Wise owls and professors: the role of older researchers in the review of the National Service Framework for Older People

Aim This article explores the involvement of older people in research and inspection, reflecting on the learning from the recent ‘joint review’ of the National Service Framework for Older People in England. Methodological context Working in 10 different localities, the ‘joint review’ comprised a formal inspection of health and local council services (carried out by the Healthcare Commission, Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Audit Commission) and an externally commissioned university‐led research project designed to ascertain the views and experiences of older people living in the 10 inspection sites. In total, 1839 older people were interviewed individually and through focus groups and an additional 4200 older people completed questionnaires. A distinctive feature of the research was the inclusion of a team of older researchers who had undertaken training in research methods in later life. Reflections of the older researchers and other members of the research team on undertaking this large‐scale user involvement project were ascertained via a day‐long seminar which was tape recorded and transcribed. Learning While many espouse the principle of ‘service user involvement’ in research, there is a need to move beyond the rhetoric of participation and any blanket assumptions about what it means to be an ‘older researcher’, a ‘service user researcher’ or indeed, a ‘professional researcher’. This means ensuring that within any given team (user‐controlled or collaborative) there are clear lines of accountability and equal opportunities for individual appraisal, support, and personal or professional development. Such considerations are key to working with ‘older researchers’ and encouraging diversity in the research workforce more generally.     

Patient choice and equity in the British National Health Service: towards developing an alternative framework

Choice and competition have been phased into many public health systems with the aim of achieving various and potentially exclusive goals such as improving efficiency, quality and responsiveness to users’ needs. Yet their use to promote equity of access as evidenced recently in the British National Health Service (the NHS) is unprecedented. Giving users the power of exit over unresponsive providers is meant to address the failures of previous policies. This paper shows that there is a potential conflict between choice and equity, in terms of both the values and the outcomes each policy is likely to produce. Using a multidisciplinary and multidimensional framework, drawn from Bourdieusian sociology, feminist theory and economics, the study highlights the implications of the simplistic and one‐sided conception of individual patient choice in relation to equity. It also uses the existing evidence on the impact of market competition and choice, in the UK and elsewhere, to emphasise the importance of socio‐economic and psycho‐social factors, which are left out of current policy considerations.     

The snakes and ladders of National Health Service management in England

This article explores managerial careers in the National Health Service (NHS) through the lens of talent management, particularly focusing on how managers view barriers (snakes) and facilitators (ladders) to career progression. There is a significant literature on enablers and barriers to career progression, but much of this focuses on specific groups such as black and minority ethnic and female workers, and there is relatively little material on the general workforce of the NHS. The research design is a mixed method quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (interview and focus group) approach consisting of a quasi‐probability element that focuses on a maximum variety sample and a purposive element that seeks policy views at central and strategic health authority level, and examines talent management in high‐performing NHS organisations. Ladders are identified as follows: volunteering, secondment, networking, mentoring, academic qualifications, development, good role models/managers and appraisal/personal development plan. Snakes are identified as managing expectations; identity and cognitive diversity; location; sector; NHS toxic and favouritism culture; poor talent spotting; credentialism; exclusive approach to talent; and sustainability. It concludes that while previous conceptual and empirical work is fairly clear on any ladders, it is less clear on snakes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coronary heart disease: pathophysiological events and risk factors

Summary Cardiovascular disease remains the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the UK, causing more than 110 000 deaths per annum. Coronary risk is multifactorial, being a composite of genetic and environmental determinants. Its major risk factors include hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obesity, plasma clotting factor concentrations, smoking and diabetes mellitus. The overall heritability of coronary heart disease has been estimated to be between 15 and 50%, and hence, there is a substantial potential role for environmental factors, including diet, to modify coronary risk. Studies in experimental animal models have permitted a more detailed analysis of the cellular events by which atherosclerosis is initiated and progresses. This work has identified the endothelium as a primary site of injury, leading to endothelial dysfunction. Detailed histological and radiological studies in man have led to the identification of features of atherosclerotic plaques that make them more vulnerable to abrupt rupture. The possible role of infection and inflammation in this process is supported by epidemiological data. These new insights into the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis have been accompanied by the identification of a new generation of risk factors.     

Management of heart failure in primary care after implementation of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: To compare the management of heart failure with the standards set out in the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study in 26 general practices, with a combined list size of 256,188, that are members of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Primary Care Research Network. METHODS: Information was extracted on the management of 2129 patients with heart failure, of whom 2097 were aged 45 years and over. RESULTS: The prevalence of heart failure was 8.3 per 1000. Prevalence rates increased with age, from 0.2 per 1000 in people aged under 35 years of age to 125 per 1000 in those aged 85 years and over. Coronary heart disease (present in 47%) was the most common comorbid condition in men with heart failure, whereas hypertension (present in 46%) was the most common condition in women. Recording of cardiovascular risk factors was generally higher in younger patients than in older patients, and in men than in women. Blood pressure (92% of men and 90% of women) and smoking status (84% of men and 77% of women) were generally the best-recorded cardiovascular risk factors. Blood electrolytes were recorded in about 83% of men and 75% of women. Only 17% of men and 11% of women with heart failure had a record of undergoing an echocardiogram. Use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or antagonists was 76% in men with heart failure and 68% in women; lowest rates were seen in older patients. Uptake of influenza immunization was generally high, at 85% in men and 84% in women. CONCLUSIONS: The use of ACE inhibitors in patients with heart failure was higher than in some previous studies. However, many patients have no documentation in their computerized medical records of having undergone key investigations, such as echocardiography.     

Assessing risk by analogy: a case study of us medical device risk management policy

Medical devices occupy an increasingly important place in global medical care, and yet the risk management systems that govern them are largely overlooked in academic literatures. In the US, home to the largest medical devices market, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation allows most medical devices to enter the market based on analogy, or substantial equivalence, with previously marketed devices. Thus, risk assessment is administered without premarket clinical trials for safety and efficacy. This system represents a permissive regulatory regime based in neoliberal tenets, where risk, in the form of adverse events, is inherently tolerated within governance structures, evidencing risk colonisation. This paper employs a case study approach, examining market clearances of vaginal mesh surgical devices, which have been the subject of US multi-district litigation. We identified 266 devices cleared before 31 December 2017 and analysed the complicated web of device ‘ancestry’ whereby devices as disparate as cardiac patches and hernia mesh allowed clearance of surgical devices for urogynecology. Perhaps of greatest concern, 10 recalled or withdrawn devices influenced new device clearances for up to 17 years after their market-removal. While the FDA must balance its dual mandate to safeguard patients and promote innovation, we find that medical device regulation structurally favours innovation over safety. ‘Light touch’ risk assessment is not counterbalanced with postmarket mechanisms to safeguard against residual and developmental risks that are associated with medical devices, particularly permanent implants. The proportionality principle associated with a precautionary approach should inform medical device risk management.     

Kidney disease management in UK primary care: guidelines, incentives and information technology

The last few years have seen new developments to understand and tackle the significant public health issue posed by chronic kidney disease (CKD). Established renal disease currently consumes 2% of the UK National Health Service budget and predictions are that this figure will increase significantly due to the rising number of people requiring renal replacement therapy fuelled by the ageing population and the diabetes mellitus epidemic. This paper reviews the scale of CKD and discusses the new developments such as staging, referral guidelines and new Department of Health incentives brought about to improve awareness. The importance of Information Technology in assisting the management of renal disease is also outlined. We identify various types of intervention which might be used to do this: feedback in an educational context, the establishment of computerized decision support and enhancement of the patient journey. Many principles may be extended to the management of any chronic disease. While new developments are necessary to improve care, wider implementation is required to be able to see if improved outcomes are achieved.     

Violence against doctors: a medical(ised) problem? The case of National Health Service general practitioners

Violence against doctors provides an illuminating context for studying medicalisation and its limits in the management of deviance. The paper examines the emergence of such violence as a policy issue in England, with particular reference to general practitioners (GPs) in the National Health Service. Recent guidance exhorts doctors to exercise ‘zero tolerance’ with respect to acts of violence. The emphasis is on risk management and protecting victims rather than on resolving the perpetrators’ problems. The paper argues that this policy frame is consistent with recent claims from criminologists that there is a new ‘turn’ in penal policy, away from rehabilitation and addressing the needs of individual offenders. However, responses of individual GPs, obtained through a postal questionnaire sent to c.1000 GPs and in‐depth interviews with a sub‐sample, suggest that doctors are not ‘zero tolerant’ in responding to attacks. But nor are they medical imperialists seeking to include all perpetrators within their professional jurisdiction. Rather, they exercise professional discretion about behaviours which often fall into a ‘grey area’ between ‘illness’ and ‘crime’, and about individuals who are not clearly categorisable as either ‘sick’or‘bad’.     

National Health Insurance Scheme: An Assessment of Service Quality and Clients' Dissatisfaction

BackgroundHealth Insurance Scheme (NHIS), a medical package to start with a fraction of Nigerians at its inception, with the expectation of optimal services to all in the long The Nigerian government established National run. However, there are complaints and dissatisfaction of enrolees of the scheme. This study determined factors responsible for enrolees'' dissatisfaction of services in a general hospital within the federal capital territory, Abuja.MethodThree hundred enrolees of National Health Insurance Scheme at the Kubwa general hospital were enrolled. Semi structured questionnaires were used to obtain information on socio-demography, education, enrolee status, perception of the scheme and factors responsible for enrolees'' dissatisfaction. SPSS version 22 was used to analyse Data using percentage.ResultsMajority (66.3%) of the respondents were between 35 and 54 years while 28.5% were below 35years and 11.8% (32) were above 54years with the male to female ratio was 1.03:1. Sixty percent (179) of the respondents had a minimum of tertiary education with just 1.8% having primary education. Most (69.9% and 79.6%) respondents were principal enrolees and public servants respectively. Seventy percent of the respondents have been enrolled in NHIS for more than 3years and had a good perspective of the scheme. However, 30% of the respondents were not satisfied with NHIS services with 8.6% and 15.4% describing the services as substandard and below expectations respectively. Half (50.7%) of the respondents would consider an alternative to NHIS suggesting their dissatisfaction. The major factors responsible for dissatisfaction were billing system, long waiting hours and staff attitude accounting for 46.9%, 59.4% and 7.8% respectively.ConclusionThis study revealed that the level of clients'' dissatisfaction with NHIS services is high despite their acceptance of the scheme with the major areas of concern being the billing system, waiting time and staff attitude. Therefore, it is necessary for the providers to look more into these areas as targets for service delivery improvement.     

Secondary prevention of coronary heart disease in older British men: extent of inequalities before and after implementation of the National Service Framework

BACKGROUND: Deficiencies in implementation of secondary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) have been identified. We explored the extent of medication use for secondary prevention of CHD since the introduction of the National Service Framework (NSF) for CHD and the influence of patient age, social class, region and time since diagnosis in older British men. METHODS: Prospective study in 24 British towns using patient information on medication use in 1998-2000 and 2003. Subjects were men with medically recorded diagnosis of myocardial infarction or angina, aged 62-85 years in 2003. Prevalence of medication use (aspirin, statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and beta-blockers) in 1998-2000 and 2003 was ascertained. RESULTS: Prevalence of use of all drugs increased in 2003 and was markedly higher in patients with a history of myocardial infarction than angina. Older age was related to lower prevalence of drug use, particularly statins. In 2000, older subjects (74-85 years) were 60% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 41-72 per cent] less likely to receive statins compared with younger subjects (62-73 years); this pattern changed very little between 2000 and 2003. Although social class appeared to have little relation to drug use, the prevalence of use of all medications decreased with increasing time since diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Although the uptake of medications for secondary prevention in CHD patients increased since the NSF in 2000, marked age inequalities in statin use were present both in 1998-2000 and 2003. Further action is needed to reduce these inequalities, because older patients are at particularly high risk of recurrent and fatal CHD.     

The Americanization of the British National Health Service: A typological approach

There have been many different claims that the British National Health Service (NHS) is becoming ‘Americanized’. Focusing on the United Kingdom, this article critically analyses the “Americanization” of the NHS in three main sections. First, we explore the basic meanings of the term. Second, we examine the development of the discourse about Americanization. Third, we focus on one of many possible meanings of Americanization, namely system change. Focusing on this most demanding dimension of Americanization, we suggest that most changes have been ‘internal changes of levels’ (where there is a shift of levels in one or more dimensions but without changing the dominant form) or ‘internal system changes’ (where only one dimension changes its dominant form) rather than a ‘system change’ (from one ideal type to another).     

澳大利亚医疗风险监管现状及措施的循证评价

目的循证评价澳大利亚医疗风险防范的现状及措施,为我国医疗风险监测预警机制的制定提供决策依据。方法根据课题组制定的统一检索策略,计算机检索外文:EI(1969—2006),SCI和SSCI(1975—2006),EMBASE(1966—2006),SCOPUS(100%包含MEDLINE)(1960—2006);中文:VIP(1989—2006),CNKI(1979—2006)及官方网站如澳大利亚安全和质量委员会等。系统搜集有关澳大利亚医疗风险、病人安全和医疗差错等方面的相关文献,检索时间截至2006年12月。结果最终纳入15篇,B级10篇(占70%),C级5篇(占30%),主要涉及医疗风险管理、医疗差错和病人安全等内容。澳大利亚通过建立不良事件报告程序、临床风险管理程序,形成了对医疗风险识别、评价、处理、再评价的管理模式,在降低医疗风险的实践中取得较好的效果。结论澳大利亚不良事件报告、临床风险管理的体系以及危险和差错管理方案,在实践中简单、实用、易操作,对建立我国医疗风险监测预警机制具有重要的借鉴意义。     

冠心病与血脂异常的相关危险因素分析探讨及策略

目的 探讨血脂异常对冠心病相关危险因素的影响,以及它们之间的危险度.方法 从笔者所在医院门诊就诊患者及干部年度健康体检者中随机抽取430例各型高脂血症患者,并在正常对照组中随机抽取160例,分别检测它们的血脂水平,以及分析它们发生冠心病的危险度,并以吸烟、肥胖（体重指数）为辅助因素计算其调整危险度.结果 Ⅰ型、Ⅱ型、Ⅲ型和Ⅳ型高脂血症的冠心病患病率分别为52.10%、55.20%、56.60%和63.44%;对照组的冠心病患病率分别为28.33%和20.00%,与对照组比较,均有显著性差异（P〈0.01）.Ⅰ型、Ⅱ型、Ⅲ型、Ⅳ型高脂血症患者与冠心病的调整相对危险度分别是对照组的4、5、6、7倍.结论 血清甘油三酯、胆固醇、高密度脂蛋白异常时冠心病发生的危险度均会升高,高脂血症是冠心病发病最强的预告信号,是重要的可调性间接危险因素之一,控制血脂、戒烟、合理饮食、降低超重和肥胖是预防冠心病的有力措施.     

Universal Health Coverage in Italy: lights and shades of the Italian National Health Service which celebrated its 40th anniversary

The Italian National Health Service (I-NHS) was established in 1978 to guarantee universal access to healthcare. Prominent in international reports, the I-NHS has reached a satisfactory level of efficiency and excellent standards of care in many regions, in forty years. Along the years, I-NHS has developed a structural public-private partnership in health services delivery that in some regions contributes to the achievement of very high standards of healthcare quality. However, the I-NHS is currently facing some major challenges: (a) Italy is experiencing a remarkable aging of its population with increasing health needs; (b) the recent and constant cuts to public expenditures are reducing the budget for welfare. It is of utmost importance to ensure that on-going efforts to contain health system costs do not subsume health care quality. In addition, monitoring of the essential levels of care (Livelli Essenziali di Assistenza, LEA) highlights significant differences in healthcare delivery among Italian regions that, in turns, contribute to the burdensome migration of patients to best-performing regions. Therefore, a more consolidated and ambitious approach to quality monitoring and healthcare improvement at a system level is needed to guarantee its sustainability in the future.     

肝硬化合并感染的临床与危险因素分析

目的探讨肝硬化患者合并感染的情况及危险因素。方法回顾性分析2002年1月-2004年12月在某院住院的120例肝硬化患者病历资料。结果其中60例（50.00％）继发感染的患者，28例（46.67％）感染发生在医院内；13例感染患者死亡，病死率21．67％，显著高于无感染患者的病死率3．33％（X^2=9．219，P〈0.01）。最常见感染为自发性腹膜炎，共35例次（57.38%），其次为肠道感染12例次（19.67％），肺部感染10例次（16．56％）。送标本培养40例，12例（30．00%）阳性，其中检出革兰阴性菌者10例（83.33％）。血清清蛋白水平和住院时间是肝硬化患者发生感染的独立危险因素。结论肝硬化患者感染发生率高，而发生感染者病死率高；其危险因素为低蛋白血症及住院时间过长。     

Accounting for failure: risk-based regulation and the problems of ensuring healthcare quality in the NHS

In this paper, we examine why risk-based policy instruments have failed to improve the proportionality, effectiveness, and legitimacy of healthcare quality regulation in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Rather than trying to prevent all possible harms, risk-based approaches promise to rationalise and manage the inevitable limits of what regulation can hope to achieve by focusing regulatory standard-setting and enforcement activity on the highest priority risks, as determined through formal assessments of their probability and consequences. As such, risk-based approaches have been enthusiastically adopted by healthcare quality regulators over the last decade. However, by drawing on historical policy analysis and in-depth interviews with 15 high-level UK informants in 2013–2015, we identify a series of practical problems in using risk-based policy instruments for defining, assessing, and ensuring compliance with healthcare quality standards. Based on our analysis, we go on to consider why, despite a succession of failures, healthcare regulators remain committed to developing and using risk-based approaches. We conclude by identifying several preconditions for successful risk-based regulation: goals must be clear and trade-offs between them amenable to agreement; regulators must be able to reliably assess the probability and consequences of adverse outcomes; regulators must have a range of enforcement tools that can be deployed in proportion to risk; and there must be political tolerance for adverse outcomes.     

A Fair Range of Choice: Justifying Maximum Patient Choice in the British National Health Service

In this paper I put forward an ethical argument for the provision of extensive patient choice by the British National Health Service. I base this argument on traditional liberal rights to freedom of choice, on a welfare right to health care, and on a view of health as values-based. I argue that choice, to be ethically sustainable on this basis, must be values-based and rational. I also consider whether the British taxpayer may be persuadable with regard to the moral acceptability of patient choice, making use of Rawls’ theory of political liberalism in this context. I identify issues that present problems in terms of public acceptance of choice, and also identify a boundary issue with regard to public health choices as against individual choices.     

我国医疗服务价格项目技术难度和风险程度赋值的设计与应用

2012年版《全国医疗服务价格项目规范》于2012年5月4日由国家发展和改革委员会、卫生部和国家中医药管理局在2001年版和2007年版的基础上修订后联合颁布实施,本次修订过程中首次对基于医院资源消耗相对值的赋值进行研究和设计,将服务项目所需消耗的基本人力消耗和耗时、项目的技术、风险等体现医务人员技术劳务部分的要素作为定价因素在规范中发布,文章重点介绍了“技术难度”和“风险程度”赋值的设计及应用.     

我国医疗风险因素的成因及对策研究——从医院管理的角度

医疗风险因素是医疗风险事故产生的重要原因,当前医疗风险因素主要集中在道德因素、医疗技术因素以及外界因素三大因素上.医疗机构从管理上加强医学职业道德体系的建设,保障医学继续教育制度的实施,完善医疗医疗质量监督管理体制,建立起一套完整的医疗风险因素防控体系是实现以病人为中心这一价值目标的根本路径.     

深圳市国家基本公共卫生服务项目居民知晓率和重点人群满意度调查

目的 了解深圳市国家基本公共卫生服务项目居民知晓率和重点人群满意度,为综合评价项目实施效果提供依据。方法 采用分层随机抽样方法,对社区居民有关国家基本公共卫生服务项目知晓程度进行现场面对面问卷调查,共调查10个区30个社区的常住居民2 433名。采用CATI电话随机抽样进行访问调查,对重点人群进行公共卫生服务满意度调查,共调查4类重点人群3 002名。对数据进行描述性分析和χ2检验。结果 被调查居民对国家基本公共卫生服务项目总体知晓率86.26% ,男性知晓率（80.27%）低于女性（87.27%）（χ2 = 21.304,P＜0.001）。26～35岁组居民和医务人员知晓率较高,不同年龄组、职业、地区知晓率差异有统计学意义（χ2 = 13.424,P = 0.009; χ2 = 436.869,P＜0.001; χ2 = 1389.783,P＜0.001）。4个模块中,项目获得途径知晓率（94.29%）最高,项目名称知晓率（73.90%）最低,差异有统计学意义（χ2 = 571.017,P＜0.001）。15项具体服务内容,预防接种服务知晓率（84.13%）最高,中医药健康管理（21.37%）最低,差异有统计学意义（χ2 = 4005.362,P＜0.001）。重点人群服务总体满意度为88.51%,不同地区重点人群中65岁以上老年人、慢性病患者的满意度差异有统计学意义（χ2 = 26.167,P = 0.002;χ2 = 42.590,P＜0.001）。结论 深圳市国家基本公共卫生服务项目居民总体知晓率及4类重点人群的总体满意度均达到较高水平,但各区差异大,应注意各区项目效果的均衡提升。男性、农林牧渔生产人员及学校师生、中老年人是今后提升居民项目知晓率的重点。