scholarly journals Do hospitals influence geographic variation in admission for preventable hospitalisation? A data linkage study in New South Wales, Australia

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e027639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael O Falster ◽  
Alastair H Leyland ◽  
Louisa R Jorm
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Hip Fracture ◽  
Geographic Variation ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Hospital Variation ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Preventable Hospitalisation ◽  
A Performance

ObjectivePreventable hospitalisations are used internationally as a performance indicator for primary care, but the influence of other health system factors remains poorly understood. This study investigated between-hospital variation in rates of preventable hospitalisation.SettingLinked health survey and hospital admissions data for a cohort study of 266 826 people aged over 45 years in the state of New South Wales, Australia.MethodBetween-hospital variation in preventable hospitalisation was quantified using cross-classified multiple-membership multilevel Poisson models, adjusted for personal sociodemographic, health and area-level contextual characteristics. Variation was also explored for two conditions unlikely to be influenced by discretionary admission practice: emergency admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and hip fracture.ResultsWe found significant between-hospital variation in adjusted rates of preventable hospitalisation, with hospitals varying on average 26% from the state mean. Patients served more by community and multipurpose facilities (smaller facilities primarily in rural areas) had higher rates of preventable hospitalisation. Community hospitals had the greatest between-hospital variation, and included the facilities with the highest rates of preventable hospitalisation. There was comparatively little between-hospital variation in rates of admission for AMI and hip fracture.ConclusionsGeographic variation in preventable hospitalisation is determined in part by hospitals, reflecting different roles played by community and multipurpose facilities, compared with major and principal referral hospitals, within the community. Care should be taken when interpreting the indicator simply as a performance measure for primary care.

scholarly journals Dust Transport from Inland Australia and Its Impact on Air Quality and Health on the Eastern Coast of Australia during the February 2019 Dust Storm

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Emilie Aragnou ◽  
Sean Watt ◽  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Cassandra Cheeseman ◽  
Matthew Riley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Storm Event ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dust Storm Event

Dust storms originating from Central Australia and western New South Wales frequently cause high particle concentrations at many sites across New South Wales, both inland and along the coast. This study focussed on a dust storm event in February 2019 which affected air quality across the state as detected at many ambient monitoring stations in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) air quality monitoring network. The WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecast Model—Chemistry) model is used to study the formation, dispersion and transport of dust across the state of New South Wales (NSW, Australia). Wildfires also happened in northern NSW at the same time of the dust storm in February 2019, and their emissions are taken into account in the WRF-Chem model by using Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) as emission input. The model performance is evaluated and is shown to predict fairly accurate the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration as compared to observation. The predicted PM2.5 concentration over New South Wales during 5 days from 11 to 15 February 2019 is then used to estimate the impact of the February 2019 dust storm event on three health endpoints, namely mortality, respiratory and cardiac disease hospitalisation rates. The results show that even though as the daily average of PM2.5 over some parts of the state, especially in western and north western NSW near the centre of the dust storm and wild fires, are very high (over 900 µg/m3), the population exposure is low due to the sparse population. Generally, the health impact is similar in order of magnitude to that caused by biomass burning events from wildfires or from hazardous reduction burnings (HRBs) near populous centres such as in Sydney in May 2016. One notable difference is the higher respiratory disease hospitalisation for this dust event (161) compared to the fire event (24).

scholarly journals “No Entry into New South Wales”: COVID-19 and the Historic and Contemporary Trajectories of the Effects of Border Closures on an Australian Cross-Border Community

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 610
Author(s):  
Dirk H. R. Spennemann
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
New South ◽  
Community Integration ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Border Community ◽  
South Wales

Given its intensity, rapid spread, geographic reach and multiple waves of infections, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020/21 became a major global disruptor with a truly cross-sectoral impact, surpassing even the 1918/19 influenza epidemic. Public health measures designed to contain the spread of the disease saw the cessation of international travel as well as the establishment of border closures between and within countries. The social and economic impact was considerable. This paper examines the effects of the public health measures of “ring-fencing” and of prolonged closures of the state border between New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), placing the events of 2020/21 into the context of the historic and contemporary trajectories of the border between the two states. It shows that while border closures as public-health measures had occurred in the past, their social and economic impact had been comparatively negligible due to low cross-border community integration. Concerted efforts since the mid-1970s have led to effective and close integration of employment and services, with over a quarter of the resident population of the two border towns commuting daily across the state lines. As a result, border closures and state-based lockdown directives caused significant social disruption and considerable economic cost to families and the community as a whole. One of the lessons of the 2020/21 pandemic will be to either re-evaluate the wisdom of a close social and economic integration of border communities, which would be a backwards step, or to future-proof these communities by developing strategies, effectively public health management plans, to avoid a repeat when the next pandemic strikes.

Does the ‘Two Dogs’ Method of Clandestine Synthesis Use Precursors that are not Legally Regulated on the Australian East Coast?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
Victor Chiruta ◽  
Robert Renshaw
Keyword(s):  
Literature Search ◽  
East Coast ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Comprehensive Literature Search

In the State of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, the prosecution in criminal proceedings is seeking deterrence punishment for offenders manufacturing 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) from the precursor helional via the ‘Two Dogs’ method (TDM). The reason given by the prosecution is a presumption that the TDM does not use any unrestricted chemicals in the synthesis of MDA. A comprehensive literature search was conducted. The relevant law was searched to fact-check the assertion of the prosecution. It was found that the prosecution was incorrect. Intermediate precursors of the TDM are restricted in NSW. However, the starting precursor helional remains unscheduled in NSW, yet helional is scheduled in some other Australian States. The prosecution’s position may play a significant factor in the sentencing proceedings of offenders. Therefore, as a matter of urgency, the prosecution must review and update its position and its submissions, keeping with the factual position in relation to the legal provisions of precursors used in the TDM.

scholarly journals An account of some peculiarities in the anatomical structure of the wombat, with observations on the female organs of generation

1832 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 310-311
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Anatomical Structure ◽  
The State ◽  
Longitudinal Incision ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Right ◽  
Satisfactory Manner

The author, having received a male wombat alive from one of the islands in Bass’s Straits, had an opportunity of observing its habits in a domesticated state, and of examining the peculiarities of its internal formation after death, particularly the mechanism of the bones and muscles of its hind legs, which have not been described either by Geoffroy, in his account of its internal form, or by Cuvier, who has described several parts of its internal structure in his Lecons d’Anatomie Comparée . The stomach of the wombat resembles closely that of the beaver, and differs so much from that of the kanguroo, and other animals of the opossum tribe, that it forms an extraordinary peculiarity. An account of the dissection of a female wombat having been received from the late Mr. Bell, Surgeon to the Colony at New South Wales, Mr. Home has inserted Mr. Bell’s description, with remarks especially on the state of the uterus, which was double, and impregnated on each side; that on the right side was as large as a pullet’s egg. The os tincæ was filled with a thick gelatinous substance. When a longitudinal incision was made into its cavity, its coats were found lined with the same jelly, in the centre of which was an embryo wrapped up in very fine membranes, that appeared to have no connexion by vessels with either the uterus or the gelatinous matter. These facts, says Mr. Home, throw considerable light on the mode of propagation of this very curious tribe of animals. They confirm, in the most satisfactory manner, the observations contained in a former paper on the kanguroo, which required further evidence, as the specimen on which the observations were made had been sent to England preserved in spirits, and the parts had become very indistinct, from being coagulated and long kept.

Intensification of teachers’ work under devolution: A ‘tsunami’ of paperwork

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Fitzgerald ◽  
Susan McGrath-Champ ◽  
Meghan Stacey ◽  
Rachel Wilson ◽  
Mihajla Gavin
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
The State ◽  
School Level ◽  
Relative Advantage ◽  
Neoliberal Reforms ◽  
South Wales ◽  
High Workload ◽  
Work Intensification

Australian public school teachers work some of the longest weekly hours among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, particularly in the state of New South Wales where average hours are officially in, or near, the statistical category of ‘very long working hours’. These reports of a high workload have occurred alongside recent policy moves that seek to devolve responsibility for schooling, augmenting teacher and school-level accountability. This article explores changes in work demands experienced by New South Wales teachers. As part of a larger project on schools as workplaces, we examine teaching professionals’ views through interviews with teacher union representatives. Consistent with a model of work intensification, workload increases were almost universally reported, primarily in relation to ‘paperwork’ requirements. However, differences in the nature of intensification were evident when data were disaggregated according to socio-educational advantage, level of schooling (primary or secondary) and location. The distinct patterns of work intensification that emerge reflect each school’s relative advantage or disadvantage within the school marketplace, influenced by broader neoliberal reforms occurring within the state and nation.

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