FEATURE ARTICLES

With the expansion of virtual wards, what steps are being put in place to mitigate the clinical safety risks of spreading assets across multiple teams and organisations, and into the community? Steven Bruce explores the role of a hybrid asset tracking model to support efficient and safe care.

Jennifer Gregory argues that investment in single-use endoscopes could help tackle issues around meeting demand, in the wake of the backlog, as well as addressing concerns over infection transmission. She tackles potential concerns around sustainability and highlights some recycling pilot projects that are due to begin this year.

A new study highlights the need for sex- and gender-informed strategies that recognise the unique health challenges faced by females and males.

Head of Project Management at InnoScot Health, Gillian Henderson, discusses the vital need for fresh NHS workforce-led ideas at a challenging time. She argues that we have never had a greater need to embed an innovation mindset as early as possible, in future members of the NHS workforce, and looks at how clinical innovation can be supported.

The Stokes Centre of Urology team at the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust is breaking records and breaking new ground in prostate cancer surgery. Wissam Abou-Chedid, a Consultant Surgeon at the Trust, and a Prostate Cancer UK Clinical Champion, speaks to CSJ about the potential impact these advances could have if adopted across the UK.

The foundation of efficient and safe working in operating theatres is effective team working. Dora Bilan highlights the need to support each other to achieve success – focusing on staff wellbeing and mental health.

The Institute for Government & Public Policy’s Operating Theatres Show is gaining a reputation as an inspirational and empowering event offering solutions to the critical problems currently facing operating theatres and NHS staff. CSJ provides an insight into the key issues that will be high on the agenda.

At NPAG 2024, human factors in operating theatres were high on the agenda. ‘Incivility can be contagious’ and ‘rudeness can prove deadly’ were among the take-home messages of the day. Louise Frampton reports.

While digital advancements are exciting and hold much promise, they also pose significant issues, especially concerning bias in AI models. Tackling these challenges will require comprehensive strategies for detecting and mitigating bias, alongside robust regulatory frameworks, says Tim Bubb.

Kate Woodhead highlights the need for every health board to enable their teams – and, in particular, their operating theatre teams – to examine their practice so they can reduce their carbon footprint. She discusses the recommendations of The Green Surgery Report and considers some of the potential barriers.

The Infection Prevention Society’s Annual Conference, Infection Prevention 2024, is taking place at the ICC, Birmingham from the 23 -25 September. This educational event features an innovative scientific programme led by international and national experts in infection prevention.

Action is needed to tackle the persistence of blame cultures and fear of speaking up in the NHS. This is according to the latest report by Patient Safety Learning. So, how can we strive to achieve ‘a culture of safety’, where staff feel able to speak up and organisations learn from mistakes without apportioning blame?

Kate Woodhead RGN DMS concludes her series of insights into sustainability in healthcare, focusing on plans to achieve ‘greener’ surgery in the future. She says that enthusiastic champions will be vital to driving improvement, going forward, and outlines some of the key strategies that could help contribute towards a Net Zero NHS.

Richard Bancroft, BSc (Hons), senior director scientific, at STERIS, discusses the importance of high-performance cleaning chemistries for cleaning reusable medical devices.

After years of excessive and sometimes inappropriate use of antimicrobials, an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi are no longer susceptible to the common medicines used to treat them. Simon Aylen discusses the history and challenges of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the strategies we can employ to control and contain this global threat.

Gary Mooney discusses the role of technology in driving safety improvements in medication management, as well as the personalisation of therapies through pharmacogenomics.

The total number of children, adolescents and adults worldwide living with obesity has surpassed one billion, according to a global analysis published in The Lancet. These trends, together with the declining prevalence of people who are underweight since 1990, make obesity the most common form of malnutrition in most countries.

Dr. Mark Gostock and Dr. Iain Miller discuss the potential for artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to support early diagnosis of sepsis and reduce antimicrobial resistance.

Kerry Dolan provides an insight into the problem of biofilms and discusses why endoscope pre-cleaning is crucial for patient safety.

Investment in infection prevention training and development for all staff groups is vital to drive improvement in environmental hygiene, says Yvonne Spencer. However, training is just one strand of a holistic IPC strategy – creating the right cleaning culture in the healthcare setting is just as important.