Effective clinical policies in a district general hospital.
Effective clinical practice in a hospital needs current knowledge together with the skills and right attitude; these should be applied continuously. Failure of this system can be due to ignorance or arrogance. We attempted to correct these deficiencies by formulating a set of policies which were enforced from 1962 to 1983. The policies related to the following: intensive care (including asthma, nutrition and organ donation), drug prescribing and resuscitation. We believe that these rules improved patient care and the standards of training; the prescribing policy also saved money.
Gordon
I J
IJ
Whiston Hospital, Prescot, Merseyside, UK. ijgord@globalnet.co.uk
Jones
E S
ES
D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy; D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards; D004046:Dietetics / Q000458:organization & administration; D017723:Drug Utilization Review; D004739:England; D006767:Hospitals, District / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006769:Hospitals, General / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010343:Patient Admission; D005791:Patient Care / Q000592:standards*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000592:standards; D014019:Tissue Donors