Tuesday 20 July 2010

think before you call 999

‘Only dial 999 when it’s vital’, Yorkshire Ambulance Service chiefs warn

AMBULANCE bosses have urged people only to phone 999 when absolutely necessary, after soaring fuel prices left them with an £850,000 budget black hole.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) said too many people were calling for ambulances needlessly, because they thought it would help them jump the queue for treatment at hospital.

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Poster presentation

Harris Shah Abd Hamid, Patrick Waterson. Towards an integrated socio-technical framework for situation awareness and decision-making in emergency pre-hospital care.

This poster was presented at The 2nd North British Patient Safety Research Symposium, 6 November 2009, Aberdeen, Scotland.

Conference Paper

9th Bi-annual International Conference on Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM9)

BCS London, 23 - 26 June 2009.

AUTHORS

Harris Shah Abd Hamid, Patrick Waterson and Sue Hignett

ABSTRACT

Motivation - To understand a new work role in emergency medical services, the relationship between situation awareness (SA) and decision-making among emergency care practitioners (ECPs) is examined. Research approach - A scoping study was completed and involved observations (36 hours of ride-outs and 4 hours of sit-ins) and semi-structured interviews with a group of ECPs and Triage Nurses at an ambulance control room. A subject matter expert was consulted to validate a communication map derived from the observations and interviews. Findings/Design - The results show that system’s factors could affect the creation of SA and decision-making. As a result, a framework for SA and decision-making among ECPs was developed. Originality/Value - This study extends the study of SA into emergency medical services domain. It also contributes in understanding a new practitioner role in the UK. Take away message - Factors related to the development of SA should be understood to support decisionmaking among ECPs and thereby improve the quality of care in emergency medicine.

Ambulance calls rise after England World Cup games

There was a 54% rise in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire compared with a week earlier after Wednesday's 1-0 win over Slovenia.

West Midlands Ambulance Service reported nearly 60% more calls than average in the region after England's first World Cup game on 12 June.

Much of the rise is being put down to increased drinking.

source: BBC

Monday 12 July 2010

More men want to be nurses in Johor

NUSAJAYA: More men are enrolling in nursing courses in Johor, as there is a huge demand for the profession in the state.
...

“We currently have about 75 male nurses who are usually assigned for duties that need physical strength such as carrying disable patients,” she said when replying to a question posed by Datuk Ng See Tiong (BN - Parit Yaani) at the state assembly sitting here Monday.

Hospital sued by patient

Bekas juruanalisis kanan bank menang kes saman Pusrawi

KUALA LUMPUR 9 Julai - Bekas juruanalisis kanan Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) yang mengalami kerosakan otak selepas menjalani pembedahan tulang belakang di Hospital Pusrawi Sdn. Bhd. (Pusrawi), hari ini memenangi kes samannya selepas mahkamah mendapati defendan cuai semasa pembedahan empat tahun lalu.

Patient Safety in the UK

The National Patient Safety Agency leads and contributes to improved, safe patient care by informing, supporting and influencing the health sector.

Patient Safety First campaign website. Patient Safety First is sponsored by the National Patient Safety Agency, the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and The Health Foundation. Our cause is to 'make the safety of patients everyone's highest priority'. Our aim is 'no avoidable death and no avoidable harm'

Although not particularly liking Shakira & Wham, I none the less know of their songs. Hips Don't Lie and Careless Whispers are two songs that caught my attention.

Careless Whispers tells that 'guilty feet has got no rhythm'. When that line is put next to 'hips don't lie', I saw a sweet parallel that speaks of non-verbal communication. It is true that body language is more truthful than spoken language. People can't control the messages communicated by their body than the ones commnicated through spoken words. So, if you're feeling guilty, your tounge can deny ooutright the guilt, or the wrong that gav rise to the guilt. But your feet will betray you; the same way that the hips don't lie.

The idea that a body can't lie is also true in a world that we have yet to see. In alam akhirah, Allah says in surah Ya-Sin, "On that day we will seal their mouths; their hands and feet will bear witness to everything they had done[36:65].

Patient Safety in Malaysia

Here are some info on PS in Malaysia.

  • Patient Safety Council of Malaysia (PSCOM) has been formalised by the Malaysian Cabinet on the 29th of January 2003.
  • This council is to be chaired by the Director- General of Health Malaysia
  • It monitor Incident Reporting for Malaysia, which includes all the medical errors and any adverse events
  • It was set up (1) to look at the quality (including safety) of healthcare service in the healthcare industry and, (2) to advise the Honourable Minister of Health on the relevant strategies and actions to be taken in order to prevent or minimize errors in the health field, in an effort (3) to promote systemic improvements in the safety and quality of healthcare in Malaysia.
  • Members of the Council include health-related non-governmental organizations (NGO) such as Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), and Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM), Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) to be represented by Federation of Malaysia Consumer Associations (FOMCA), representatives of Teaching hospitals and various Divisions in the Ministry of Health as well as prominent members of the Malaysian society

source:http://ckpp.moh.gov.my/modules/xt_conteudo/index.php?id=3

I wonder if I can be a member of the Council?

A check on the members of the Council (http://ckpp.moh.gov.my/modules/xt_conteudo/index.php?id=14) on 18th June reveals that only one member is from a university - and not from a public university at that! I have to work hard to make an (institutional) impact in this area.

Research on Patient Safety in Malaysia

A discovery today was a double-edged sword. I found out that there exist an Institute for Health Systems Research in Malaysia. I was a good thing because it means I would have a government-based institution to refer to and collaborate with. It was not a so-good thing because that may mean there is a duplication of research body with the one that I want to propose. I mean, the name that I have in mind is highly similar to this one. I may have to find another name for my proposal