Journal of health services research & policy
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Jan 2015
Multicenter StudyDeveloping effective feedback on quality of anaesthetic care: what are its most valuable characteristics from a clinical perspective?
Research suggests that better feedback from quality and safety indicators leads to enhanced capability of clinicians and departments to improve care and change behaviour. The aim of the current study was to investigate the characteristics of feedback perceived by clinicians to be of most value. ⋯ For clinicians to engage with effective quality monitoring and feedback, the perceived local relevance of indicators and trust in the credibility of the resulting data are paramount.
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Jan 2015
Comparison of the carbon footprint of different patient diets in a Spanish hospital.
Mitigating climate change requires management strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in any sector, including the health system. Carbon footprint calculations should play a key role in quantifying and communicating these emissions. Food is among the categories with low accuracy because the carbon footprint for food is still under development. We aimed to quantify the carbon footprint of different diets. ⋯ Hospital diets contribute to the carbon footprint of a hospital. The type of diet has a significant impact on the greenhouse gas emissions. A Mediterranean diet is associated with lower environmental impact than diets with more meat, in particular red meat.
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Jan 2015
Overseeing oversight: governance of quality and safety by hospital boards in the English NHS.
To contribute towards an understanding of hospital board composition and to explore board oversight of patient safety and health care quality in the English NHS. ⋯ English NHS boards largely hold a wide range of attitudes and behaviours that might be expected to benefit patient safety and quality. However, there is significant scope for improvement as regards formal training for board members on quality and safety, routine morbidity reporting at boards and attention to the interpersonal dynamics within boards. Directors with clinical backgrounds remain a minority on most boards despite policies to increase their representation. A better understanding of board composition, actions and attitudes should help refine policy recommendations around boards.
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Jan 2015
Why public trust in health care systems matters and deserves greater research attention.
Considering the underlying importance of trust, there is too little research into the understanding, protection and recovery of trust in health care systems, not only for the effective functioning of health care systems but also for society in general. Several researchers have pointed towards a contemporary crisis of trust in health care systems and there have been many examples that show the severe effects of mistrust. More research into public trust in health care systems could contribute to improving efficiency while protecting the health of the public.
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Oct 2014
ReviewEnvironmental sustainability in hospitals - a systematic review and research agenda.
Hospitals are significant contributors to natural resource depletion and environmental change. Our objective was to establish the extent to which hospital environmental sustainability has been studied and the key issues that emerge for policy, practice and research. ⋯ There remain significant gaps in the evidence base on hospital sustainability. Assessments of environmental impacts and natural resource use are beginning to be produced, both at the level of individual hospitals and at the health system level. These are an important start, but in many areas do not yet provide sufficiently detailed information to guide decision-making. There are many areas where the interests of patients and the environment coincide, but others where tensions exist. Rising resource costs and climate change mitigation measures are likely to create an increasing stimulus for research on hospital sustainability. Such research will benefit from inter-disciplinary coordination across research funders and countries.