OBJECTIVES To summarize the changes in rheumatology provision and working practice that have occurred on the basis of the results of the 1997, 1999 and 2001 surveys carried out to update the British Society for Rheumatology/Arthritis Research Campaign Rheumatology Workforce Register. METHODS The Workforce Register includes all consultant rheumatologists in the UK who do at least one NHS clini...

This commentary expands on two of the key themes briefly raised in the paper involving analysis of the evidence about key contextual influences on decisions of value. The first theme focuses on the need to explore in more detail what is called backstage decision-making looking at how actual decisions are made drawing on evidence from ethnographies about decision-making. These studies point to l...

OBJECTIVES The views of practitioners at the 'sharp end' of care provision are increasingly recognised as important indicators of quality of care. The National Health Service (NHS) Staff Survey in England has quantified employees' views on how far they would be happy with the standard of care provided by their organisation if a friend or family member needed treatment. We aimed to characterise ...

Pilot commuter walk-in centres have been located close to national rail stations in major English cities, provided by private healthcare companies for the NHS, and offering access to doctors and nurses. This study used a survey to evaluate user satisfaction levels with this new service. Thirty-three per cent (1828/5574) of users completed a questionnaire. Centres demonstrated high levels of use...

Searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cancerlit, BIOSIS Previews, the Index to Scientific and Technical Proceedings, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, DARE, NHS EED and the National Research Register were searched to August 2001; the search terms and strategies were reported in depth. The authors identified additional references through reviewing submissions (to the National Institute of Clinical E...

BACKGROUND The quality of nursing homes (NHs) has attracted a lot of interest in recent years and is one of the most challenging issues for policy-makers. Nutritional care should be considered an important variable to be measured from the perspective of quality management. The aim of this systematic review is to describe the use of structural, process, and outcome indicators of nutritional care...

This paper sets out the challenges facing the English NHS now and in the future and identifies the reforms we believe are needed to meet these challenges. It has been written as a contribution to the listening exercise initiated by the coalition government following the announcement at the beginning of April of a pause in the parliamentary passage of the Health and Social Care Bill. It builds o...