FEATURE ARTICLES

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.

How do you gain organisational buy-in to infection prevention? This was one of the key questions examined at the Infection Prevention Society (IPS) annual conference, recently held at ExCel, London. LOUISE FRAMPTON reports.

The NHS is placing greater emphasis on introducing systems that will have a positive impact on clinical outcomes and patient safety, with initiatives such as the ‘Safer Wards, Safer Hospitals’ Technology Fund.

KATE WOODHEAD RGN DMS provides an insight into policy, principles and guidance aimed at improving the quality of care and outcomes for vulnerable adults in the healthcare setting.

A new hospital guide has been published with the aim of helping hospitals to improve their standards of nutrition and hydration care, particularly among the elderly and to help Trusts navigate the complexities involved in delivering good nutritional care.

SUZANNE CALLANDER reports on recent developments surrounding a non-invasive solution for the treatment of established bone fracture non-union.