FEATURE ARTICLES

The Infection Prevention Society annual conference and exhibition has become an important event in the calendar of healthcare professionals involved in infection prevention and control. This year the event will again be held in Bournemouth, from 19-21 September.

JAMES E C BEAVES BSc discusses the reasons for placing the additional burden of E. coli bacteraemia reporting on already stretched microbiology departments and looks at the tools available to make the identification of resistant E. coli bacteraemias quicker and easier.

DAVID BENNETT examines how a new range of biological grafts is adding a new dimension to soft tissue repair.

Point-of-care immunoassay cardiac and thrombosis testing in the A&E department at Stoke Mandeville Hospital is saving time and resources and improving patient care.

Following the recent NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) pledge, to increase organ donation by 50% by 2013, BARRY HILL examines the background to this move and the key role being played within it by specialist organ donation healthcare professionals.

As the NHS prepares itself for budget cuts – with £20 billion needing to be slashed over just a few years – the healthcare industry needs to find cost savings without affecting front-line services or staff morale.

Public confidence can be shaken in an instant by the wrong type of headline relating to contamination or infection. Over the past 10 years, major strides have been made in driving up and monitoring standards.

SUZANNE CALLANDER reviews a recent report commissioned by The King’s Fund, which examines the leadership and management skills needed to ensure that the NHS is able to meet the challenges that await it in the future.

SUZANNE CALLANDER reports on the Smart Solutions competition which is organised by TrusTECH, the North West NHS Innovation Hub.

KATE WOODHEAD RGN DMS reports on the considerable changes to the Government Health and Social Care Bill that look set to follow the publication of the results of the Future Forums report.

Workplace bullying and harassment can have a devastating effect not only on the victim, but also on people connected to the victim. In the case of nursing staff, the effects can extend to patients and colleagues and can have an impact on the organisation as a whole.

The Clinical Services Journal reports on The Productive Ward: Releasing time to care programme and looks at its successful implementation at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, where is has helped to improve infection control rates and reduce medication errors.

The Clinical Services Journal takes a closer look at the controversial report Shedding the Pounds which looks at trends in obesity and the current provision of bariatric surgery in England.

The Clinical Services Journal reports on the need to better understand and record information pertaining to the patient experience, with a view to improving patient outcome and increasing satisfaction levels in line with Government ambitions.

In the final installment of his series, GUY HIRST, an expert in human factors training, looks at strategies from the aviation industry that could be transferred to the clinical environment to improve the working environment for healthcare staff and improve patient safety.

SUZANNE CALLANDER reviews a recently published report which calls for a renewed focus on the management and treatment of patients who have suffered a heart attack or episode of unstable angina.

The Clinical Services Journal reports on an alternative to traditional surgical sealants, in the form of a surgical sealant film and brings together evidence of its benefits in a variety of different procedures.

The Clinical Services Journal reports on a recent study undertaken on an automated alternative to the traditional Doppler methods used to detect peripheral arterial disease by taking ankle brachial pressure index measurements.

Dr DAVID HADDOW explores the latest approaches to healing acute burns and looks at how these developments could also offer opportunities for the healing of other problematic wounds.

RICHARD SHORNEY and Dr KAREN OUSEY discuss how the specialty of tissue viability can align with the ideals of the quality agenda. They argue that investment in tissue viability leads to improvements in quality, reduced hospital admissions and significant savings.