NEWS
Calls to improve quality of ward rounds
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are calling for ward rounds to be made the cornerstone of patient care, and for a ‘concerted culture change’ with clinical staff, managers and hospital executives engaging with, and focusing on, improving the quality of ward rounds. In a statement, the RCP and RCN
commented that ward rounds have often been a neglected part of the planning and organisation of inpatient care. There remains considerable
Educationaltoolon anaesthetising obese patients
The Society for Obesity and Bariatric Anaesthesia (SOBA) has produced a 10 minute educational DVD entitled Safe anesthesia for the morbid obese patient. The DVD is aimed at the whole theatre team and not just anaesthetists. Many practitioners are apprehensive
dealing with patients weighing over about 130 kg, or BMI of 50+, and this DVD provides expert advice and tips for dealing with all parts of the patient’s surgical pathway – from pre-operative assessment, admission to hospital, going to theatre, manual handling, pre-, peri- and post- operative theatre management, recovery and post-operative care. For further details, email:
dvd@sobauk.com
variation between hospitals in both how and why ward rounds are conducted, and their clinical importance to patients is often underestimated. They highlighted the value of ward rounds
in coordinating care, pointing out that the information gained and shared is crucial to the ongoing care of the patient. RCP and RCN made the case that restoring the ward round is essential for patient safety, as well as building trust with patients. The recommendations include: • Preparation for the ward round should include a pre-round briefing.
• Consultant-led ward rounds should be conducted in the morning to facilitate timely completion of tasks during the working day.
• A nurse should be present at every bedside as part of the ward round.
• Patients, carers and relatives should be provided with a ‘summary sheet’ clearly presenting information discussed in the ward round.
• Patients with dementia and learning disabilities should be supported as far as possible to make decisions about their care.
• Patients’ records should be kept centrally to promote effective communication and team-working.
• Ward-round teams should utilise locally adapted checklists to reduce omissions, improve patient safety and strengthen multidisciplinary communication.
Research highlights social inequalities in vaccine uptake
New research shows that uptake of the national human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation programme differs across the UK, revealing local health inequalities with regard to cervical cancer risk. The research highlighted that some areas
are achieving a high vaccination rate and other areas achieving less comprehensive coverage. Published in the journal, PLOS ONE, the
research explores the reasons why some girls and young women haven’t received the routine HPV vaccination, challenging previously held conceptions about the importance of ethnicity and religion in uptake rates. “There’s no question that the UK national
HPV immunisation programme is one of the most successful in the world, but this research has highlighted thousands of young women
12 THE CLINICAL SERVICES JOURNAL
who have either not been offered the vaccine, or where more could have been done to increase uptake. What’s more, there is a group of young women in certain social classes or who do not regularly attend school that could be vulnerable in terms of HPV risk. More efforts could be made to vaccinate these vulnerable young women who have not yet received the vaccine,” said Dr Tammy Boyce, author of the paper and honorary lecturer, Centre for Infection Prevention and Management, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London. School nurses have stated that young
women’s social class and educational status were the most important factors in whether vaccination would be missed, rather than religious beliefs or ethnicity, which previous research had found.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Fall in risk of resistance to gonorrhoea treatments
Latest Health Protection Agency (HPA) surveillance figures indicate that, for the first time in five years, the risk of resistance developing in currently recommended gonorrhoea treatments fell slightly in 2011. However, experts urge continued vigilance as
new diagnoses of gonorrhoea rose 25% in the same year, to nearly 21,000 cases, as reported by the HPA in May 2012. The findings remain a cause of concern as, of the gonorrhoea diagnoses looked at, nearly one third were repeat cases and one third were diagnosed alongside another sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Rise in hospital admissions for stress
Hospitals in England dealt with 6,370 admissions for stress in the 12 months to May 2012; a 7% rise on the previous 12 month period. Admission rates were highest among working-aged people (aged 18 to 60), provisional figures from a Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) report show. The report, which considers admissions only (and not cases dealt with solely in A&E) show stress admissions rose at a faster rate than admissions overall, which increased by about 2% in the same period. It also shows the North West had the highest admission rate for stress of any region, while the SouthWest had the lowest.
MHRA guide to good clinical practice
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is launching a new publication – the Good Clinical Practice Guide – which covers legislation, guidance and good practice relating to the conduct of clinical trials of medicinal products for human use in the UK. The guide includes commercial and non-
commercial sponsors and hosts of clinical trials, as well as contract research organisations, clinical research consultants and other niche providers. It also references European legislation and guidance as well as international standards.
Beta-blocker benefits examined
A study has shown beta-blockers are not associated with a lower risk of heart attacks or stroke in certain patients. Researchers looked at data from more than 44,000 people who were at high risk of coronary heart disease, had coronary heart disease, or had suffered a heart attack. Beta-blocker use was not associated with a lower number of heart attacks and strokes across these groups. The research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
NOVEMBER 2012
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