Identifying reasons for delays in acute hospitals using the Day-of-Care Survey method.

This paper describes a new tool called 'Day-of-Care Survey', developed to assess inpatient delays in acute hospitals. Using literature review, iterative testing and feedback from professional groups, a national multidisciplinary team developed the survey criteria and methodology. Review teams working in pairs visited wards and used case records and bedside charts to assess the patient's status against severity of illness and service intensity criteria.

A longitudinal study of lung function in nonsmoking patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Study Objective: s: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a high prevalence of pulmonary function test (PFT) abnormality, but the long-term significance of this is unknown. We performed a longitudinal study of pulmonary function in asymptomatic, nonsmoking patients with active RA requiring disease-modifying drugs. We looked for temporal change in lung function and characteristics that would predict subsequent development of PFT abnormality or respiratory symptoms.