Although some of the key planks of the NHS reform programme, such as Payment by Results (PbR) and patient choice, began to take shape from 2003, it is only recently that the Department of Health has begun to publish guidance, aimed at people working within the NHS, that attempts to ...
This guide sets out to show how teams of NHS staff can plan and deliver their own medium-sized design projects in hospitals by making better use of existing resources. It is aimed at a wide audience, including the frontline employees, such as nursing and estates or facilities staff, who may ...
This report focuses on the 16 TPPs in England which pursued the objective of reducing acute hospital emergency admissions and/or length of stay to at least the end of the second 'live' year, March 1998. The analysis of hospital episode statistics was undertaken in order to establish whether the action ...
Creative arts can promote physical, mental and social well-being. The arts can be an effective way of providing people with the confidence to put their views forward and of promoting health messages to those who do not usually listen. This book looks at some very different arts in health care ...
This new edition of the Health Quality Service accreditation programme has been extensively revised and updated to reflect government health policy and guidance in the various parts of the United Kingdom as well as taking account of changes and developments in quality assurance and improvement programmes nationally and internationally. These ...
In the 1960s, the King's Fund caused a major stir when it developed a new specification for hospital beds. Manufacturers implemented the specification as the 'King's Fund bed', which was revolutionary in its time and a major step forward in patient care. Today, more than 30 years later, the bed ...
In the 1960s, the King's Fund caused a major stir when it developed a new specification for hospital beds. Manufacturers implemented the specification as the 'King's Fund bed', which was revolutionary in its time and a major step forward in patient care. Today, more than 30 years later, the bed ...
This is a report of a survey undertaken on behalf of the King's Fund London Commission. It provides an overview of the current configuration of acute hospital services in London, and consists of a description of the method and data sources used for the survey, a profile of acute services ...
This report provides a comprehensive review of the health and health care of the population of London, based on a variety of published and unpublished data sources. The report considers London in three ways: first, by providing comparisons between different parts of the capital; second, by comparing areas of London ...
The publication of this manual of organisational standards is a major milestone for King's Fund Organisational Audit (KFOA) in that it brings together standards for acute hospitals, and the newly developed standards for community, learning disabilities and mental health services. This reflects the changing nature of health care organisations and ...
The author describes his visit to Zambia to advise on the development of a policy for hospitals at all levels and an approach to implementation. He visited the country from 27 February to 13 March 1994 to see the major types of hospitals. His recommendations for reforms are presented along ...
The author looks at the NHS in London two years after the report of the King's Fund Commission on London and the Tomlinson report and three years before the next general election. Policies shaping the NHS in London have become increasingly controversial. He argues that despite the growing resistance to ...
This is the third edition of the Organisational Audit manual. Since 1990 several individual sections of the manual have been revised in order to ensure that the standards remain at the forefront of good practice as well as to reflect the significant changes which have taken place in the organisational ...
The NHS reforms placed a requirement on all doctors to improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of medical practice by undertaking a regular programme of audit. Through a case study of the introduction of medical audit support staff, this publication documents how this process has been accomplished to date. It ...
This paper proposes an alliance of charitable foundations, together with Government, to make a distinctive contribution to the way in which health services for Londoners are being shaped. It explains how an investment fund could form the basis of a high profile three year development programme; how it could be ...
This is a collection of short papers based on a seminar to mark the eighty fifth birthday of Sir George Godber. They examine issues of substantial relevance to the present and future of the National Health Service.
This working paper argues that the development of acute services should be a managed process, one in which they are positively reshaped and not just one in which development is coped with in isolation. The paper highlights some of the technological developments which have recently taken place, and those which ...
Many people with severe illness are at risk from an unrecognised complication - malnutrition, which can seriously delay the recovery from medical and surgical disorders, and can even be life-threatening. Evidence in this report shows the clinical and financial benefits which can result from better diagnosis and treatment of malnutrition. ...
It is widely believed that homeless people place considerable demands on emergency hospital services, but quantifying this in a systematic way has proved difficult. The primary purpose of this paper is to develop a better empirical understanding of the nature and extent of unplanned admissions to acute hospitals in London ...
This item provides information and advice for members of steering groups responsible for implementing organisational audit. From joining the programme to assessing the surveyors' recommendations, this booklet clarifies the whole process and explains how it's done.
This is the questionnaire produced for a Travelling Fellowship report which examines the American hospital estate function. With the new and more commercially-based system of operation for the NHS introduced by the White Paper 'Working for Patients', it seemed appropriate that a close examination should be made of the American ...
This Travelling Fellowship report examines the American hospital estate function. With the new and more commercially-based system of operation for the NHS introduced by the White Paper 'Working for Patients', it seemed appropriate that a close examination should be made of the American model by estates staff.
This is the bibliography of a King's Fund Travelling Fellowship report which examines the American hospital estate function. With the new and more commercially-based system of operation for the NHS introduced by the White Paper 'Working for Patients', it seemed appropriate that a close examination should be made of the ...
The paper summarises recent literature giving an economic perspective on acute hospitals. The issues discussed include: the optimal size of a hospital; the role of the hospital in relation to other suppliers; cost containment and productivity; and the scope for cost reduction.
The purpose of this manual is to provide a comprehensive set of organisational standards covering the major aspects of an acute general hospital. This will form the basis of a professional peer review (the survey) the aim of which is to support the staff of hospitals in the provision of ...
Compiled with the advice and support of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Royal College of Physicians of London, and the Medical Defence Union, the objective of the booklet is to provide an explanation of audit and examples of work currently being undertaken, and to provide a guide ...
These guidelines have been compiled in response to an assessed need from hospitals for help with commissioning arts and artists. It is divided into seven chapters and includes guidance on the need for a committee; choosing a site; the commissioning process; fundraising. Its recommendations are based on 10 years of ...
The aim of this project was to discover whether the needs of people whose relatives die in hospital are being met within that setting. Surveys were undertaken to gain the views of both sides, by seeking both the experiences of bereaved relatives, and by ascertaining the procedures and practices of ...
The conference reported here was jointly sponsored by the King's Fund Centre and the D.H.S.S. to further explore established themes around the move of children from mental handicap hospitals. The specific aims were: to share experiences between those involved in moving children and young people out of hospital: to explore ...
Increasing interest in the quality of health services and the appointment of officers with designated local responsibilities has generated an urgent demand for ideas on implementing quality assurance, especially from district officers. This collection is one individual's view of relevant literature and activity. It reflects the initial emphasis of the ...
This history begins with the foundation of the Lancet in 1823, and ends in 1982 with the restructuring of the National Health Service, when the management of hospitals in isolation from other health services had ceased. The opening chapters consider the endowed and voluntary hospitals, the poor law infirmaries and ...
St Mark's colo-rectal hospital celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1985. It is the only colo-rectal hospital to survive in Britain and thus is unique. It is also a particularly distinguished example from a class of hospitals that developed in the nineteenth century in London and elsewhere to combat specific diseases, ...
This paper describes innovatory schemes and progress in bringing children with learning difficulties out of hospital. At the conference, Barnardo's N.W. Division presented information about their professional fostering scheme, followed by Portsmouth and S.E. Hampshire Health Authority's provision of alternative accommodation in the community for mentally handicapped children. A dehospitalisation ...
This report contains the three papers read to the King's Fund History of Nursing conference on 29 July 1983. The papers deal with widely different aspects of history but all demonstrate how politics and policy constrain and influence the structure and function of nursing and midwifery. The titles of the ...
This report outlines and discusses the King's Fund Ward Sister Training Project being piloted at Guy's Hospital and Whipps Cross Hospital in London. This arose from debate in 1977 about how the Fund could respond to the climate of management awareness and professional concern about the role of the ward ...
This study was commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Security and the King's Fund Centre to provide an independent account of alternatives to hospital care for children with learning difficulties who need long-term residential care. The report draws on examples from health and social services authorities and discusses ...
The conference was based on the Consumers' Association report "Children in Hospital" which investigated the extent to which hospitals have implemented DHSS recommendations since the Platt Report. Its aim was to develop the concept of change and in particular how staff with responsibility for children in a general hospital face ...
In 1976, the Jubilee Project was established by the King's Fund to commemorate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee by upgrading wards in ten of London's older hospitals. Many of London's district general hospitals had not been rebuilt as had been planned in the early 1960s, and little renovation had ...
This conference brought together different professionals involved in caring for sick children. The conference was opened by the chairman of the Children's Committee who described this committee's advisory role to the Secretary of State on development and co-ordination of health and personal social services for children. Other speakers covered the ...
The paper begins with a background study on hospitals in the National Health Service by the Secretariat of the Royal Commission on the NHS. Hospital types and numbers are investigated including district general hospitals, community hospitals, teaching and specialist hospitals, followed by a discussion of specific aspects of the hospital ...
This is the fourth in the series of do-it-yourself surveys of hospitals published by the King's Fund. The report describes the views of elderly people who are likely to spend the rest of their lives in hospital, together with the views of their visitors and the hospital staff. The survey ...
In 1976 it was suggested to the King's Fund by a group of younger hospital doctors that it might be valuable to take a fresh look at the organisation of hospital clinical work and those responsible for it. A working party was established to consider ways in which medical manpower ...
This report is of a study started in 1976 which was planned to seek the views of patients about their treatment in hospital. The objectives were: to identify deficiencies in communication between patients and the medical and nursing staff and where possible to remedy these; to seek ways of improving ...
This report concerns the design of a questionnaire for hospitals to assess the views of their own outpatients. The survey was conducted between 1974 and 1976 in nine general hospitals. In addition supplementary surveys in one or more specialties were held in three small hospitals attached to one of the ...
This is the third edition of a survey which aims to devise a questionnaire that general hospitals could use to find the views of patients about their stay in hospital. The questions cover five areas of life in hospital: the ward and its equipment; sanitary accommodation; meals; activities; and care ...
The purpose of this study was to try and obtain a first impression of the impact of the National Health Service (Reorganisation) Act 1973, which came into force on 1 April 1974 and to ascertain the extent to which the new administrative pattern had been translated into action and to ...
Setting standards, measuring performance and programming remedial action are prime functions of management. They are not, however, those which are generally applied to feeding patients in hospitals. This account of a study undertaken into means of providing hospital management with such information will, it is hoped, be welcome at the ...
The aim of this report is to help those planning to survey patients' opinions on hospital care by summarising the experience of others who have already done so. It describes the different types of surveys used, the resulting action achieved and a summary is given of changes in levels of ...
This project paper presents the results of a series of studies of hospital house journals. It reflects the views of producers and consumers - the editors of house journals and their readers. The project has highlighted the importance of good communications in hospitals, has demonstrated that a house publication can ...
This checklist is the result of a study carried out during the management course which formed part of the National Training Scheme in Hospital Administration at the King's Fund College. The aim of the study was to discover the extent to which good industrial relations practice, as set out in ...
This project paper is the result of a series of small informal meetings held at the King's Fund Centre during 1971-73 to consider various aspects of the care of children in hospital and, in particular, to discuss ways of meeting the emotional needs of the child in the ward. The ...
This is the second edition of a survey which aims to devise a questionnaire that general hospitals could use to find the views of patients about their stay in hospital. The questions cover five areas of life in hospital: the ward and its equipment; sanitary accommodation; meals; activities; and care ...
The King's Fund undertook a survey of the problem of administration of admissions of patients to hospitals, and of possible solutions. It concentrated largely on hospitals that were believed to have already established good practice in this field. A questionnaire was distributed to the 60 general hospitals in the United ...
This report is the outcome of an enquiry into the subject of relationships between GPs and hospitals. Its object is to draw attention to the problem of communication between hospitals and general practitioners and make any recommendations which seem indicated.
This report looks at the benefits of introducing a washing machine into a hospital kitchen. Pots and pans were cleaner with a lower bacteria count, so the benefits derived were considered well worth the expense involved.
The main study was carried out in 18 smaller hospitals in West Cornwall without pharmacists. The objectives were: introduction of an improved design of prescription sheets for acute and long-stay hospitals; production of a procedural booklet on the prescribing, administration and distribution of drugs for medical, nursing and pharmaceutical staff; ...
Both the National Staff Committee and the National Nursing Staff Committee have drawn attention to the importance of the techniques of personnel selection and interviewing, and urge that members and officers of employing authorities should have some knowledge of them. The procedure was laid down in HM(67)2 and HM(67)71 but ...
A hospital-based social education project is taken to mean a scheme in which a group of school pupils regularly spend some time each week in a hospital or similar institution. Two groups are involved in the organisation and ultimate success or failure of such a scheme: the school staff and ...
This publication contains details of hospital house journals, newsletters and bulletins at present known to the Hospital Centre. It is realised that this list may well be incomplete and the Hospital Centre will be glad to have details of any further publications that can be added, and any further information ...
The material in this document is based on a series of papers given at a conference held at the King's Fund Hospital Centre. This book is an attempt to discuss the part of the the research and development project at Greenwich District Hospital which was concerned with some of the ...
These papers were written in an attempt to help people appointed to the comparatively new post of organiser of voluntary help in the hospital service, and are directed particularly to those with little or no experience of the hospital world. It is also hoped that all staff, particularly nurses and ...
Volunteers are able to spend time listening to elderly people whether in hospital or in a home, time which professional staff and even relatives are unable to spare. If used effectively on a hospital ward, volunteers can relieve some of the pressure which staff may feel in being unable to ...
The aim of this study is: to assist hospitals to gain information on the views of their patients, enabling them to take remedial action when desirable and practicable; to compile results centrally so that inter-hospital comparisons can be made.
This publication contains reports on a series of twelve conferences held at the Hospital Centre between June-December 1970 on the subject of services for the elderly in hospital and community. These reports have been prepared largely at the request of the conference participants who asked for a record of the ...
At the request of the St.Helier Hospital management committee a survey of the catering service for staff was carried out. This resulted in drawings being prepared and an outline of the operational catering policy being submitted. Certain amendments to the policy were made by the Committee and they have been ...
The King's Fund Catering Advisory Service undertook to investigate the provisions costs at Hammersmith Hospital. for this purpose the Treasurer's Department submitted records of patient occupancy, ward meal requisitions, hospital and medical school staff meals, stores issue sheets and the menus for the period 9th to 22nd February 1970 inclusive. ...
A survey was undertaken to examine the cost of the catering service provided in small hospitals where catering staff costs were considered to be high. The hospitals surveyed were : Cambourne-Redruth hospital; Penrice hospital; St Austell district hospital and for each hospital the salaries and wages expenditure, and the provisions ...
This document reviews the literature written about the use, provision and design of specialised or adapted clothing for people with physical disabilities. Chapters in the report cover the development of special clothing and adaptions; experiences and experiments in hospitals; experience in various countries; fabrics; laundering and dry cleaning; incontinence.
This pamphlet lists a variety of jobs that volunteers have done in general, psychiatric, geriatric and children's hospitals or departments. Each of the jobs listed is being performed in at least one hospital.
Because of the ever increasing difficulty of obtaining and retaining skilled catering staff, particularly in the larger cities and comparatively remote country districts, this report looks at the ways in which better use of the few skilled staff available could be achieved by the introduction of automation and mechanisation of ...
This report looks at different productivity schemes which could be adopted by hospitals to ensure that public expenditure is held in check. Current thinking about training emphasises the fact that little benefit will be gained unless the situation which is desired to change has first been thoroughly analysed. The first ...
This is the first edition of a survey which aims to devise a questionnaire that general hospitals could use to find the views of patients about their stay in hospital. The questions cover five areas of life in hospital: the ward and its equipment; sanitary accommodation; meals; activities; and care ...
This document presents the findings of an investigation into the problems of prescribing, distributing and administering prescribed drugs in small hospitals
The aims of the survey were: i) to record and describe the experience of hospitals in relation to the recruitment, training ,remuneration and method of working of voluntary service organisers; ii) to study the achievements of full-time organisers in the use of volunteers within the hospitals and in their relationships ...
Criticisms of hospital food arise mainly from the effects of delay between cooking and eating. The Catering Advisory Service of king Edward's Fund has been particularly interested in studying ways and means of shortening this interval. This study on peripheral finishing kitchens is one of the possible solutions. It has ...
This report details research undertaken by the landscape architect of the King's Fund into development of new hospital grounds. It includes advice to hospital planners and builders as to how they should make use of the natural resources of their sites. When a hospital is to be built, extreme care ...
This document lists a wide variety of terms which are closely and marginally connected with the planning of hospitals. The source for the definition of each term is given at the end of each entry, and where appropriate the British Standard number is given.
This is a report of an investigation into crockery washing with particular reference to the use of detergent dispensers and the centralisation of patients' crockery washing.
This memorandum has been written as a guide to all those interested in hospital administration who may be involved in deciding their own hospital's nursing establishment requirements. The document does not attempt to produce any quick and easy formula as an answer to the staffing problem of any one hospital. ...
The theme for this conference was the pressure for more medical services, including curative care of all kinds and medical care and for more hospital services of all types, including acute, mixed, long-term and psychiatric services. Each paper provides an objective statement of facts as they exist in each country.
This report looks at the evaluation undertaken of the Ganymede meal service system at Bethnal Green Hospital, in particular the distribution of food to patients and the high catering costs at the hospital.
At the request of the Ministry of Health, the King's Fund set up a working party in 1964 to enquire into the advantages and disadvantages of using a central vacuum cleaning system in hospitals as opposed to individual cleaners. Hospitals which already had a central vacuumation system in operation were ...
This paper was prepared in November 1962 for the Management Committee of the Mid Herts Hospital Group to give guidance on the operational policy for the new Queen Elizabeth II Hospital. Although much of the detail in the policy will only apply to this particular hospital, the general principles would ...
This second conference was presented with very definite and deliberately chosen terms of reference to form the basis of the papers and discussions. These were: 1) in the changing context of hospital administration what are the most important problems of today?; 2) how are these problems being dealt with and ...
The aim of the study reported in this publication was to investigate the procedural and financial problems involved in the use of disposable equipment and materials and thus to help assess to what extent it was possible to use disposables in place of more conventional equipment and materials that are ...
This conference was convened to consider and discuss the hospital services, their organisation and scope with special reference to methods of administration. From each country was presented a paper written by the representative of that country dealing in fairly general terms with the principal features of its acute hospital service.
This survey originated from tutorial discussions at the college, at a time when there was concern about the difficulty experienced by hospital authorities in recruiting grammar school leavers in the London area. It was decided to seek information about the problem from regional training officers and, at the same time, ...
The author reports on his visit to hospitals in Canada and the United States of America to examine a wide range of hospital procedures to see if electronic and other scientific developments can contribute to efficiency and make more effective use of hospital resources in manpower and facilities.
This document presents the evaluation of the New Guy's House: to establish as accurately as possible the extent to which the building was fulfilling the intention of those who planned it and meeting the needs of patients and staff as a surgical block; to provide guidance to other authorities who ...
A study carried out over a twelve month period investigated the use of detergents, detergent dispensers, rinse additives and injectors in hospital catering departments. However, observations on other aspects of dishwashing were noted during the study and ways in which these processes could be more efficient are included.
The purpose of this study tour was to report on development in design and purchase of hospital furniture and fittinggs and development and employment of domestic equipment in American hospitals.
The purpose of this study visit was to note developments in the design and planning of new general hospitals and their equipment, and to assess to what extent these might be incorporated in the detailed planning and equipping of the new Hillingdon Hospital, on which construction is due to begin ...