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Germany's Muslim patients

A new Turkish patient is admitted. What would almost any nurse think? "The whole family will always be there", says health economist Fatemeh Pohl-Shirazi. "In Muslim cultures illness makes someone the centre of attention and the whole family wants to show compassion — which unavoidably changes normal hospital routine. The patient's room will always be full, with visitors coming and going, and…

The needs of migrant patients

In hospitals all over the world people of very diverse cultural backgrounds come together, whether as employees in various roles, or as patients. This means that hospital teams must deal with diverse needs, cultures and languages.

£50,000 fine proposed for breach of hygiene code

Although outbreaks of nosocomial infections, e.g. Clostridium difficile and MRSA, have dropped by almost a third since last year, and many hygiene measures have been initiated and improved, there are now proposals for an even more stringent measure to control hygiene: the possibility that National Health Service (NHS) Trust hospitals that break hygiene regulations could be fined up to…

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EHFG

The programme for this year's European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) - its 10th gathering - covers a far broader range of topics than before. During over 20 plenary sessions, forums and workshops, with about 120 lectures, key topics that embrace European and the national health politics of EU member states will be presented and discussed by experts.

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New relationship: 3M Health Care and Materials Management Microsystems

3M Health Care and Materials Management Microsystems recently announce plans to establish connectivity between Microsystems' SPM® sterile processing information system and 3M™ Attest™ Auto-readers and 3M™ Steri-Vac™ EO Sterilization Systems. This collaboration will provide hospitals more streamlined data collection, documentation and reporting capabilities.

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A vicious cycle

Researcher have found that overcrowding and understaffing in hospitals lead to a failure of MRSA control programmes, which in turn results in increased inpatient hospital stay, bed blocking and further infection control failure.

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Even experts sometimes need good advice

Acting as a medical expert witness can have serious consequences for third persons. Although expert witnesses are doing their best, many problems arise from their medico-legal work. Now the GMC published guidelines for expert witnesses that are welcomed by physicians and organizations.

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German healthcare system: lack of transparency

The German healthcare system is designed for corruption, since the its organisation is delegated to statutory health insurers, physicians' associations, etc. which are all self-controlled, says Anke Martiny from Transparency Germany in an interview with EH online. In spite of a whistle blowing system that was established in 2004, it still needs more transparency.

The 7th Villacher Hygienetag

Experts from almost a dozen European countries - including for the first time Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia - will meet at the Villacher Hygienetag (Hospital Hygiene Congress) in October to discuss "Antibiotic resistance - development, consequences and concepts".

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RFID technology may mess up medical equipment

Considered optimal transportation and identification tools, they have become a symbol for modern hospitals: RFID tags. But according to a new study radio frequency identification devices (RFID) may disrupt medical devices. Moreover, the FDA is concerned that the increase in digital technology might be dangerous for patients.

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Recast of the Medical Devices Directives is “not needed”

The European Medical Device Industry associations resist the European Commission's proposal to build up a centralized European agency for Medical Devices. The new authority is planned to regulate MD affairs, e.g. classification and pre-market approval of “highest risk” devices. According to the MD Industry, the concerns of the EU Commission can be addressed through improved implementation of…

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