FEATURE ARTICLES

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.

Chris Whitehouse, chairman of the Urology Trade Association, discusses the impact of the availability of medical devices on management of continence issues affecting millions of patients across the UK; and how the NHS, when contemplating serious financial pressures, faces demands to reduce costs that reduce availability of medical devices and impact of quality of care.

Updates and progress around medical devices and IT connectivity issues will be discussed at this year’s National Performance Advisory Group’s (NPAG) annual conference, which is taking place at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, on 12 September.

A review by Interface Clinical Services of 135,000 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) at more than a 1,000 GP practices led to over 25,000 medical interventions, which is believed to have prevented hundreds of strokes and saved the NHS millions of pounds

Technical editor Kate Woodhead RGN DMSprovides an in-depth analysis of Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) – a programme designed to improve clinical quality and efficiency within the NHS.

Prioritising staff health and wellbeing is crucial to the performance of NHS Trusts and it is now being incentivised. So have lessons been learned from high profile reviews or are staff now becoming the ‘shock absorbers’ of a system under pressure? The Clinical Services Journal reports.

The application of a new technology could see a reduction in surface contamination on switches and control panels that are used to operate hospital equipment. This article looks at the rise of antimicrobial resistance and how a range of additives could help combat the problem.

Richard Bancroft, registered authorising engineer (decontamination) and science & technical director for STERIS Corporation, looks at the area of reusable medical devices and the types of detergents that can be used to clean them.

A bundled approach is the best way of ensuring hospitals stay clean and remain infection-free. That’s the view of Peter Teska, global healthcare sector expert at Diversey Care, which is part of Sealed Air. During a trip over from the US he took time out to speak to The Clinical Services Journal editor Alec Peachey.