A number of human factors influence the way managers within organisations address patient safety concerns. One is wilful blindness. The phenomenon of wilful blindness has been described by Heffernan (2011, p. 3) as “shirking” the “opportunity for knowledge, and a ...

History tells us that intentional injury is not a new phenomenon: in 1860 a French pathologist Auguste Ambroise Tardieu wrote a forensic study on the cruelty and the ill treatment of children. While the terminology has evolved over time to ...

Minister for Health Greg Hunt and Assistant Minister for Health David Gillespie have launched a new telehealth initiative to remove barriers to mental health treatments and improve access to psychological services for residents in rural and remote areas. Under the new expanded ...

Robots don't always have the upper hand - new studies suggest that humans make better surgeons. As hospitals spend millions on robotics and new technology, studies by Leeds University and Stanford University have revealed that robots used in medical settings ...

In an effort to improve health outcomes for patients, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has released a new guide, Minimum Standards for Communicating between Health Services and General Practitioners and other Treating Doctors. The Guide was adapted from an AMA Victoria ...

Health professionals hoping to learn more about aseptic technique in wound care now have access to a new consensus document by Wounds Australia. Chief executive Anne Buck said the publication will help clinicians provide evidence-based wound care and meet infection ...

Brisbane North PHN has recently rolled out two initiatives – Yellow Envelope and the Geriatric Outreach Assessment Service – to help or minimise the transition of aged care residents from facilities to hospitals.“The Yellow Envelope is a document in which ...

The food we eat, particularly plant-based fibre, influences the composition and metabolic activity of the dense and diverse microbial community living in our guts, called the microbiome. This in turn has an impact on a number of health conditions. The ...

How much should healthcare be left up to a clinician’s own discretion? This question will be unpacked by Dr Doug McConnell, from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Humanities and Social Sciences, at a conference focused on conscientious objection. McConnell ...

Staff at the Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick have broken out the happy, teary and angry emojis as a way to open up dialogue about treatment and enable younger patients and their families to communicate their feelings. A patient suggested ...