FEATURE ARTICLES

Jacque Gerrard, Royal College of Midwives director for England, discusses the transformation of maternity services and why it’s important to keep making improvements in this area.

RCCP chief executive Paul Sharpe and chair Trevor Watts discuss the necessity of professions such as clinical physiology being subject to statutory regulation to guarantee patient safety.

Dr John Dean, clinical director for quality improvement and patient safety, provides an update on the work of the QI Hub at the RCP.

The National Performance Advisory Group’s (NPAG) annual conference took place at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, in September. Alec Peachey reports.

Diabetes UK is recruiting a new group of clinicians to drive change across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The aim is for them to become ‘Clinical Champions’ and help to deliver better care for people with diabetes.

Managing and keeping track of a large fleet of mobile medical devices across three major acute hospital sites can be a serious challenge. That’s why East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) has implemented Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking of medical assets to support their three medical equipment libraries.

With the NHS bracing itself for a bad flu season, technical editor Kate Woodhead RGN, DMS, examines what’s being done to help the organisation cope with winter and highlights the importance of vaccinations for patients and healthcare staff.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) recently published a number of critical recommendations to government to greatly improve safety in the delivery of surgical treatment and patient care. In this article, four of the co-authors of the report ‘Improving the working environment for safe surgical care’ discuss seven recommendations for best practice.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) recently published a number of critical recommendations to government to greatly improve safety in the delivery of surgical treatment and patient care. In this article, four of the co-authors of the report ‘Improving the working environment for safe surgical care’ discuss seven recommendations for best practice.

A year on from the publication of Jim O’Neill’s review on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), new guidance is being issued by NICE on antibiotic prescribing and the latest data suggests that some progress has been achieved. However, WHO data shows that there are many resistant infections that continue to pose a significant threat to public health.

Technical editor Kate Woodhead RGN DMSlooks at the reasons why staff shortages exist in the NHS and what’s being done to address them.

Operating theatre departments are an attractive test bed for inventory management technologies. Nicola Hall, managing director at Ingenica Solutions, explains.

John Hines, research and development director at skin care expert Deb, looks at the impact of hand hygiene on preventing infections in hospitals, and how medical staff can monitor their efforts to comply with hand washing procedures.

The bionic eye is no longer just a work of science fiction, thanks to the pioneering achievements of a Harley Street surgeon. The Clinical Services Journal reports on the latest innovation to restore human vision.

The Why, What and How of Endoscope Decontamination took place at the Postgraduate Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. The British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) study day was aimed at staff who undertake the day-to-day practice of endoscope decontamination. Alec Peachey reports.

Laura Dwyer, chair of the British Society of Gastroenterology’s (BSG) nursing group, and Dr Helen Griffiths, advanced nurse practitioner gastroenterology, discuss endoscopy nursing workforce issues and some of the challenges in ongoing education in gastrointestinal (GI) nursing.

Harry Gray, owner of Avondale Surgical UK, discusses the single use instrument market and discovers that there’s no substitute for quality over quantity.

Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,a leader in improving patient safety,reducing clinical variation and driving operational efficiency in theatre, has implemented GS1 bar codes in an effort to improve patient safety and realise cost efficiencies. Glen Hodgson, head of healthcare at GS1 UK, examines what benefits this has brought to the Trust.

3D printing is transforming the medical field, from surgical instruments and skeletal reconstruction, to medical devices and anatomical models. It is becoming increasingly clear that it is part of the future of patient treatment, for more than just complex procedures – it’s fast becoming part of the everyday as it matures and costs continue to fall.

A new way of harnessing the sun’s rays to power ‘synthetic skin’ could help to create advanced prosthetic limbs capable of returning the sense of touch to amputees. Here, Dr Ravinder Dahiya, from the University of Glasgow’s School of Engineering, discusses the project.