Clin Med
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Comparative Study
Percentage prevalence of patient and visitor violence against staff in high-risk UK medical wards.
Patient and visitor violence adversely affects staff and organisations; however, there are few UK data about patient and visitor violence on medical wards. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study using a validated tool (Survey of Violence Experienced by Staff) in six medical wards in three North Wales district general hospitals to assess the prevalence of violence against healthcare staff. A total of 158 staff responded (12 men, 144 women, two not stated). ⋯ Direct patient contact positively correlated with more overall incidents. There was no correlation between training in aggression management and the experience of incidents. Healthcare support workers and nurses reported a higher prevalence of patient and visitor violence compared with other groups of health worker.
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There is a 10% shortfall in the number of proximal colorectal cancer cases detected by the UK Bowel Cancer Screening Programme and the actual number of UK-registered proximal colorectal cancers. Sessile serrated adenomas/polyps (SSA/P) are common premalignant lesions in the proximal colon and are notoriously difficult to spot endoscopically. Missed or dismissed SSA/Ps might contribute to this UK proximal colon cancer detection disparity. ⋯ This is the result of increased endoscopist and pathologist awareness of these lesions and improved interdisciplinary communication. This is the result of increased endoscopist and pathologist awareness of these lesions, together with improved interdisciplinary communication, and we predict that this will lead to a comparable detection increase nationwide. Ongoing surveillance of an increasing number of these premalignant lesions could become a significant endoscopic resource requirement once UK guidelines on serrated lesion follow up are established.
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Accreditation is one method of assuring quality. Accreditation requires the setting of standards and the creation of a robust and reliable process for assessing them. Accreditation offers different advantages to different groups, eg quality assurance to commissioners and the boards of provider organisations, confidence and choice for patients, and a quality improvement pathway for services to follow. This paper is focused on service accreditation and it proposes that service accreditation be professionally led.