A healthcare roundup from our correspondent Keith Halson
Keith Halson, EH correspondent in France reports about Medical Schools under pressure and English-speaking support networks.
Staff management
"First Lady" named at the ETH Zurich
It took 152 years, but now the ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) Zürich for the first time named a femal rector: Prof. Heidi Wunderli-Allenspach. She will succeed the present Rector, Prof. Konrad Osterwalder in September and will join the club of European rectors that has really been a men´s world so far.
E- for education
Milan - Founded in 2001, Italbioforma is a non-profit association focused on medical training - including specialist distance learning.
EU directive threatens use of MRI
A new, powerful alliance, comprised of leading politicians and healthcare groups (see box), aims to pressure EU Authorities to revise the controversial directive 2004/40/EC (EMF)*.
New Labour Code causes confusion and anger
The amended version of the new Czech Labour Code stipulates that emergency working hours and overtime in hospitals and social care institutes be altered so that employees are paid no less than they receive for regular working hours.
Lively and successful: The HOSPITAL MANAGER SYMPOSIUM
Round about 200 visitors came to this years HOSPITAL MANAGER SYMPOSIUM during the course of ECR 2007 to inform themselves about the latest news in Management, IT and Fincance in the field of radiology. Prof. Dr. Christian Herold, President of ECR 2007 opened the symposium and welcomed the speakers and visitors from around the world.
The 4th Hospital Manager Symposium
Experiences, advice and discussions for radiologists and managers
How much IT does healthcare really need?
The question is increasingly significant. Information technology (IT) has thrust itself into all corners of life — some argue for better, some for worse, largely because efficient electronic networking cannot happen overnight. Thus gatherings to share experiences are valuable, as seen in the Berliner Klinik-IT Forum, a two-day event in January, supported by the Charité Berlin. The theme was:…
Learning English for the English patient
THE growing influx of English-speaking people to France has sparked a rise in language classes for French doctors keen to avoid embarrassing linguistic and cultural faux pas.
New Highly Skilled Migrant Programme might lead to NHS staffing crisis
A High Court ruling recently backed the government´s changes to the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme in the UK. The changes regarding a new points system will make it more difficult for foreign employees to work in the UK. Doctors already working in the UK claiming the changes will force them to leave.
EU project is financing the electronic nurse
Good news for overworked hospital staff: Maybe in just a few years they will be supported by little robots that could clean up the sickrooms, look for the doctor or show visitors the right way. A new EU project led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO should make this scenario possible.
Help for the helpers
Healthcare systems in Africa are facing a huge threat in their fight against AIDS - an increasing shortfall of nursing staff. Workers are either infected themselves or can no longer cope with the daily fight against the disease. Despite this, there is hope - the first wellness centre for healthcare workers, which provides medical and psychological help to nursing staff and their families, was…
Five win certificates in pain free hospital pilot scheme
A pain-free Hospital pilot project launched in Germany three years ago has ended with the first five of 25 hospitals being awarded a Qualified Pain Therapy certification.
Dutch doctors close to burn-out
A recent survey of more than 2,000 trainee hospital doctors in the Netherlands has revealed that many are close to burn-out.
Helios introduces new generation of quality indicators
The Helios group of hospitals recently introduced a new scheme for a unified, comparable set of indicators to describe the most important services and quality parameters in hospitals. The model is a trend-setting step towards greater transparency - with less administrative effort.
The trauma surgeon is a decathlete
Fear for the quality of acute care for the injured and victims of accidents was expressed by Professor Vilmos Vécsei, traumatology and sports traumatology specialist and Head of the University Clinic for Trauma Surgery in Vienna (VV), as well as President and General Secretary of the European Trauma Society (ETS), and Professor Otmar Trentz, Director of the Trauma Surgery Clinic at University…
New challenges require new management strategies
Rapidly changing conditions which affect patient throughput, require very quick reactions from hospital management.
Drunken abuse and violence against hospital staff
UK — Speaking at the first National Health Service (NHS) Security Management Professionals conference in November, Rosie Winterton, the country's Health Minister, said the number of NHS staff who were physically assaulted in England has reduced.
Medical and financial assessment of new technologies in hospitals
Frederik L Giesel MD MBA about the importance of process management and efficiency in hospitals.
Improved internal communication reduces absenteeism
Absenteeism from work is not only caused by illness but also by stress in the workplace. Promoting employees´identification with the company is a successful therapy in this case.
Foreign doctors say Non! to `slave labour´ wages
Pay rows threaten French health minister's political future.
AV-TV advances into more medical fields
A joint venture by two Scotish Health Service groups and the University of Dundee, has resulted in a new Postgraduate Education Centre at Dundee Dental Hospital and School.
4 steps to successful staff planning
Most hospitals must now report on the origin, cost and usage of all equipment and supplies. However, far less is known about a hospital's most important and expensive* asset: employees. Despite financial pressures, DRGs, and the EuGH judgement, which aims to end stress (particularly for junior doctors) discussion of the economical and effective use of personnel is frequently avoided, or can evoke…
Controversy: the nurse-surgeon
Nurse-surgeon training in the UK is lively discussed for other European countries doing the same to address their lack of qualified surgeons.
