Environmental sustainability in hospitals - a systematic review and research agenda.

Objectives: 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.

Methods: The PubMed, Engineering Village, Cochrane and King's Fund databases were searched for articles relating to hospital environmental sustainability published in English between 1 January 1990 and 1 October 2013.

The use of external consultants by NHS commissioners in England: what lessons can be drawn for GP commissioning?

Objectives: To describe the current use of external support by commissioners in the English NHS; assess what impact it is having; explore the factors influencing effectiveness; and draw out the implications for the future of NHS commissioning.

Methods: (1) Two national surveys of primary care trust managers. (2) Qualitative interviews and focus groups with representatives of 12 firms providing support services to commissioners.

Reducing health inequalities in priority public health conditions: using rapid review to develop proposals for evidence-based policy.

Background: In November 2008, the Secretary of State for Health (England) commissioned an independent review to propose effective strategies for reducing health inequalities. Review task groups were given just 3 months to make preliminary evidence-based recommendations. In this paper, we describe the methodology used, and the recommendations made, by the group tasked with inequalities in priority public health conditions.

Young people at risk of offending: their views on a specialist mental health service in south east London.

This article explores the views of young people regarding their involvement with a specialist mental health service for adolescents who offend or are at risk of offending. The main aims are to shed light on means of engaging this group in therapeutic work, and to illustrate the use of qualitative techniques in the evaluation of health services. Twenty clients and ex-clients were interviewed using a semistructured schedule.

Simultaneous release of metals and sulfide in lacustrine sediment.

A single DGT (diffusive gradient in thin films) probe that could measure metals and sulfide simultaneously and at the same location was deployed in the surface sediment of a productive lake (Esthwaite Water). It contained a layer of AgI that binds sulfide overlying a layer of chelating resin that binds metals. Analysis for sulfide in two dimensions showed local sources of sulfide, 1-5 mm in diameter, at 8-11 cm depth within the sediment.