertent perioperative hypothermia. Now there is increasing interest in the role of nutrition in maintaining normothermia.

With screening services across the country faced with significant budget cuts, while certain sexually transmitted infections are on the rise, clinics are reaching crisis point as they attempt to do more with less.

In a recent Westminster debate, ‘Raising standards of infection prevention and control in the NHS’, Andrea Jenkyns, MP for Morley and Outwood, raised her concerns regarding hand hygiene and infection prevention, and the current method of direct observation to measure hand hygiene compliance.

The British Society of Gastroenterology’s (BSG) annual meeting took place at ACC Liverpool, by King’s Dock, and provided 50 symposia from a broad range of specialists. Showcasing the best of British gastroenterology, hepatology and endoscopy expertise, The Clinical Services Journal highlights some of the best 2018 BSG Annual Meeting talks.

Dr Ojan Assadian – president of the Austrian Society for Infection Control and a team from Novaerus, a global company working to disinfect and purify indoor air for optimal human health, examine the current limitations of hand hygiene and surface cleaning. They believe a third strategy - air disinfection, to inactivate viable particles before they settle on surfaces, can provide additional protection against infection.

In a speech to NHS bosses in 2016, Simon Stevens(NHS England’s CEO) urged doctors, nurses and NHS managers to “grab with both hands” the growing opportunitiestechnology offers both to help promote health and tackle the service’s chronic financial problems by saving on treatment and rehabilitation costs.1

The Hilton Birmingham Metropole, NEC Birmingham, played host to ‘Completing the Picture’ 2018, an annual educational symposium that brought together clinical, technical and procurement health professionals for a unique day of education and discussion.

In February 2016, Lord Carter’s report highlighted the opportunity to save up to £5 billion by tackling unwanted variation – a potential contribution of at least 9% on the £55.6 bn he spent on NHS acute hospitals. So what action has been taken to drive this forward and deliver these savings?

The role that the NHS organisations play in supporting staff who raise concerns about the quality of care and patient safety issues as well as bullying and harassment from others, was a key insight within Sir Robert Francis’ investigations following the failures at Mid Staffs Hospital. The Clinical Services Journal’s technical editor, Kate Woodhead RGB, DMS, reports.