Autonomy and modernisation: the management of change in an English primary care trust

Recent New Labour policy for the ‘modernisation’ of Government places a good deal of emphasis on decentralisation. This emphasis is particularly marked in relation to the organisation of primary care. However, like hospitals and other National Health Service institutions, primary care trusts (PCTs) are subject to a substantial raft of centrally established performance targets and indicators, including those which contribute to the public award of between zero and three performance ‘stars’. This raises questions about the extent to which employees can exercise autonomy in the context of rigid top‐down directives. This paper presents findings from a study using participant observation and interviews to examine the impact of a training course aimed ostensibly at increasing employee autonomy in an English PCT. The suggestion is that attempts to make employees more autonomous can be seen as a strategy for increasing central control based upon the internalisation by the employees of centrally promulgated values. The attraction of such strategies is that they may be potentially more effective and less costly than alternative strategies of direct control. However, the study suggests that the outcome of attempts by such methods as programmes to increase employee autonomy may be very different from those intended.     

The Kerf-Cut Dressing: Application of a Woodworking Technique for Efficient Postsurgical Wound Care

BACKGROUND: Simple surgical excision is one of the most common treatment methods in the dermatologist's armamentarium. We describe a precise postsurgical dressing technique that can be used for wound care of those patients whose treatment involves removal of lesions via cutaneous surgery. OBJECTIVE: To devise a novel, precise, and effective dressing technique for postsurgical wound care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We describe the technique using common in-office instruments. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Wound dressings for lesions located on curved areas such as the ears, nose, cheeks, and chin often exhibit less than adequate adherence and stability. The kerf-cut dressing technique optimizes pliability of dressing tape, and this maximizes efficient and stable application of postsurgical wound dressings to curved areas of the body.     

Five Percent Lidocaine Cream Applied Simultaneously to the Skin and Mucosa of the Lips Creates Excellent Anesthesia for Filler Injections

Background. Injection of filler substances into the lips is painful, and many patients also find the injection of local or regional anesthesia into the lips painful.
Objective. To develop a highly effective and painless form of anesthesia to facilitate injection of filler substances into the lips.
Methods. Five percent lidocaine cream was applied simultaneously to the skin, vermilion, and mucosa of the lips (with the use of a barrier to keep the cream in contact with the mucosa and out of the rest of the mouth) for 20 to 30 minutes.
Results. Profound anesthesia of the lips was reliably produced, with no complications.
Conclusions. This "anesthetic cream block" is easier to perform and better tolerated than injectable anesthetics. Use of this technique is likely to expand the range of physicians who perform filler injections on the lips and will probably also expand the range of patients who wish to have filler injections done on their lips and who (because they had little or no discomfort) are willing to return for additional filler injections in the future.     

'This isn't very typical I'm afraid': observing community care complaints procedures

The new complaints procedures which local authority social services departments have been required to introduce represent an important mechanism for managing the change of culture associated with recent community care reforms. They also represent a new genre in mechanisms of redress for welfare recipients. This paper reports the findings of a study which has observed considerable diversity in the ways in which local authorities are interpreting the nature and purposes of the new procedures and, in particular, the functions of review panels established under those procedures. Variations in the composition of panels, in the style of review panel proceedings, in perceptions of the panels' powers, and in the ways that complaints and complainants are constituted are all discussed. Attention is drawn to four competing interpretations of the review panels' role and to the need for these to be clarified and prioritised.     

AⅡ受体拮抗剂ACEI对慢性肾衰患者血浆ANF及RAS的影响

目的了解血管紧张素Ⅱ受体拮抗剂(ATRA)和转换酶抑制剂(ACEI)对慢性肾衰(CRF)高血压患者血浆心钠素(ANF)和肾素*.血管紧张素系统(RAS)的影响。方法受试者口服氯沙坦(Los组)或福辛普利(Fos组)连续12周，于治疗前和治疗后第4、8及12周测定坐位舒张压(SiDBP)、血清尿素氮(BUN)、血清肌酐(SCr)、ANF、血管紧张素Ⅰ(AⅠ)和血管紧张素Ⅱ(AⅡ)。用SPSS7.0软件作统计分析。结果经12周治疗，两组患者SiDBP均降至目标值。Fos组与治疗前比较，AⅡ下降，ANF和Scr升高(P<0.01)。Los组AⅡ明显升高(P<0.01)，ANF在短暂升高后降至治疗前水平，Scr无变化。结论ACEI可能对CRF高血压患者肾内灌注压有影响，ANF动态改变可作为肾内灌注压变化的指标之一。ATRA对肾内灌注压影响小于ACEI。