University of Lincoln

About: University of Lincoln is a education organization based out in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 2341 authors who have published 7025 publications receiving 124797 citations.

Development and pilot of clinical performance indicators for English ambulance services

Abstract: Introduction There is a compelling need to develop clinical performance indicators for ambulance services in order to move from indicators based primarily on response times and in light of the changing clinical demands on services. We report on progress on the national pilot of clinical performance indicators for English ambulance services. Method Clinical performance indicators were developed in five clinical areas: acute myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, stroke (including transient ischaemic attack), asthma and hypoglycaemia. These were determined on the basis of common acute conditions presenting to ambulance services and in line with a previously published framework. Indicators were piloted by ambulance services in England and results were presented in tables and graphically using funnel (statistical process control) plots. Results Progress for developing, agreeing and piloting of indicators has been rapid, from initial agreement in May 2007 to completion of the pilot phase by the end of March 2008. The results of benchmarking of indicators are shown. The pilot has informed services in deciding the focus of their improvement programme in 2008–2009 and indicators have been adopted for national performance assessment of standards of prehospital care. Conclusion The pilot will provide the basis for further development of clinical indicators, benchmarking of performance and implementation of specific evidence-based interventions to improve care in areas identified for improvement. A national performance improvement registry will enable evaluation and sharing of effective improvement methods as well as increasing stakeholder and public access to information on the quality of care provided by ambulance services.

A decentralised neural model explaining optimal integration of navigational strategies in insects.

Abstract: Insect navigation arises from the coordinated action of concurrent guidance systems but the neural mechanisms through which each functions, and are then coordinated, remains unknown We propose that insects require distinct strategies to retrace familiar routes (route-following) and directly return from novel to familiar terrain (homing) using different aspects of frequency encoded views that are processed in different neural pathways We also demonstrate how the Central Complex and Mushroom Bodies regions of the insect brain may work in tandem to coordinate the directional output of different guidance cues through a contextually switched ring-attractor inspired by neural recordings The resultant unified model of insect navigation reproduces behavioural data from a series of cue conflict experiments in realistic animal environments and offers testable hypotheses of where and how insects process visual cues, utilise the different information that they provide and coordinate their outputs to achieve the adaptive behaviours observed in the wild

Masculinizing Care? Gender, Ethics of Care, and Fathers’ Rights Groups:

Abstract: This article contributes to theoretical debates around caring masculinity, especially attempts to integrate feminist ethics of care with masculinities scholarship. I apply ethics of care and masculinities theories to an illustrative case study of fathers’ rights group (FRG), (Real) Fathers 4 Justice, who, I argue, employ aspects of care perspectives framed as a “new man/new father” masculinity. Applying ethics of care to analyze caring masculinities demonstrates that men care and that caring masculinity can potentially destabilize dominant notions of masculinity. However, care is also coded masculine in complex, sometimes troubling, ways. The promise of masculinized care in the context of fathers’ rights is limited as, ultimately, gender binaries are reinforced more than they are rendered contingent. As well as contributing to analyses of the gender politics of FRGs, I argue that we should pay careful attention to the contexts within which caring masculinities may be strategically and problematically employed.

Social policy, professional regulation and health support work in the United Kingdom

Abstract: This paper examines the neglected area of health support work in the United Kingdom in the context of recent social policy and studies of professionalisation A variety of socioeconomic trends have led policy makers to give greater consideration to this section of the healthcare workforce Professional regulatory issues and recent reviews in the health field have provided the leverage to alter existing healthcare boundaries, as well as to enhance public protection Drawing on commissioned research, it is argued that health support workers are not only an important area of study in their own right, but also raise interesting questions about the broader process of health policy making and professionalisation