Posts tagged health care
New Book Calls for Action for Disabled People in Developing World
Charity Leonard Cheshire Disability is launching a new book, Poverty and Disability, on Friday, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The book aims to change policy and practice towards the inclusion of disabled people in the developing world.
In some African countries, unemployment rates for disabled people are as high as 90%, while in India disabled people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed than their non-disabled peers. (more…)
Leeds Learner Wins National Award
Kelly Palmer with Jim Edwards and Sarah Haynes
A Yorkshire nurse has been crowned the UK’s Learner of the Year for her efforts to improve deaf awareness in the NHS.
Volunteer and Occupational Therapy Support Worker Kelly Palmer, from Garforth, completed her Level 3 NVQ in British Sign Language (BSL) this year with charity coHearentVision, where she also volunteers, with the full support of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Kelly enrolled on the course to improve her communication skills so that deaf and deafblind patients felt more at home on her ward. Having struggled with dyslexia since school Kelly knew it would not be easy for her to learn BSL but, in conjunction with coHearentVision’s tutors, she was determined to improve the service that Chapel Allerton hospital provides for deaf people. (more…)
Hospital ‘Bespoke’ Knees Up
Orthopaedic surgeon James Murray with patient June Hockey.
A Bristol hospital is pioneering the use of a new technology which creates ‘tailor-made’ knee replacements.
The Visionaire system, which is produced by global healthcare company Smith & Nephew, is targeted at people who have developed painful knee arthritis, sometimes following knee ligament damage while playing sport earlier in life, or more frequently as part of the degenerative process of osteoarthritis which affects many people, typically in their 60s and 70s.
First the patient has an X-ray and a scan of their knee. A model of the knee is then created by computer modelling, followed by two “bespoke” nylon cutting blocks. The blocks – one made to match the patient’s femur and the other, the tibia – are then sterilised and sent to the orthopaedic surgeon ready for the procedure. (more…)
North East Pilots Non-Emergency 111 Health Number
Trials of a three-digit telephone number for those needing non-emergency medical care in England have been launched in North East England.NHS County Durham and Darlington Primary Care Trusts are to pilot the free 111 number, to act as an alternative to 999, followed by Nottingham, Lincolnshire and Luton.
It is hoped it will take the pressure off 999 calls, amid estimates suggesting that up to half of these calls do not need an emergency response. Anyone calling the number with an emergency will be directed to 999 for an ambulance to be dispatched.
Source: BBC News
Government Pledges to End Mixed-Sex Wards
The coalition government has confirmed its intention to end most mixed-sex hospital accommodation in England.
Despite Labour committing to the policy when it won power in 1997, it failed to completely abolish them.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said bringing about the change was a priority, but patients’ groups have questioned how it could be achieved.
Source: BBC News
GMC Seeking Views on Equality Scheme
The General Medical Council is looking for views on its equality and diversity proposals to improve patient care
Patients, doctors and the organisations that represent them are being invited by the General Medical Council to provide comments on the three-year plan for its Equality Scheme.
The Equality Scheme aims to ensure that the GMC’s procedures are fair, objective, transparent and free from discrimination, and sets out proposals to improve the experiences of diverse groups of patients and doctors and remove barriers that some groups encounter.
The online consultation on the Equality Scheme is open now until mid-October. (more…)
