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The General Medical Council hearing into events at the Bristol Royal Infirmary resulted in verdicts of serious professional misconduct against three senior doctors. After the longest-running hearing in the GMC’s history the press response was fierce. This paper reviews the reporting of the Bristol case (and issues arising from it) in the main broadsheet and tabloid national newspapers (dailies and Sundays) in the 5-week period around the GMC’s delivery of the verdicts and subsequent sentencing. The aim was to describe the main themes emerging from the press coverage and to assess the implications for future debates over clinical performance and accountability. Media interest in the Bristol case was intense (184 published items in 5 weeks). The reporting was emotive and largely hostile, raising doubts about not just isolated lapses of care but also the possibility of more systematic failings. Diminished trust and reduced public confidence were recurrent themes, powerfully expressed. Professional self-regulation received scathing criticism, with calls for more public access to individual performance data. Future debates about clinical governance will need to take account of the new public context in the wake of Bristol. Arguments about the relative merits of self-regulation or data-driven performance management systems now need to be played out for a knowing and openly sceptical print media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on an article on populist journalism, in relation to a court hearing in Bristol, England in 1998. Excerpt from an editorial on professional self-regulation; Issue surrounding the revalidation of doctors by Great Britain's General Medical Council; Criticism against the practice of journalism.

This paper intervenes in the debate on ethnic segregation in British cities by paying attention to the hitherto neglected phenomenon of territorial stigmatisation. It discusses the stigma attached to the neighbourhood of St Paul's, Bristol; how it emerged, how it is felt and negotiated by local residents 'from below', and its effects on how that neighbourhood is managed by policy elites 'from above'. The paper critically reviews some recent influential treatments of ethnic segregation in the UK and the moral panic over ghettoisation, before explaining how the racialisation of urban space and extreme events such as the riots of 1980 and recent high-profile activities connected to Bristol's drugs economy have installed a damaging reputation of St Paul's as a segregated 'ghetto' of vice and dereliction. Using a mixed-methods approach, we show that black-white segregation in St Paul's is in fact low, and then explain how its ghetto reputation affects the experiences of residents. The paper concludes by arguing that in order to understand the complexities of ethnically diverse urban communities in Britain, territorial stigmatisation must be subjected to analytical scrutiny to complement the high-profile statistical approaches of recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about my job as a research supporter. I was part of a team, with three people with learning difficulties. They had paid jobs as researchers. The project was at a People First organisation, and it was about direct payments.These are the things I tried to do in my job:It is not always easy to do these things. The supporter needs to learn how to step back, and find ways for researchers with learning difficulties to do things for themselves.It is important that people with learning difficulties know how powerful they can be when they are doing research.People First organisations need to decide for themselves about the research they may want to do.Thank you to CHANGE for the use of pictures from their PictureBank. In a previous article [Brit J Learn Disabil27: 48–51], entitled‘Researching Together’, I described the process by which a team of People First researchers and myself worked together on a small-scale project in Bristol. The project was started by self advocates, and followed their own ideas, although they had support. Walmsley refers to it [Disabil Soc16: 198] as a‘team approach, rather than one where the people with learning disabilities are in charge’, admitting that the title‘Researching Together’ led her to this conclusion. My basic aim in writing this sequel, then, is to consider the notion of‘together’. Is the equation of togetherness about equal roles, or does it automatically imply that one partner is more powerful than the others? This is a practice paper, which offers some analysis of our own experiences in a large-scale, funded research project, in which the self advocates had paid employment as researchers. All members of the team can contribute to this kind of reflexivity. The article concludes that inclusive research is something new, with its own hallmarks and styles. The research supporter has to remain aware of the potential power in her own role, and to be prepared to divest herself of that power and to step back, so that People First members take control of the process of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces that the 22nd annual meeting of the British Society for Oral Pathology was held from September 11-12, 1997 in Bristol, England. Reviewers of abstracts who contributed to the meeting are Gordon MacDonald, Howard Moody, Paul Speight. Abstracts of research papers presented in the meeting are provided in the article. Topics covered in these papers include cellular differentiation in tumour-derived human keratinocytes, regulation of matrix metalloproteinase, and normal buccal epithelium.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) using a GB plant-level data set. The main findings relate to whether spatial spillovers and 'place' effects are important: plants located in cities generally perform better than plants in the same region outside of these cities; but with the exception of Bristol, no city has significantly higher TFP levels than the South East. This suggests that spatial externalities associated with city location are not as important as the benefits of being situated in the South East region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the British Society for Matrix Biology's autumn meeting in Bristol, England. Paper presentations; Key speakers; Event highlights.

This paper draws on the author's experience as a panel member for the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry into the care of children receiving complex cardiac services at the BRI between 1984 and 1995 to describe the process of inquiry and to reflect on recent moves towards a more managed court system, in both civil and criminal jurisdictions. We may begin to question the traditional sharp distinction between adversarial and inquisitorial court processes and to consider the similarities as well as the differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, the carer's perspective has dominated research on families who include someone with a learning disability and recent legislation has underlined the carer's rights. Previous research has found that some more able people with learning disabilities were very aware of their parents' growing needs, and were taking on responsibilities within the family to help and support their carer/parents. However, recent legislation still dichotomizes family members into carers and cared-for people. The present paper is based on a research study of the impact of the UK Carers Act 1995 on families with someone with a learning disability. It involved canvassing the views of people with learning disabilities about their experience of assessments and their relationships within the family. The present authors found that many people with learning disabilities expressed empathy for their carer's point of view and that several people (including some who had high support needs themselves) were performing care tasks for their elderly parents. However, no one appeared to recognize the situation as one of mutual care, and parents generally carried on defining themselves as carers since they took responsibility and exercised control. The present authors conclude that mutual caring is far more common than is recognized and includes people with severe learning disabilities. A more holistic approach to assessment of needs is required that can take into account the complex web of interdependence within a family. Rather than categorizing people into 'carers' and 'cared-for', the present authors suggest a model that recognizes mutually supportive partnerships within the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper describes age-related fractures in 68 people with intellectual disability and epilepsy (39 females and 29 males). A higher incidence of fractures in epileptic subjects (269%) was noted when they were compared with non-epileptic patients (15%). In the sample of 263 epileptics (121 females and 142 males), a higher number of females (32%) sustained fractures than their male counterparts (20%). The peak period of all fractures is between 40 and 49 years of age. The highest incidence of fractures in females occurred during the periods from 10 to 19 and 40 to 49 years, while the peak was between 30 and 39 years for males. The causes of fractures and preventative measures are discussed, and further avenues for research are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the highlights of the 9th Biennial conference on the European Association of Social Anthropologists held from September 18 to 21, 2006 at Bristol, Great Britain. The global dimensions of particular ethnographic encounters based on the theme of the conference "Europe and the world" is focussed. Various events held at the conference including workshops, presentation of papers and discussions on cultural diversities are mentioned.

From December 14th through 16th, 1983, the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Psychophysiology Society will be held at Charing Cross Medical School, London, England. Details for the submission of papers may be obtained from: Dr. D. Papakostopoulos, Burden Neurological Institute, Stoke Lane, Stapleton, Bristol, England. Applications for registrations at the conference can be had from a different contact person whose address can be had from the article.

This article provides information about various congresses related to psychophysiology as of March 1983. London, England-based EEG Society and the Psychophysiology Society announced the First Joint Conference on Experimental and Clinical Psychophysiology to be held on June 29th through July 1st, 1983 at the Burden Neurological Institute, Bristol, England. The Conference will consist of formal paper sessions, symposia and poster sessions. From July 6-9, 1983, the inaugural meeting of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences will be held at the Henry VIII Hotel, Leinster Gardens, London W2, England.