scholarly journals The history of healthcare facilities management services: a UK perspective on infection control

Facilities ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 369-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Njuangang ◽  
Champika Liyanage ◽  
Akintola Akintoye
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Roman Empire ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Care Facility ◽  
Facility Management ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Epidemiological Evidence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of

Purpose The history of the development of non-clinical services in infection control (IC) dates back to the pre-modern era. There is evidence of health-care facility management (HFM) services in Roman military hospitals. With the fall of the Roman Empire, Christian beliefs and teaching shaped the development of HFM in monastic hospitals. It was not until the late Victorian era that the link between HFM services and diseases caused by “miasma”, or bad air, became established. The discovery of bacteria in the modern scientific era reduced the level of importance previously attached to non-clinical causes of infections. Today, in the NHS, HFM services continue to be treated as though they had no real role to play in IC. This paper aims to collate historical and epidemiological evidence to show the link between HFM and IC. Design/methodology/approach The evidence gathered in this research paper is primarily based on an in-depth review of research from a wide range of sources. A “within-study literature analysis” was conducted to synthesise the research materials. This involved the application of “between-source triangulation” to verify the quality of the information contained in the studies, and “between-source complementarity” to provide an in-depth elaboration of the historical facts. Findings Historical and epidemiological evidence shows that HFM services such as cleaning, waste management, catering, laundry and maintenance continue to play a crucial role in IC. This is corroborated by evidence gathered from the work of renowned pioneers in the field of IC. However, reforms in the NHS have failed to consider this, as HFM services have been largely fragmented through different partnership arrangements. Practical implications Among many other things, this research raises the profile of HFM staff in relation to the issue of IC in hospitals. It presents convincing evidence to show that the relationship between the clinical and non-clinical domains in controlling infections in hospitals has a long history. The findings of this research give HFM staff invaluable information about the significant role of their profession in the control of infections in hospitals. Originality/value This is one of the few studies examining the historical development of HFM services, as well as their contribution to IC. Other work in this area has mainly been framed from a clinical health-care perspective.

Facility management demand theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 344-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adi Irfan Che-Ani ◽  
Roslan Ali
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Care Facility ◽  
Facility Management ◽  
Health Care Facilities ◽  
Corrective Maintenance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Demand Theory ◽  
Proactive Maintenance ◽  
Work Orders

Purpose This study aims to confirm the inverse relationship between scheduled corrective maintenance (SCM) and corrective maintenance (CM) in health-care facility management. That is, the higher the SCM, the lower the demand for CM, and the lower the SCM, the higher the demand for CM. Furthermore, the study shows the importance of SCM as compared with CM in healthcare facilities. Design/methodology/approach This study investigated 28 services in facility engineering services for an exploratory study by using the open-ended approach of the grounded theory. Five years of data with a total of 20,480 SCM work orders and 84,837 CM work orders were extracted from the central management information system database. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program. Data were presented in the form of mathematical scores using descriptive statistics and correlation test to elaborate the variable characteristics and make conclusions. Findings This study provides empirical insights about the effectiveness of proactive maintenance in reducing breakdowns for systems or equipment in health-care facilities. Findings suggest that increasing SCM will reduce CM demands. Research limitations/implications The location approach, with restrictions to the comparison between CM and SCM, still allows for exploration, especially on the factors that can reduce the demand for correction. These factors include planned preventive maintenance, work flow process, level of competency of maintenance workers and health-care maintenance strategic planning. Practical implications Proactive maintenance is important in preventing dangerous occurrences in hospitals. Reducing breakdowns increases customer satisfaction. Therefore, this study shows implications to health-care maintenance organizations in the context of business strategic development. Originality/value Data are crucial in proving a hypothesis. This study confirms the evidence of facility management demand theory and highlights the inverse relationship between SCM and CM.

scholarly journals Employing neo-Durkheimian institutional theory in cross-cultural accounting research

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1270-1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Mark Linsley ◽  
Alexander Linsley ◽  
Matthias Beck ◽  
Simon Mollan
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Mary Douglas ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Uk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose Neo-Durkheimian institutional theory, developed by the Durkheimian institutional theory, as developed by anthropologist Mary Douglas, as a suitable theory base for undertaking cross-cultural accounting research. The social theory provides a structure for examining within-country and cross-country actions and behaviours of different groups and communities. It avoids associating nations and cultures, instead contending any nation will comprise four different solidarities engaging in constant dialogues. Further, it is a dynamic theory able to take account of cultural change. Design/methodology/approach The paper establishes a case for using neo-Durkheimian institutional theory in cross-cultural accounting research by specifying the key components of the theory and addressing common criticisms. To illustrate how the theory might be utilised in the domain of accounting and finance research, a comparative interpretation of the different experiences of financialization in Germany and the UK is provided drawing on Douglas’s grid-group schema. Findings Neo-Durkheimian institutional theory is deemed sufficiently capable of interpreting the behaviours of different social groups and is not open to the same criticisms as Hofstede’s work. Differences in Douglasian cultural dialogues in the post-1945 history of Germany and the UK provide an explanation of the variations in the comparative experiences of financialization. Originality/value Neo-Durkheimian institutional theory has been used in a wide range of contexts; however, it has been little used in the context of accounting research. The adoption of the theory in future accounting research can redress a Hofstedian-bias in accounting research.

scholarly journals Resistance Mechanisms, Epidemiology, and Approaches to Screening for Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus in the Health Care Setting

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 2436-2447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Faron ◽  
Nathan A. Ledeboer ◽  
Blake W. Buchan
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Resistance Mechanisms ◽  
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Laboratory Methods ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Important Health ◽  
Vancomycin Resistant ◽  
Hospital Acquired

Infections attributable to vancomycin-resistantEnterococcus(VRE) strains have become increasingly prevalent over the past decade. Prompt identification of colonized patients combined with effective multifaceted infection control practices can reduce the transmission of VRE and aid in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Increasingly, the clinical microbiology laboratory is being asked to support infection control efforts through the early identification of potential patient or environmental reservoirs. This review discusses the factors that contribute to the rise of VRE as an important health care-associated pathogen, the utility of laboratory screening and various infection control strategies, and the available laboratory methods to identify VRE in clinical specimens.

R.E.C.A.M. Notes and Studies No. 1: Inscriptions of Ancyra

1977 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 63-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Considerable Importance ◽  
General Study ◽  
Anatolian Plateau ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
Roman Baths ◽  
The Temple

Even a hurried glance at the walls of the Byzantine citadel, or a rapid inspection of the material collected by the Ankara Archaeological Museum at the depot in the Roman baths is enough to show that Ankara contains a richer collection of Greek and Latin inscriptions than almost any other city of the Anatolian plateau. A long sequence of epigraphic publications stretches back to 1555 when the companions of Augier Ghiselin de Busbecq, ambassador to the court of Suleiman the Magnificent, made the first copy of the Res Gestae, inscribed on the walls of the temple of Rome and Augustus. Since then a succession of travellers and epigraphists has added to the total of known inscriptions, and even if none of their discoveries can rank beside the record which the first emperor published of his life and actions, many of them are of considerable importance both for the history of Ancyra itself and in the wider context of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine world.However, any general study of these inscriptions and their historical implications has been hampered by the fact that they are scattered in a wide range of publications, many of them difficult to obtain. This situation has been partially remedied by Professor E. Bosch's Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Ankara im Altertum, completed in its essentials by 1945, but only published after the author's death by the TTK press in Ankara in 1967. This contains a large proportion of the source material relevant to the city's history from its earliest appearance in the classical sources to the age of Constantine, accompanied by a commentary in German. However, despite its usefulness, the book has not fulfilled the need for a full corpus of the city's inscriptions.

scholarly journals Building information modelling to support maintenance management of healthcare built assets

Facilities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 415-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadeeshani Wanigarathna ◽  
Keith Jones ◽  
Adrian Bell ◽  
Georgios Kapogiannis
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Building Information Modelling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Modelling ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Use Phase

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how digital capabilities associated with building information modelling (BIM) can integrate a wide range of information to improve built asset management (BAM) decision-making during the in-use phase of hospital buildings. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive document analysis and a participatory case study was undertaken with a regional NHS hospital to review the type of information that can be used to better inform BAM decision-making to develop a conceptual framework to improve information use during the health-care BAM process, test how the conceptual framework can be applied within a BAM division of a health-care organisation and develop a cloud-based BIM application. Findings BIM has the potential to facilitate better informed BAM decision-making by integrating a wide range of information related to the physical condition of built assets, resources available for BAM and the built asset’s contribution to health-care provision within an organisation. However, interdepartmental information sharing requires a significant level of time and cost investment and changes to information gathering and storing practices within the whole organisation. Originality/value This research demonstrated that the implementation of BIM during the in-use phase of hospital buildings is different to that in the design and construction phases. At the in-use phase, BIM needs to integrate and communicate information within and between the estates, facilities division and other departments of the organisation. This poses a significant change management task for the organisation’s information management systems. Thus, a strategically driven top-down organisational approach is needed to implement BIM for the in-use phase of hospital buildings.

scholarly journals Assessing Information Technologies for Health. Editorial

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (01) ◽  
pp. 2-4
Author(s):  
C. Kulikowski ◽  
R. Haux
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Medical Informatics ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Review Articles ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Research And Education

SummaryTo provide an editorial introduction to the 2006 IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics with an overview of its contents and contributors.A brief overview of the main theme of “Assessing Information Technology for Health Care”, and an outline of the purposes, readership, contents, new format, and acknowledgment of contributions for the 2006 IMIA Yearbook.Assessing information technology (IT) in biomedicine and health care is emphasized in a number of survey and review articles. Synopses of a selection of best papers for the past 12 months are included, as are original papers on the history of medical informatics by pioneers in the field, and selected research and education programs. Information about IMIA and its constituent societies is given, as well as the authors, reviewers, and advisors to the Yearbook.The 2006 IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics highlights as its theme one of the most significant yet difficult aspects of information technology in health: the assessment of IT as part of the complex enterprise of biomedical research and practice. It is being published in a new format with a wide range of original survey and review articles.

Commentary on “Reflections on culture, structure and function of an intensive support service centred on positive behavioural support”

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 212-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Toogood
Keyword(s):  
Support Service ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Behavioural Support ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Service Models ◽  
History Of ◽  
Positive Behaviour Support ◽  
The Uk ◽  
And Function

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on Patterson and Berry’s paper “Reflections on culture, structure and function of an intensive support service centred on positive behavioural support”. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews key ideas presented in Patterson and Berry’s article relative to the recent history of service delivery in the UK and the growing interest being shown in positive behaviour support. Findings Patterson and Berry’s article adds to a modest literature on specialist support services and should stimulate further descriptions of service models and the concepts underpinning them. Originality/value The literature on specialist support service models is limited and this addition should be relevant to a wide range of clinicians, consumers and commissioners.

scholarly journals Primary Health Care Facility Preparedness for Outpatient Service Provision During the COVID-19 Pandemic in India: Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suneela Garg ◽  
Saurav Basu ◽  
Ruchir Rustagi ◽  
Amod Borle
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Care Facility ◽  
Health Care Facilities ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Primary Health Care Facility ◽  
Outpatient Services ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Primary Health

BACKGROUND Primary health centers (PHCs) represent the first tier of the Indian health care system, providing a range of essential outpatient services to people living in the rural, suburban, and hard-to-reach areas. Diversion of health care resources for containing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly undermined the accessibility and availability of essential health services. Under these circumstances, the preparedness of PHCs in providing safe patient-centered care and meeting the current health needs of the population while preventing further transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection is crucial. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the primary health care facility preparedness toward the provision of safe outpatient services during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study among supervisors and managers of primary health care facilities attached to medical colleges and institutions in India. A list of 60 faculties involved in the management and supervision of PHCs affiliated with the community medicine departments of medical colleges and institutes across India was compiled from an accessible private organization member database. We collected the data through a rapid survey from April 24 to 30, 2020, using a Google Forms online digital questionnaire that evaluated preparedness parameters based on self-assessment by the participants. The preparedness domains assessed were infrastructure availability, health worker safety, and patient care. RESULTS A total of 51 faculties responded to the survey. Each medical college and institution had on average a total of 2.94 (SD 1.7) PHCs under its jurisdiction. Infrastructural and infection control deficits at the PHC were reported in terms of limited physical space and queuing capacity, lack of separate entry and exit gates (n=25, 49%), inadequate ventilation (n=29, 57%), and negligible airborne infection control measures (n=38, 75.5%). N95 masks were available at 26 (50.9%) sites. Infection prevention and control measures were also suboptimal with inadequate facilities for handwashing and hand hygiene reported in 23.5% (n=12) and 27.4% (n=14) of sites, respectively. The operation of outpatient services, particularly related to maternal and child health, was significantly disrupted (<i>P</i>&lt;.001) during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS Existing PHC facilities in India providing outpatient services are constrained in their functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic due to weak infrastructure contributing to suboptimal patient safety and infection control measures. Furthermore, there is a need for effective planning, communication, and coordination between the centralized health policy makers and health managers working at primary health care facilities to ensure overall preparedness during public health emergencies.

Cinema, MD

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eelco F.M. Wijdicks
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
History Of Medicine ◽  
Death And Dying ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Medical Experimentation ◽  
Medical Status ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many

Cinema, MD argues that within cinema there is a history of medicine—one version in the many different histories of medicine. How did filmmakers write a history of medicine? This book discusses how cinema depicts medicine, in all its glory and all its failures, and what can we learn from it. It offers an account of all the major films with medical themes. The book asks a number of critical questions, such as why scriptwriters and directors chose the subjects, the plots, the cast, and the images that they did. Films have covered a wide range of medical topics, depicting not only physicians, nurses, and other health-care personnel working in hospitals, clinics, and asylums but also epidemics, diseases and disabilities, mental illness, and addictions. Films have portrayed medical feats such as vaccinations and organ transplantations. Filmmakers also have tackled subjects such as death and dying, medical experimentation, and rare diseases, as well as documenting criticism of the medical status quo.

Health-seeking cultural patterns in the use of available healthcare services among refugee groups in south-central Kentucky

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-21
Author(s):  
Chika Ejike ◽  
Grace Lartey ◽  
Randy Capps ◽  
David Ciochetty
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Care Facility ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Refugee Population ◽  
South Central ◽  
Use Of Health Services

Purpose Refugees resettle in the USA every year to escape genocide, famine, civil wars and crises in their countries. The diverse cultural identities of the refugee population in south-central Kentucky make it essential to research into their health-care usage patterns. The purpose of this study is to examine the health-seeking patterns of refugees in relation to their culture and the usage of available health services. Design/methodology/approach This is a descriptive correlational study that culled 110 refugees who completed self-administered or interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaires. Questionnaires were translated into four different languages. T-tests and ANOVA assessed differences between variables. Findings Findings indicate that a demographic factor such as refugees’ nationality plays a role in both the access and use of health services [F (5, 98) = 4.29, p < 0.001]. Refugees’ beliefs and social factors such as acculturation (t = −2.03, p < 0.04) and having health insurance (t = −3.35, p <0.001) also affect the use of health services. The level of cultural competency of the health-care facility or provider as depicted by the presence of interpreters (t = 1.92, p < 0.05) was associated with increased use of the health services provided. Research limitations/implications The sample of refugees is only representative of the general refugee population in south-central Kentucky; hence, there is inadequate generalization. Originality/value Cultural diversity should be included in the health and policymaking debates that surround the refugee population of south-central Kentucky to ensure their well-being.

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