Method: All acute adult admissions presenting to ICU/HDU between 1 Jan 2001 and 31 Dec 2001 were studied. Admission demographic and physiological data was collected. From a review of the hospital records, NZ death registry, and the ICU database of published obituary notices, dates of death were identifi ed. After the fi rst anniversary of their initial ICU admission, discharged patients in whom...

BACKGROUND Use of routine data sources within clinical research is increasing and is endorsed by the National Institute for Health Research to increase trial efficiencies; however there is limited evidence for its use in clinical trials, especially in relation to self-harm. One source of routine data, Hospital Episode Statistics, is collated and distributed by NHS Digital and contains details o...

Veterinary nosocomial infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria cause increased morbidity, higher cost and length of treatment and increased zoonotic risk because of the difficulty in treating them. In this study, an individual-based model was developed to investigate the effects of movements of canine patients among ten areas (transmission points) within a veterinary teaching hospital...

In-patient admission represents a failure of a day care service. The hospital records of 105 patients transferred from the day ward to the in-patient wards were studied retrospectively. Of 2,039 patients treated in the day care ward, 105 (5%) required in-patient admission over a 12 month period. Of these 105 admissions, 17% did not fulfil the criteria for day care patients, 46% had surgical pro...

INTRODUCTION Rising antibiotic resistance may negatively affect the health and cost of care for patients. This study aimed to determine the impact of antibiotic resistance on costs and health consequences for patients. METHODOLOGY A one-year observational study was conducted at Christian Medical College, Vellore, a tertiary care hospital, on patients admitted into medical wards with a prelimi...

This study presents data from hospital records in El Salvador describing the features of 100 patients admitted to a public hospital with firearm wounds. Wounds caused by Firearms (WFA) account for 70 per cent of homicides; 30 per cent of WFA homicides died in hospital. For every death in hospital there are five admissions who need treatment and survive. The typical victim is a young man with re...

OBJECTIVE To describe the characteristics of suicidal patients and their suicidal acts occurring in general wards. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING All general public hospitals in Hong Kong. PATIENTS Survey data based on hospital records of patients who died of suicide or who attempted suicide in general wards between 2000 and 2002 were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Demographic info...

Major reforms were introduced into the English NHS in the early to mid 2000s, helping to reduce waiting times and length of stay for elective surgery. One concern, however, is that efficiency-oriented reforms may harm equity by giving hospitals an incentive to select against socio-economically disadvantaged patients who stay longer and cost more to treat. This paper aims to assess the likely ma...