FEATURE ARTICLES

Inadvertent hypothermia can be prevented by very simple measures – including decreasing patient exposure, providing them with warm clothing, as well as active measures such as fluid warming, warming mattresses and warming blankets.

The Clinical Services Journal revisits best practice guidance on patient warming and reports on the latest developments.

Avensys Medical offers a comprehensive maintenance, repair, and equipment audit services as well as a tailored training portfolio for electro-biomedical (EBME) engineers to enable them to get the best out of such equipment, improve patient safety, optimise service life, and save money. JONATHAN BAILLIE reports.

Hospitals have been slow to adopt effective screen and treat approaches, despite clear NICE recommendations to do so and clear evidence for cost savings. SUZANNE CALLANDER reports on the latest data-gathering tool which brings together all the elements needed to achieve these goals.

KATE WOODHEAD RGN DMS provides an overview of new models of care being devised by NHS leaders, which aim to create a more sustainable and integrated service.

A national audit report has identified the need for significant improvement in the delivery of care for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The ‘Sepsis Unplugged’ conference takes place at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham on 21-22 May 2015. Organised by The UK Sepsis Trust, this new conference will bring together all healthcare professions and patient groups as equals and will ask the questions which will help shape better care for patients with sepsis.

Discussion on how the health service can deliver safe, patient centred, compassionate care was the central theme of a recent conference held at The Mermaid, London. High on the agenda was the need for culture change, effective leadership and safe staffing levels. LOUISE FRAMPTON reports.

Every year, on 5 May, healthcare providers across the globe join together to celebrate the World Health Organization’s Save Lives: Clean Your Hands campaign. The 2015 campaign focuses on ‘strengthening healthcare systems and delivery – with hand hygiene as the entrance door’, as MIKE SULLIVAN explains.

Researchers at Dundee University and Scottish Diabetes Research Network found that people with type 1 diabetes die significantly younger than the general population. However, it also identified an improvement in the life expectancy figures of this sector.

SUZANNE CALLANDER reports on activity in the UK to reduce the NHS burden for treating some of the major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

Testing for infectious diseases in minutes, rather than days, is becoming a reality using new smartphone-based biosensor technology, according to DALE ATHEY.

Taking place on 30 April 2015 in Milton Keynes, the EBME seminar is an independent, educational event for healthcare professionals that are responsible for healthcare technology management, procurement, user training, maintenance, and governance. Dr JOHN SANDHAM FIHEEM MIET, chairman, provides an insight into some of the topical issues that will be high on the agenda.

NHS England has announced a new independent taskforce to develop a five-year action plan for cancer services that will improve survival rates and save thousands of lives. It has also launched a new programme to test innovative ways of diagnosing cancer more quickly at more than 60 sites across the country, and committed a further £15m over three years to evaluate and treat patients with a type of modern radiotherapy.

New approaches to screening and treatment of cancer are under development, aimed at speeding up diagnosis and improving outcomes. Researchers presented their latest findings at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference.

Many UK hospitals continue to rely on visual assessment of cleanliness, despite the fact that this can only detect gross lapses in practice. At an international conference on infection control, experts called for the UK to follow Denmark’s lead in adopting an approved standard, using quantitative testing of cleaning performance. LOUISE FRAMPTON reports

KATE WOODHEAD RGN DMS provides an insight into a comprehensive report on the lessons that must be learned from investigations into failures to protect patients and NHS staff.

The Royal College of Surgeons has recently announced a set of proposals, on which it is currently consulting, to improve standards of care for patients having cosmetic surgery. The Clinical Services Journal judges initial reactions to these proposals.

The Clinical Services Journal reports on the findings of the recently published Freedom to Speak up review, which investigate the issues surrounding whistleblowing and the changes needed to create a more honest reporting culture in the NHS.

DR JON MCCORMACK provides an insight into how point of care (PoC) ultrasound systems are proving beneficial to adult and paediatric retrievals services in Scotland, helping pre-hospital care and secondary retrievals from remote sites, as well as aiding routine anaesthesia practice in hospital theatres.