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Background: Surgical site infections (SSI) account for 16% of healthcare associated infections, and are associated with considerable morbidity, mortality and increased costs of care. Ensuring evidence-based practice to prevent SSI is incorporated across the patient�s surgical journey is complex. OneTogether is a quality improvement collaborative of infection prevention and operating department specialists, formed to support the spread and adoption of best practice to prevent SSI. This paper describes the findings of an expert workshop on infection prevention in operating departments. Methods: A total of 84 delegates from 75 hospitals attended the workshop, comprising 46 (55%) theatre nurses operating department practitioners; 16 (19%) infection control practitioners and 22 (26%) other healthcare practitioners.Discussion focused on evidence, policy implementation and barriers to best practice. Responses were synthesised into a narrative review. Results: Delegates reported significant problems in translating evidence-based guidance into everyday practice, lack of local polices and poor compliance. Major barriers were lack of leadership, poorly defined responsibilities, and lack of knowledge/training. Conclusions: This workshop has provided important insights into major challenges in assuring compliance with best practice in relation to the prevention of SSI. The OneTogether partnership aims to support healthcare practitioners to improve the outcomes of patients undergoing surgery by reducing the risk of SSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the results of an empirical study of the impact of school inputs on pupils' performance in private (independent) schools in the United Kingdom, using a new school-level panel dataset constructed from information provided by the Independent Schools Information Service. The authors show a consistent negative relationship between the pupil-teacher ratio at a school and the examination results achieved by pupils aged 18, controlling for the pupils' performance in examinations two years earlier. The results are noteworthy in comparison with results of studies for the state sector, relatively few of which have found a consistent and statistically significant effect of the pupil-teacher ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article traces the history of the Section of Neurology of the British Royal Society of Medicine. Physicians interested in building a neurological society held a meeting in London, England in November 1885. The foundation of the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases and Epilepsy provided a centre for clinical neurology and neurophysiology studies. In April 1878, the "Brain, A Journal of Neurology" had been founded. In 1926, the Society of British Neurological Surgeons was established.

Introduction: Women are not usually taught about the menopause formally, and many general practitioners have relatively little training. The aim of this study was to explore perimenopausal women's attitudes and knowledge of the menopause. Method: An online survey was designed to evaluate attitudes and knowledge of the menopause in women older than 40 years. The survey was generated with Qualtrics XM® and promoted via social media. In all, 3150 women started the survey. In this study, data from 947 perimenopausal women were analysed. Results: Regarding women's attitudes to the menopause, 38.8% were accepting of it but more than 30% were dreading it. The women had experienced a number of menopause symptoms including mood swings (68.9%), brain fog (68.3%), and fatigue (66.8%). More than 90% of women had never been taught about the menopause at school, and more than 60% did not feel informed at all about the menopause. School was thought to be the best place for menopause education to start (83.6%). In all, 68.2% of women had only looked for information about the menopause as their symptoms started and they had talked to friends and used a variety of websites to look for information. When asked for their free-text views on the menopause, thematic analysis produced four themes: the overarching knowledge gap, the onset and impact of symptoms, perimenopause: the hidden phenomenon, and managing symptoms: differing schools of thought. Conclusion: Lack of education for women and their general practitioners is causing perimenopausal women to go through this important stage in their lives with a lack of knowledge and appropriate medical care. It is essential that women are taught about the menopause, from school onwards and that we offer health professionals appropriate training starting from the medical school curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to Sara Delamont's paper in the February 2000 edition of Sociology which provides an account of the relationship between the sub-discipline, sociology of education, and parent discipline, sociology. Delamont argues that the hooligan is an anomalous beast for sociologists of education, who paradoxically revere him: while the sociology of education is an anomalous beast for the parent discipline, whose practitioners reject and fear it. Essentially, according to the author, the latter part of Delamont's argument amounts to the claim that the wider discipline of sociology has neglected sociology of education. The author notes that in this article, his response is concerned with Delamont's unsatisfactory characterization of British sociology of education. According to Delamont, sociology in Great Britain has two grand narratives, both male--one derived from the political arithmetic tradition is quantitative, empirical and focused on social mobility, and the other discursive and focused on anti-heroes: the portrayal of the rebellion or resistance of the hooligan. Delamont has attempted to characterize British ethnographic studies, which include some reference to anti-school/delinquent boys, and which have been conducted by male sociologists, as falling into the same category.

International comparisons of engineering graduate numbers are frequently used as indices of industrial development and measures of the responsiveness of the educational system to industrial requirements. Such comparisons make implicit assumptions about quality by assuming that like institutions or like qualifications are being compared. In this paper the concept of 'best practice' engineering education is derived from engineering manpower reports of German engineering education in order to address issues of both quantity and quality in comparing engineering education in Britain and Japan. Japan is found to have associated engineering education with relatively more prestigious institutions and to have attracted a higher proportion of more able male pupils to broad based engineering education compared to Britain. Yet there are some interesting differences between the model of 'best practice' engineering education based on Germany and Japanese practice, particularly in curricula, which underline the importance of the division of labour between education and employment in the education and training of engineers. Examining the responsiveness of educational systems through propositions derived from a model of 'best practice' rather than through simple output statistics underlines the importance of different patterns of institutional development, the role of the state, educational and occupational selection, and status within the curriculum for understanding the variety of contemporary engineering education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines, with some reference to a content analysis of three British journals, the methodological orientation of current British sociology in order to argue that most graduate students as a consequence of their undergraduate socialization are unlikely to wish to take advantage of formal methodology courses at the graduate level, at least in so far as these are highly technical in content. Some of the implications of the argument for sociology in Britain generally, for undergraduate methods teaching and for the structure of graduate education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the origins of state educational systems in Europe in the nineteenth century and the institutionalization of mass education throughout the world in the twentieth century. We offer a theoretical interpretation of mass state-sponsored schooling that emphasizes the role of education in the nation-building efforts of states competing with one another within the European interstate system. We show that political, economic, and cultural developments in Europe led to a model of the legitimate national society that became highly institutionalized in the European (and later, world) cultural frame. This model made the construction of a mass educational system a major and indispensable component of every modern state's activity. We discuss the usefulness of this perspective for understanding recent cross-national studies of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UK universities are having to come to terms with the double whammy of a 2010 Spending Review that will see budgets reduced from £7.1 billion to £4.2 billion by 2014, and the Browne Review of higher education funding and student finance, which argues that those who benefit (i.e. students) should make a far greater contribution to the cost than is currently required. Against this backdrop the authors seek to contribute to the graduate skills debate. They will demonstrate that delivering employment-ready graduates ignores the demands of a radically altered world of work in the face of the government's response to the latest economic crisis. While its primary focus is on the supply side (graduates) the authors are cognisant of the market research industry, which itself is facing external pressures to shift from a milieu of data gathering to a future of intelligent insight providers. We then go on to present the development of a new type of university, which has actively sought to reduce its dependency on traditional funding sources. Finally, we present a model of a research facility at one university that has successfully engaged with the local and regional business community to the benefit of its student workforce. In doing so, it has helped to develop over 70 graduate researchers, with entrepreneurial mindsets, who have all gone on to secure enterprising futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Simulation is increasingly used throughout medicine. Within ultrasound, simulators are more established for learning transvaginal and interventional procedures. The use of modern high-fidelity transabdominal simulators is increasing, particularly in centres with large trainee numbers. There is no current literature on the value of these simulators in gaining competence in abdominal ultrasound. The aim was to investigate the impact of a new ultrasound curriculum, incorporating transabdominal simulators into the first year of training in a UK radiology academy. Methods The simulator group included 13 trainees. The preceding cohort of 15 trainees was the control group. After 10 months, a clinical assessment was performed to assess whether the new curriculum resulted in improved ultrasound skills. Questionnaires were designed to explore the acceptability of simulation training and whether it had any impact on confidence levels. Results Trainees who had received simulator-enriched training scored higher in an objective clinical ultrasound assessment, which was statistically significant (p = 0.0463). End confidence scores for obtaining diagnostic images and demonstrating pathology were also higher in the simulation group. All trainees stated that transabdominal simulator training was useful in early training. Conclusions This initial study shows that embedded into a curriculum, transabdominal ultrasound simulators are an acceptable training method that can result in improved ultrasound skills and higher confidence levels. Using simulators early in training could allow trainees to master the basics, improve their confidence, enabling them to get more educational value from clinical ultrasound experience while reducing the impact of training on service provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose We report our experience of a paediatric orthopaedic network, based on a 'hub and spoke' model, covering the South West of the United Kingdom. We identify the areas of most clinical concern, the effect of the network on streamlining patient management and the benefits of the network to the clinician. Methods Prospective data were collected from the minutes of the bi-annual meetings of the South West Paediatric Network (UK) between November 2006 and May 2012. Data collected included details of the condition, previous treatment, problems, complications and advice given. Cases continue to be followed up in subsequent meetings. Results In total 131 cases were included and hip conditions were discussed most frequently (35.1%). The most common indication for discussion was to support and confirm the local management plan. In total, a mean average of 8.75 cases in total were presented per consultant during the study period, with those within ten to 12 years of starting independent practice presenting the majority. The clinical outcome for patients discussed in this forum was local provision of care in 74%, with transfer to the regional centre in 15.7%. Following advice, 14% of direct referrals were given appropriate advice and avoided a journey to the tertiary centre. Conclusion The network has enabled local provision of care, reduced the burden of travel on patients and prevented unnecessary referrals to the tertiary centre. Additionally, it provides a mechanism to reassure and educate clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a profile of the Professor Graham Ayliffe, on his involvement in formation of organisations such as Infection Prevention Society (IPS) (formerly the Infection Control Nurses Association (ICNA)), and on his study emergence of antibiotic resistance and the role of plasmids.

The aim of this study was to produce an economic cost model comparing the use of the Medaphor ScanTrainer virtual reality training simulator for obstetrics and gynaecology ultrasound to achieve basic competence, with the traditional training method. A literature search and survey of expert opinion were used to identify resources used in training. An executable model was produced in Excel. The model showed a cost saving for a clinic using the ScanTrainer of £7114 per annum. The uncertainties of the model were explored and it was found to be robust. Threshold values for the key drivers of the model were identified. Using the ScanTrainer is cost saving for clinics with at least two trainees per year to train, if it would take at least six lists to train them using the traditional training method and if a traditional training list has at least two fewer patients than a standard list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Health for Life in Primary Schools Program helps schools promote healthy, active lifestyles through curriculum support related to healthy eating and cooking, growing food, physical activity, and family involvement. These interrelated strands are shown to have the greatest impact on healthy lifestyles, and the Health for Life in Primary Schools Program seeks to make these not one-off lessons, but a sustainable part of a school's culture. Each school involved with the program develops its own Action Plan in order to achieve program goals. Each school is assessed by an audit of facilities, skills, and curriculum at baseline and follow-up, and the pupils complete an on-line questionnaire at baseline and follow-up. Other impact measures are individual to the school and relate to its own Action Plan. Method: Health for Life in Primary Schools sought to assess the cohesiveness and strength of the program using the Program Impact Pathways (PIP) model. The program was deconstructed to its individual parts, with each part assessed in terms of its contribution to the overall program and constraints upon its effectiveness. Results: The PIP analysis helped clarify the logic and structure of the program, whether its objectives can be achieved, the Critical Quality Control Points (CCPs), and the impact measures required to demonstrate success. The core indicators identified for impact evaluation were knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of pupils around healthy eating, cooking, growing food, and physical activity. Conclusion: The PIP model confirmed that the Health for Life in Primary Schools Program is well structured and is well suited to achieve its goals. The findings were presented at the Healthy Lifestyles Program Evaluation Workshop held in Granada, Spain, 13-14 September 2013, under the auspices of the Mondelēz International Foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare is delivered in a dynamic environment with frequent changes in populations, methods, equipment and settings. Infection prevention and control practitioners (IPCPs) must ensure that they are competent in addressing the challenges they face and are equipped to develop infection prevention and control (IPC) services in line with a changing world of healthcare provision. A multifaceted Framework was developed to assist IPCPs to enhance competence at an individual, team and organisational level to enable quality performance and improved quality of care. However, if these aspirations are to be met, it is vital that competency frameworks are fit for purpose or they risk being ignored. The aim of this unique study was to evaluate short and medium term outcomes as set out in the Outcome Logic Model to assist with the evaluation of the impact and success of the Framework. This study found that while the Framework is being used effectively in some areas, it is not being used as much or in the ways that were anticipated. The findings will enable future work on revision, communication and dissemination, and will provide intelligence to those initiating education and training in the utilisation of the competences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The status attainment literature suggests that the educational success of parents determines the educational success of their children (Blau and Duncan, 1967). However, the mechanisms by which families determine a child’s education are imperfectly understood. This article tests Lareau’s (2003) parental typology to identify the association between parenting strategies and educational outcomes achieved using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) 2004–2006. The findings suggest that class is not a convincing predictor for parenting style, but that use of concerted cultivation parenting strategies does improve the young person’s chances of achieving five GCSEs grade A*–C. These parenting strategies are also a positive predictor of how much a young person enjoys school, a teacher’s perception of their progress in school, their own perceptions of progress in school, their likelihood to apply to university, and whether they believe they will be accepted if they apply. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Unionlearn and union learning representatives were developed by the British TUC to match workers with education and training opportunities, strengthen the economy, foster market inclusion and facilitate social mobility. Their contribution to union revitalisation was emphasised. This article questions whether, with unions confronting global crisis, this is a necessary initiative. It stemmed from TUC failure to achieve policy goals, institutional needs, consequent acceptance of a lesser role, and the availability of state finance. Claims by academics that it provides influence over state policy and contributes to revitalisation remain inadequately evidenced. Union resurgence is not immanent. The way forward is through adversarial grassroots organising and socialist education, not through retooling capital, improving members’ marketability and partnership with a hostile state. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines how Dutch and British students socially construct the positional competition for jobs within their educational and labour market contexts. The findings illustrate two contrasting approaches to employability. The competition for jobs as understood by the Dutch students is based on absolute performance, an unclear relationship between skills and the labour market, and the development of human capital in areas of experiences, skills and abilities. For the British students it is based on relative performance, ranking of candidates and the importance of signals. The study also shows that these principles are aligned to national labour market and educational contexts. These results highlight the importance of the institutional context in how the positional competition for graduate jobs is played out. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The expansion of higher education raises the risk environment for school-leavers as more occupations become partially graduate with the result that occupational signals are fuzzy. This makes the educational decision more difficult and more risky, especially with more of the cost of higher education being transferred to the individual. After a discussion of the nature of risk, derived from Beck, and of the role of government policy and of economics in obscuring this, the analysis uses simple quantitative techniques, based on British Labour Force Survey data, to demonstrate the increased fuzziness of graduate work. It is also shown that a rising proportion of graduates receive only average pay, thus raising the risks associated with educational investments even further. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article offers an explanation for recent trends that indicate higher numbers of young British Pakistani men and women pursue higher education compared to their white peers. Our qualitative research provides evidence for shared norms and values amongst British Pakistani families, what we term ‘ethnic capital’. However, our findings also highlight differences between families. The Bourdieuian notion of ‘cultural capital’ explains educational success among middle-class British Pakistani families. We argue, however, that insufficient attention has been given to the relation between education and ethnicity, and particularly the role of ‘ethnic capital’ in ameliorating social class disadvantage. Our research also recognizes the limitations of ‘ethnic capital’ and traces the interplay of ethnicity with gender and religion that produces differences between, and within, working-class British Pakistani families. We also emphasize how structural constraints, selective school systems and racialized labour markets, influence the effectiveness of ‘ethnic capital’ in promoting educational achievement and social mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The last quarter of the 20th century gave rise to debate in this journal and elsewhere regarding the treatment of women in class analysis. It is argued here that the question of minority ethnic achievement has given new impetus to arguments in favour of taking account of mother's occupation in class schemas. The article constructs three different class schemas and tests their utility in this context. It then uses one schema to assess the importance of social class in explaining achievement differentials among minority ethnic pupils in Britain. Class background is found to be a key factor for all groups. The analysis finds significant differences between ethnic groups even when pupils from the same social class background are compared. When disparities within ethnic groups are examined, however, it is found that the effect of moving one place down the social class structure is similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how urban working-class youth display their identities through taste and style within the educational field. The authors examine data from longitudinal tracking interview to see how such practices contribute to shaping young people's choices and attitudes towards higher education. The authors suggest that while young people try to generate worth and value through investments in style, these practices also play into oppressive social relations and keep the young people within marginalized social positions.

Fieldwork conducted in two American states and in England and Wales helps to clarify the implementation of assessment policy at the central, local administrative (school and district), and classroom levels. This article examines implementation from three perspectives. The power perspective suggests that formal sanctions can result in educators attending to assessments but that such sanctions are not likely to change practice alone. A second perspective highlights what educators need to learn in order to change practice and the shortage of opportunities to do so. The legitimacy perspective attends to the ways in which poIicymakers generate confidence in their institutions at different levels and the conflicting criteria for supporting institutions. We conclude that assessment policy is useful for promoting easily observable changes but not deep modifications of teaching practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usual analysis of status attainment has ignored important dimensions of both education and occupation and has consequently underestimated the role of education in the occupational attainment process. We examine four aspects of British educational attainment (years of schooling, type of school attended, examinations passed in school, and qualifications obtained) and four aspects of occupations (prestige, authority, control, and earnings). The analysis is conducted for four ten-year age cohorts of British men. Findings include: (a) No single dimension of educational attainment suffices to represent the effects of education on occupation. (b) Different patterns of the educational attainment measures are important in explaining different dimensions of occupational attainment. (c) The degree to which educational attainment is important for occupational attainment depends on the dimension of occupational attainment considered. (d) The persistent importance of school type in explaining occupational outcomes suggests the importance of "chartering" in British education. (e) The full model varies greatly in its ability to explain occupational outcomes, indicating that alternative models will need to be constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proposals for national assessments of educational performance provide opportunities to develop valuable social indicators, but they also pose important problems of methodology and interpretation. Researchers in the U.S. have emphasized the importance of analyzing and reporting indicator data at the school level, mainly because much of the variation in schooling outcomes is at the school level, and because findings at this level are particularly relevant to policy and practice. We do not refute this, but contend that indicator data should be analyzed and reported also at state and district levels. We present an analysis of British data that shows there is important variation at higher levels of the system, and that it is possible to examine whether this variation is related to national or district-level policies. The article discusses the issues involved in conducting analyses at higher levels. We identify three kinds of indicators: gross productivity, net productivity, and inequality. Our analysis indicates the degree of inter district variation in Great Britain on all of these measures and the extent to which organizational features of the districts' programs help explain that variation. Recommendations are made regarding the necessary features of any educational assessment if it is to produce useful social indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on different barriers to education about alcohol in Great Britain. Different surveys have revealed that teaching about alcohol in medical schools is less than ideal. Those postgraduates who faced alcohol problems express frustration at their lack of knowledge and inability to respond. Students are bound to learn about alcohol during their medical course.

The article focuses on the aim of British government to have 50 percent of young people going to university by 2010. Universities are under pressure to provide better education for an increasing number of students at a lower cost per head. On the other hand, universities will move away from teaching to learning and will develop putting the student first and providing a lifelong learning network.