Promoting CARE

Promoting Good Medical Care

This paper sets out the policy of the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes/ European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) on quality assurance (QA), which is defined here as the regular review against defined standards of medical care. Its aim is to provide a framework for confirming the good quality of healthcare in Europe and, specifically, of the contribution of specialist doctors. The ...

Palliative care symposium: promoting joint palliative care.

Dr Lesley Colvin (Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh) discussed the challenges of pain management in patients with a history of addiction. Similar to other chronic conditions, substance misuse often follows a relapsing course. Pain is a frequently associated comorbidity. Mortality rates are high but can be reduced by successful methadone maintenance programmes, ...

Promoting change in clinical care.

Not all change is for the good; so before analysing how change can be promoted it is important to make clear that the changes I am concerned with are those based on sound evidence, whether in terms of patients' health status or satisfaction or in terms of organisational or economic benefits to the NHS. Nevertheless, studying processes can help in promoting good clinical care and in understandin...

Preconception care: promoting reproductive planning

INTRODUCTION Preconception care recognizes that many adolescent girls and young women will be thrust into motherhood without the knowledge, skills or support they need. Sixty million adolescents give birth each year worldwide, even though pregnancy in adolescence has mortality rates at least twice as high as pregnancy in women aged 20-29 years. Reproductive planning and contraceptive use can pr...

Promoting exercise in primary care.