Paying the price of the lack of diversity in US healthcare

by Daryl Ilbury

At first glance, there is a glaring lack of diversity in the United States’ healthcare workforce. Look deeper, and the dilemma takes on a far more disheartening form. Despite continuous efforts spanning over four decades, there seems to be little shift towards representative parity between the healthcare workforce and the nation it must serve. If anything, things are getting worse. This lack of parity is a significant bulwark to effective healthcare. Professor Christina Goode of the Western University of Health Sciences in California, USA, has identified contributing factors to this dilemma. It is a highly complex state of affairs, and making the necessary shift will require substantial changes beyond that to the country’s education system.

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Imperial SCARU: Inspiring an evolutionary leap in healthcare

by Daryl Ilbury

On 5 July 2023, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) turned 75. It was a moment for deep national re-examination. The UK public has a strange and strained relationship with the NHS, simultaneously calling for urgent changes, yet also warning, ‘Don’t mess with the NHS’. The reality is that, since the inception of the NHS – still the most popular institution in Britain – two major shifts have impacted healthcare: global public health priorities have changed, and technology has evolved such that it permeates every aspect of our lives. Combine the two, and you have not only a need to transform healthcare provision but also have significant ways to do it. A team of researchers at Imperial College London are at the forefront of this conjectural nexus, inspiring an evolutionary leap in how healthcare is conceptualised: where the self-carer, health, wellbeing and healing are the main focus, as opposed to a system

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Should pre-anaesthesia consultations be done telephonically?

by Daryl Ilbury

It’s tempting to think that a patient undergoing surgery has little to do to ensure the operation is a success – after all, they’re anaesthetised or sedated – but the reality is that a patient should be an active participant in the procedure. Whereas the focus may be on the surgeon during the operation, the most significant responsibility in ensuring the patient is best prepared for their role usually falls on the anaesthesiologist. One Austrian anaesthesiologist and critical care physician is drawing attention to an increasingly important part of patient preparation.

You can read the rest of this article, complete with additional feature content, on the Research Outreach website here. (Opens in a new tab)

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A simple solution where lives are at stake

by Daryl Ilbury

A hospital’s emergency department triage unit is a high-pressured work environment where situations are often fluid and poor communication can have serious, tragic consequences. But hospitals, like any other extensive work system, demand compliance procedures that can be time-consuming and constraining for triage staff. So how can hospitals balance compliance with the realities of novel and evolving scenarios such as those at an emergency department? Professor Thierry Morineau of the University of Southern Brittany in France believes the answer lies in less compliance.

The image of a typical hospital emergency department (ED) – for those who’ve never worked in one or been lucky enough not to end up in one – is probably framed by popular hospital-themed TV series. An ED is an action-packed, seemingly chaotic environment with endless arrivals of ambulances filled with critically injured people, cared for by hurried staff exchanging calls of

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