Outbreak of Clostridium perfringens food poisoning.

An outbreak of diarrhoea occurred at a 647-bedded long-stay hospital from 11 to 14 June 1989. Fifty-eight elderly residents developed symptoms and there were two deaths. The organism was identified as Clostridium perfringens type A, serotype TW23. The source of the outbreak was found to be inadequately reheated minced beef served at lunchtime on 11 June. The reason why only 4 of the possible 16 wards receiving minced beef were affected was thought to be due to the division of the batch of minced beef at a late stage in the preparation process. We conclude that there is a need for effective bowel and nutrition policies and that these are high priorities for audit.

Improving the detection and management of depression in primary care.

The effectiveness of screening and organisational strategies to improve the recognition and management of depression in primary care published in a recent issue of Effective Health Care is reviewed.

Crisis in our hospital kitchens: ancillary staffing levels during an outbreak of food poisoning in a long stay hospital.

An investigation into an outbreak of food poisoning caused by Clostridium perfringens showed evidence of poor food handling by catering staff. The reasons behind this were explored by interviewing catering staff, analysing shifts and rotas, and looking at staff vacancies. Morale was low because of staff shortages resulting from a long term recruitment problem. In consequence staff were working double shifts and often for weeks on end without a day off. The reasons for the recruitment problem included the difficulty of recruiting semiskilled labour from a middle class area, low wages, lack of management support, and the poor image of the hospital as a place of work. Similar factors affect the recruitment and retention of ancillary staff nationally. The NHS has a poor record as an employer of ancillary staff, paying lower wages than other organisations for equivalent posts. Competitive tendering has further worsened the position of ancillary staff, with the result that good quality of care and service has often not been achieved. The NHS Review, with its emphasis on quality of care, makes no mention of ancillary staff. Yet high standards of ancillary provision are essential if further outbreaks of food poisoning in hospitals are to be prevented.

Patient satisfaction with general anaesthesia. Too difficult to measure?

A questionnaire to evaluate patient satisfaction following general anaesthesia was designed with the aid of focus groups. A subsequent audit identified aspects of care which could be improved on the basis of responses to the satisfaction questionnaire. It is possible to design a discriminating satisfaction questionnaire for general anaesthesia.

Number of non-diabetic drugs: a simple comorbidity indicator for diabetes?

INTRODUCTION: The number of non-diabetic drugs, taken by a patient with diabetes at any one point in time, has been validated in previous studies as a comorbidity indicator. AIM: The aim of the paper is to examine the relationship between this comorbidity indicator and health status in people with Type 2 diabetes. METHOD: The analysis presented is from a prospective cohort study of people with Type 2 diabetes before and after commencing insulin therapy, with simultaneous collection of health status, clinical and other comparative data. RESULTS: Of the 48 people for whom both health status and drug data were available, 26 (54%) were taking at least one non-diabetic drug and 16 (33%) were taking 3 or more non-diabetic drugs, at the baseline assessment. There were no significant relationships between the number of non-diabetic drugs taken, and age, duration of diabetes or baseline HbA1c measurements. However, there were statistically significant relationships between the number of non-diabetic drugs and health status, in terms of depression and physical function. CONCLUSION: Drug data are routinely recorded in primary care and therefore the number of non-diabetic drugs is a potentially widely available indicator. This indicator could be a useful, simple addition to datasets that not only proxies comorbidity but also relates to patients' physical function and depression status.