FEATURE ARTICLES

GRAHAM WHITESIDE explains how medical simulation can help improve patient safety and reduce medical error, ultimately saving lives and reducing healthcare expenditure.

The Government has announced plans to make the NHS ‘more open, more accountable and more focused on safety and compassion’. Among the changes include the publication of hospital staffing levels, the roll out of ‘patient safety champions’ and a new criminal offence for willful neglect.

KATE WOODHEAD RGN DMS considers the actions that must be taken to help tackle the problem of antimicrobial resistance – including the latest guidance, policies and procedures.

Faced with ‘intense, growing and unsustainable pressure’, the delivery of emergency and urgent care is currently under review. A report by Sir Bruce Keogh has set out his vision to ensure a ‘sustainable’ solution.

A presentation at a recent AfPP Patient Safety roadshow focused on infection control procedures in the surgical environment, and challenged the audience to consider the avoidable cost of Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) – to both patients and the NHS.

Innovation in the NHS was recognised at an awards ceremony – highlighting new ideas with the potential to improve patient safety, increase efficiency and enhance clinical practice.

The world’s largest medical trade fair recently provided an international showcase for innovation in medical device technology. The Clinical Services Journal reports.

Vanguard Healthcare has achieved the highest levels of CQC registration, ensuring excellence in infection prevention, the care and welfare of patients, and cooperation with other providers, as well as other key inspection areas.

New techniques in protein detection make it possible to set limits on protein contamination on surgical instruments. In the future, there may be national or local targets on permissible protein residues, but just how much improvement can be reasonably achieved in reducing protein-related infection risk? LOUISE FRAMPTON reports.

An MHRA Medical Device Alert, issued in September 2012, highlighted the continuing lack of standardised procedures for the effective decontamination of TOE probes. SUZANNE CALLANDER reports on the current issues surrounding probe decontamination.

Hand hygiene champions are increasingly finding novel ways of getting the message across that are both fun and memorable. The Schülke Hand Hygiene Champion award recognises some of the innovative work that is driving improvement around the country. LOUISE FRAMPTON reports.

The annual conference of the Institute of Decontamination Sciences (IDSc) will be held at the Hilton Hotel, Blackpool, 2-4 December 2013.

Discussion of the Francis Report on the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust public inquiry has tended to focus on the need for candour when things go wrong, but this is ‘only part of the story’, according to a report by the Health Committee of MPs.

Speakers at the Infection Prevention 2013 event highlighted the need for commissioners and providers to build relationships and to collaborate for the benefit of local communities and patients. SUZANNE CALLANDER reports.

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 80,000 cardiology professionals across Europe and the Mediterranean. Its mission is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Europe.

Do you believe that you have an idea for a genuinely innovative problem-solving solution for a healthcare issue? The Clinical Services Journal finds out more about an NHS innovation service provider who may be able to help turn your ideas into reality.

Care and Support Minister, Norman Lamb is calling for action to improve care for people with learning disabilities, following the publication of a report which showed that this group of patients is at higher risk of dying prematurely due to poor healthcare.

In these difficult financial times, electro-biomedical engineering departments are seeking ways to improve efficiency, consolidate the costs of multi-vendor service contracts, maximise the uptime of expensive equipment and ensure the safety of medical devices.

The changes to practice that operating theatres would have to make, to reduce this preventable harm, are few, simple and low cost, according to KATE WOODHEAD RGN DMS. However, best practice is not being followed in many instances.

PROFESSOR CHRIS REDMAN, Emeritus professor of obstetric medicine, Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, speaks to The Clinical Services Journal about the key challenges of detecting fetal distress, using antepartum cardiotocography, in order to improve outcomes.