Job sharing in general practice.

A questionnaire survey of 500 consecutive patients consulting their general practitioners was undertaken to compare job sharing part time partners and full time partners in respect of patients'' perception of and satisfaction with the availability of the doctor they wished to consult. Comparison of linear analogue scales of patients'' satisfaction with the availability of their chosen doctor showed no significant difference between job sharing partners and full time partners. Nevertheless, significantly fewer patients were able to see the full time partner of their choice within two days than were able to see the job sharing partner of their choice within the same period. In this study patients were as satisfied with the availability of job sharing partners as they were with that of full time partners; the findings highlight important considerations for practices wishing to appoint partners with a limited commitment.     

Advice to a Moscow children's hospital.

At the request of the largest children''s hospital in Moscow, McKenzie and colleagues made recommendations for improving the service. Restrictions on visiting and fears of contracting illness from non-disposable needles have discouraged the local population from using the hospital. Consequently the hospital is underused and overstaffed. Serious shortages of drugs and surgical supplies compromise care. Fundamental changes are needed in nursing and postgraduate education. The authors encouraged their Russian colleagues to address the health care needs of their local population and to develop family centred care, and they offered training in London.     

Family unit in a children's psychiatric hospital.

The need for effective management of disorders of parent/child relationships is repeatedly stressed. Despite the bulk of theoretical work on the subject there is little information on the practical management of the clinical problems that arise. We describe a unit designed and staffed for the management of such disorders. In our view it meets a need in a way that could be difficult or impossible for most paediatric, psychiatric, and social services as they are at present organized.     

Study of smoking habits in hospital and attitudes of medical staff towards smoking.

Most hospital policies place little or no restriction on patients'' smoking in hospital. In this study patients were surveyed to determine if they smoked and if their doctors advised or ordered them to stop smoking in hospital. As well, the smoking habits and attitudes towards smoking of the medical staff and other hospital workers were explored. Of 741 patients 37% were smokers, and those who responded fully to a questionnaire 86% continued to smoke in hospital. Patients who were advised or ordered not to smoke (59%) were no more likely to stop smoking than those who were not so advised or ordered. Physicians were less likely to smoke than other hospital staff, and those who did smoke were much more likely not to smoke while in the hospital. Physicians appear to have a reasonable appreciation of the health hazards of smoking, and almost two thirds are in favour of stricter restrictions on patients'' smoking in hospital. The ineffectiveness of their efforts is primarily due to hospital policies that are not in keeping with physicians'' standards of practice and with established knowledge of the deleterious effects of smoking on health.     

Nosocomial infection in a children's hospital. A retrospective study

The investigations the frequency of the occurrences of hospital infections were carried in a General Pediatric Ward. Most of the infections (77 per cent) appeared in children up to one year of age. The hospital infections mostly affected children residing in rural areas. The etiological agent was E. coli (36 per cent), Proteus (22.7 per cent) Klebsiella and Staphylococcus. The infections caused by E. coli mainly appeared in girls, others- in boys. The frequency of the occurrences of hospital infections was also analysed with respect to the primary disease of a child. In most cases of additional infections were found in children with upper respiratory tract infections, pneumonia and bronchitis. The above differences are statistically valid.