Archives for October 17th, 2003

BETTER CARE FOR THE CRITICALLY ILL

Headlines, PublicNet: 17 October, 2003

Hospital patients who are critically ill or are in danger of becoming so are getting better care as a result Critical Care Outreach. This initiative is part of the Critical Care Modernisation Programme launched in May 2000. A report by the Department of Health sets out the progress made in the last year.Outreach services have helped reduce pressures on critical care units and increased staff skills and knowledge. A warning system has been introduced in some hospitals to ensure patients are referred to the critical care at the right time. This earlier identification has reduced the average length of stay of patients in critical care units from 7.4 to 4.8 days. In other cases outreach support and increased skill levels of general ward staff has reduced hospital mortality by 8% and reduced re-admissions by 7%. Systematic patient monitoring has reduced the time taken to admit a patient to Intensive Care from an average of 15.5 hours to 5.5 hours.

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PARTNERSHIPS TO PROMOTE SCIENCE LEARNING

Headlines, PublicNet: 17 October, 2003

A national network is being set up to deliver high-quality continuing professional development to science teachers and technicians. The first centre will open in October 2004 and a national centre in 2005.The centres will be managed by universities and colleges working in partnership and they will offer teachers access to newly furbished laboratories and advanced ICT equipment. They will provide innovative courses covering traditional science and the wider ethical issues of science in society, cutting-edge scientific research and developments across business and industry. Their objectives will be to reinvigorate teaching skills, boost science literacy and understanding of its impact on society among pupils.

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PPPs – The Only Show in Town?

Features, PublicNet: 17 October, 2003

By Paul Maltby. Reproduced by permission of the Public Management and Policy Association. Public Private Partnerships are still attracting a significant amount of opposition and debate. Much of the opposition is ideological, but others oppose partnerships on value for money grounds. The author looks at the claims for the success of the most common form of PPP, the Public Finance Initiative, and suggests how PPP policy should develop.

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