A comparison of the quality of care in accident and emergency departments in England and the Netherlands as experienced by patients.

Background: Measuring patients' experiences to determine health-care performance and quality of care from their perspective can provide valuable evidence for international improvements in the quality of care. We compare patients' experiences in Accident & Emergency departments (A&E) in England and the Netherlands and discuss the usefulness of this comparison.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among patients attending A&Es aged 18 years and older.

The end of growth? Analysing NHS nurse staffing.

Aim: To present an overview of UK National Health Service nurse staffing changes across the last 10 years.

Background: National Health Service funding is now being constrained as part of the overall measures to reduce UK public expenditure. This has implications for future staffing levels and deployment.

Using scenarios to assess the future supply of NHS nursing staff in England.

This paper examines issues related to the future supply of registered nursing staff, midwives and health visitors in the National Health Service (NHS) in England at a time when there are major public sector funding constraints and as more of these staff are reaching retirement age. Based on available workforce data, the paper reviews different possible scenarios for the supply of NHS nurses over a ten year period, assessing the impact of different numbers of new staff being trained and of varying retirement patterns from the ageing profession.The government in England has more policy levers available than is the case in many other countries.

Ethnic and social inequalities in women's experience of maternity care in England: results of a national survey.

Objective: To examine ethnic and social inequalities in women's experience of maternity care in England.

Design: A 2007 national survey of women (16 years or over) about their experience of maternity care. Multiple logistic regression analysis, controlling for several maternal characteristics, was used to examine inequalities by ethnicity, partner status and education.

Do associations between staff and inpatient feedback have the potential for improving patient experience? An analysis of surveys in NHS acute trusts in England.

Objective: To examine whether staff feedback on quality, safety and workforce issues is reflected in patient-reported experience.

Setting: 166 NHS acute trusts in England.

Participants: Respondents to the 2006 surveys of adult inpatients and staff in 166 NHS acute trusts in England.

Do patient surveys work? The influence of a national survey programme on local quality-improvement initiatives.

Objectives: To assess current attitudes towards the national patient survey programme in England, establish the extent to which survey results are used and identify barriers and incentives for using them.

Design: Qualitative interviews with hospital staff responsible for implementing the patient surveys (survey leads).

Setting: National Health Service (NHS) hospital organisations (trusts) in England.

Overseas mobility of U.K. based nurses.

This paper examines trends in international mobility of U.K. nurses.

Sickness absence and health at work in the NHS.

Presents summary results from two surveys which the Institute for Employment Studies conducted in 1994 for the Health Education Authority. The first of these surveys reports national benchmarking data on rates of sickness absence and accidents at work in NHS provider and purchaser organizations. The second survey concerns implementation of the Health at Work (HaW) in the NHS initiative in NHS hospital worksites.

Managing nurse absence.

Examines in detail the issue of absence among nurses in the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. Three main objectives are to: investigate levels and reasons for absence among nurses; assess the abilities of NHS management to monitor and control nurse absence effectively; and examine the impact of nurse absence on organizational costs and care delivery. Draws on data generated from four linked studies: a survey of back-injured nurses, conducted in 1992; a survey of 4,000 qualified nurse members of the Royal College of Nursing, conducted in March/April 1993; a postal survey of 119 NHS employing units, conducted in May/June 1993; and detailed case studies, conducted with management in ten NHS hospital sites in May/June 1993.

The international mobility of nurses: a United Kingdom perspective.

This paper examines available information on the flows of qualified nurses to and from the United Kingdom, and reports on the results of a questionnaire survey of U.K.-based nurses who had worked abroad.

Special report. Human resources.

A new survey reveals the changing shape of human resource departments. Why call in management consultants? Shirley Giles reports. The standard payroll system is being challenged by moves towards integrated payroll and personnel programs.

The labour market for qualified orthotists/prosthetists.

The United Kingdom Health Departments have recently encouraged increased intakes to degree-level training courses leading to a dual qualification in prosthetics/orthotics. Surveys of qualified orthotists and prosthetists and of their employers were undertaken to examine the dynamics of this labour market, and a model was used to project potential requirements for newly qualified orthotists and prosthetists. The model indicates that: current policy on student numbers is broadly appropriate for maintaining the present working population; any expansion in service provision would require significant growth in student places; and even a small decline in demand could shortly lead to an over-supply of such specialist services.

Changing nurses' pay.

Several key elements in the government's NHS reforms are making an impact on nurses' pay. In particular, the creation of the internal market, in which the roles of purchasers and providers of health services are separated and are governed by the contracting process, gives providers an incentive to minimise the costs of their activities. With the nursing paybill accounting for roughly a third of the running costs of units, it is inevitable that tighter control of the wage bill directly through pay levels or indirectly through re-profiling will be seen as one way of gaining 'competitive' advantage.