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The draft Mental Health Bill 2004 proposes transfer of the main monitoring functions of the Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC) to the Healthcare Commission (or in practice whatever body succeeds the Healthcare Commission) with the abolition of the MHAC on implementation of the Bill when enacted. This paper describes the present role and remit of the Mental Health Act Commission, outlines the government's strategy on inspection and regulation and identifies the importance of protecting the rights of vulnerable adults and children with mental disorders. The reasons for retaining independent scrutiny and inspection of mental health services are explored and structures and mechanisms that might assist in achieving an effective regulatory environment are proposed.

This article examines the issues involved in the treatment with antipsychotic medication of forensic patients with schizophrenia. Poor compliance with medication may lead to a worsening of positive psychotic symptoms and increase the risk of re‐offending. Nurses and other members of the forensic multidisciplinary team spend long periods of time with patients and may form close therapeutic alliances with them. These staff have an important role in helping patients with medication‐related issues, thereby improving treatment outcome.

The purpose of this paper is to uncover attitudes of physical therapists (PTs) who treat vegetative state (VS) patients, and to raise awareness to ethical and professional dilemmas: Are PTs influenced by ageist perceptions? Do they consider physiotherapy to be effective or futile?

Ethical questions and complex dilemmas are by and large subconscious and rarely explicitly voiced, but can be identified by revealing implicit therapists' personal and professional approach to patients. A quantitative six‐point Likert scale questionnaire was developed, which presented two VS cases – young and old, followed by practical‐ethical questions concerning key issues including: treatment choices, quality of life, prolongation of life, futile treatment (n=101, 68 percent return rate).

The results reveal a complex reality: on the one hand PTs expressed a positive perception of their profession, and consider all treatment components important for VS patients and their families regardless of age; on the other hand, significant preference for treating the younger VS patient was found.

There is a need for raising awareness of physiotherapists to the social phenomenon of ageism and its implications on daily professional and ethical conduct.

While other studies revealed ageism in various health care settings, this study was original both in its methodology (examining implicit ageism via contrasting vignettes), and its unique context (VS patients) which in theory could be viewed as “ageless” in light of the patients' permanent condition.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus has become a major concern of Australian healthcare providers. From rates of barely more than 1 percent in the mid-90s, diabetes is now the leading cause of morbidity in the country. To combat the growing diabetes epidemic, Western Sydney Local Health District created the Western Sydney Diabetes (WSD) initiative. One of the key components of the WSD initiative since 2014 has been joint specialist case conferencing (JSCC). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the JSCC service including both individual- and practice-based changes.

The authors evaluated the JSCC program by conducting an analysis of patient-level data in addition to a discrete practice-level study. The study aim was to examine both the effect on individual patients and the practice, as well as acceptability of the program for both doctors and their patients. The evaluation included data collection and analysis of primary patient outcomes, as well as a survey of GPs and patients. Patient data on primary outcomes were obtained by accessing and downloading them through GP practice management software by GP practice staff.

The authors found significant improvements at both the patient levels, with reductions in BMI, HbA1c and blood pressure sustained at three years, and at the practice level with improvements in markers of patient management. The authors also found high acceptability of the program from both patients and GPs.

This paper provides good evidence for the use of a JSCC program to improve diabetes management in primary care through capacity building with GPs.

Visit time is a crucial aspect of patient–physician interaction; its inadequacy can negatively impact the efficiency of treatment and diagnosis. In addition, visit time is a fundamental demand of patients, and it is one of the rights of every patient. The purpose of this paper is to determine factors influencing the consultation length of physicians and to compare consultation length in different countries.

MEDLINE (PubMed), Web of Science, Cochrane, ProQuest, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched. In addition, references of references were checked, and publication lists of individual scholars in the field were examined. We used data sources up to June 2018, without language restriction. We used a random-effects model for the meta-analyses. Meta-analyses were conducted using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Version (CMA) 3.0.

Of 16,911 identified studies, 189 studies were assessed of which 125 cases (67 percent) have been conducted in the USA. A total of 189 studies, 164 (86.77 percent) involved face-to face-consultations. The effects of three variables, physician gender, patient gender, and type of consultation were analyzed. According to moderate and strong evidence studies, no significant difference was found in the consultation lengths of female and male doctors (Q=42.72, df=8, I²=81.27, p=0.891) and patients’ gender (Q=55.98, df=11, I²=80.35, p=0.314). In addition, no significant difference was found in the telemedicine or face-to-face visits (Q=41.25, df=5, I²=87.88, p=0.170).

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, all of physicians’ visits in 34 countries were surveyed. The evidence suggests that specified variables do not influence the length of consultations. Good relationship is essential to a safe and high-quality consultation and referral process. A high-quality consultation can improve decisions and quality of visits, treatment effectiveness, efficiency of service, quality of care, patient safety and physician and patient satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight that the lack of a specific right to a medical translator under International Law can be considered an outlier when viewed within the context of the copious legislation regarding translation in general. Given the lack of specific legislation guaranteeing the right to a medical translator under International Law, the paper further aims to highlight the resulting effects on medical providers and patients.

The paper opted for a detailed historical legal analysis regarding the history of translation under International Law in general, as well as specific international, intranational, and regional legislation regarding the right to a translator in medical settings. The data were complemented by a thorough review of documentary analysis of existing scholarship, detailing the experiences of medical providers and patients.

The paper provides insights as to how international legislators have traditionally viewed medical translation: whether as a matter of international relations, access to care, discrimination, or as a fundamental part of the Right to Health. The paper finds that differing views on the subject have result in nations, regions, and medical providers having great discretion in deciding which patients are provided with a translator. The paper finds that such decisions are often made on a basis other than that of patient health.

Because the provisioning of translators in medical settings currently inevitably falls to a nation or single institution, research into which patients receive a translator and why lacks generalizability (because empirical data are not available for every region of the world). Researchers in future are encouraged to further develop the empirical evidence found in their regions with a more quantitative approach, documenting the non-provisioning of translators in their areas and categorizing the motives behind the decisions of medical providers in a given area.

The paper includes implications for patients who have suffered adverse events after miscommunication (or lack of communication) with their medical providers. The paper aims to investigate in what venue may they seek legal remedy, and on what grounds. The paper also has implications for national and regional governments. Given the lack of binding International Law regarding medical translation, national and regional governments attempt to guarantee the provisioning of translators to some patients and not others. Such decisions may become political and have unintended consequences for medical providers and patients alike.

The paper includes implications for international legislators and national legislators. The paper also includes implications for medical providers and patients, as language barriers are becoming a more common feature in medical facilities around the world due to globalization and migration. The rate of patients suffering adverse events after not being provided with a competent medical interpreter is bound to rise.

This paper fulfills a need to examine medical translation in the context of other types of translation under International Law. This paper fulfills a need to study how the lack of specific International Legislation guaranteeing the right to medical translation has implications for national/regional legislators, medical providers, and patients alike. This paper fulfills a need to discuss the legal remedies available to patients who have suffered adverse medical events after not being able to communicate with their medical provider.

Describes how senior managers and central support office staff at Alliance Medical – a company that provides health scans – visited front-line employees to get a flavor of how they operate.

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Explores the reasons for the initiative and its outcomes. Also describes how the company is meeting the increasing demand for scanning services.

Explains that the day-in-the-life initiative provided all parties with a better understanding of how the different functions work together to ensure a high-quality imaging service for patients.

Describes how the company has extended the hours of operation at its busiest sites, reduced waiting times and improved the level of care.

Reveals that, with the number of magnetic-resonance-imaging scans increasing by around 10 per cent a year, there is a strong financial case for extending hours and improving productivity through the most efficient use of scanning services. The Alliance Medical experience highlights one way in which this can be achieved.

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Emphasizes the importance of key performance indicators including hours of uptime and the number of patients scanned per hour. These statistics are reported daily right up to board level.

Describes a study of three community nursing services provided by North Staffordshire Health Authority, which was carried out during the summer of 1991. Both the type and focus of quality measurement reported here are fairly unique. While the development of quality measures is yet at an early stage, most measures to date are quantitative. These can inform about volume of use of a service, but not its quality. The measures designed for this study were qualitative. These, when combined with quantitative data (statistics, routinely collected), yield much richer and more complete information as a basis for decision making in service planning. Quality data on the use of community services are also under‐represented in the quality literature ‐ most studies to date have used hospital patient services as their source for data collection. Goes some way towards redressing the imbalance.