Inquiry Report Research Articles

Powering Apartheid: The Coalbrook Mine Disaster of 1960

ABSTRACT 1960 was a pivotal year in the history of apartheid and of South Africa. However, the first great crisis of that year – the Coalbrook Mine Disaster – has been largely forgotten. At least 435 miners died when a large section of the mine collapsed on 21 January 1960. The Coalbrook Disaster can be attributed in large measure to the rise of the racist, capitalist apartheid state in South Africa after 1948. As the first major crisis of 1960 in South Africa, it dramatised and foreshadowed many of the debates that ensued during that year about the nature of the apartheid state. Key causes of the disaster were the exponential increase in demand for coal following the opening of the Taaibos power station in 1954 on the one hand, and the cumulative effects of unsound mine labour practices based on race on the other. Using contemporary newspaper accounts, government files, and the official enquiry report, this paper seeks to highlight the human cost of the rise of the South African mining industry, and especially of the coal that powered the construction of the apartheid state.

Prospective elementary teachers' abilities in tackling a contextualized physics problem as guided inquiry

Abstract This article presents a qualitative study, with a descriptive and interpretative nature, of the abilities of prospective elementary teachers (PETs) to solve a contextualized problem of physics through a process of guided inquiry. Specifically, an analysis was made of the PETs' abilities to (a) formulate hypotheses; (b) plan inquiry procedures aimed at testing hypotheses; and (c) draw conclusions from the inquiry (i.e., interpret experimental data to accept or reject their hypotheses, and recognize the limitations of the inquiry that they had conducted). The study participants were 17 PETs who were receiving training in science teaching. They were organized into small groups to solve the physics problem proposed to them. The study's data were extracted from the inquiry reports that the groups prepared by following a script with open-ended questions. The results revealed the PETs' strengths and weaknesses in addressing the different scientific practices that had been required in the process, as well as showing that they all had achieved some improvement in their inquiry abilities after completing the activity. A discussion of the results is given with a view to improving the training of PETs in inquiry-based science learning.

Confidential enquiries into maternal deaths in Ondo State, Nigeria \u2013 a comparative analysis

BackgroundPaucity of data on state-wide maternal mortality in Nigeria hampers planning, monitoring and evaluation of the impact of interventions. The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in Ondo State was initiated to overcome this problem. This study aimed to compare trends of maternal mortality ratios, causes of deaths, geographical distribution and other associated factors in 12-monthly reports of the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in Ondo State.MethodsNotification forms were distributed throughout the State to focal persons and medical records officers at community and facility levels, respectively. Maternal deaths, as defined in the International Classification of Diseases 10th version, were recorded prospectively over 3 years from 1st June 2012 to 30th May, 2015. Forms were submitted, collated and data analysed by a multidisciplinary review committee.ResultsReported numbers of maternal deaths (and maternal mortality ratios) were 114 (253 per 100,000 births), 89 (192) and 81 (170), respectively per year, indicating a 33% reduction in maternal mortality ratio over the course of the study period. Assuming that the confidential enquiry process was the only intervention at the time aimed at reducing maternal mortality, simple linear regression with a correlation coefficient of 0.9314, showed a relationship though the difference in the values were not statistically significant (95% CI = − 184.55 to 101.55, p = 0.169). Postpartum haemorrhage and eclampsia were the leading causes of deaths.ConclusionThere was a trend of reduction in maternal mortality ratio during the period of study with postpartum haemorrhage as the major cause of death. The positive association between the confidential enquiry reports and maternal mortality ratios make us recommend that our model be adopted in other states and at the federal level.

Australia\u2019s overseas development aid commitment to health through the sustainable development goals: a multi-stakeholder perspective

BackgroundIn 2018, the Australian Government, through a Senate-led Parliamentary Inquiry, sought the views of diverse stakeholders on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) implementation both domestically and as part of Australia’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) program. One hundred and sixty-four written submissions were received. The submissions offered perspective and guidance from a rich cross-section of those involved, and with keen interest in, Australia’s ODA-SDG commitment. This article identifies and explores the submissions to that Inquiry which placed impetus on Australia’s ODA-SDG and health and development nexus. It then compares how the synthesized views, concerns and priorities of selected Inquiry stakeholders align with and reflect the Australian Government’s treatment of SDG 3 in its SDG Voluntary National Review (VNR), as well as with the final Inquiry report summarizing submission content.ResultsFour key themes were synthesized and drawn from the thirty-one stakeholder submissions included in our analysis. Disconnect was then found to exist between the selected stakeholder views and the Australian Government’s SDG-VNR’s treatment of SDG 3, as well as with the content of the Parliamentary Inquiry’s final report with respect to the ODA-SDG and health and development nexus.ConclusionsWe situate the findings of our analysis within the wider strategic context of the Australian Government’s policy commitment to “step up” in the Pacific region. This research provides an insight into both multi-stakeholder and Federal Government views on ODA in the Indo-Pacific region, especially at a time when Australia’s Pacific engagement has come to the forefront of both foreign and security policy. We conclude that the SDG agenda, including the SDG health and development agenda, could offer a unique vehicle for enabling a paradigm shift in the Australian Government’s development approach toward the Pacific region and its diverse peoples. This potential is strongly reflected in stakeholder perspectives included in our analysis. However, study findings remind that the political determinants of health, and overlapping political determinants of SDG achievement, will be instrumental in the coming decade, and that stakeholders from different sectors need to be genuinely engaged in SDG-ODA policy-related decision-making and planning by governments in both developed and developing countries alike.

Fair use and fairness in copyright: A distributive justice perspective on users' rights

Australia is once again considering how to best protect the public interest in copyright. One of the most contested current issues in Australian copyright law is the question of limits and exceptions to the rights of copyright owners. The recent Australian Law Reform Commission (‘ALRC’) review into copyright exceptions recommended broadening and simplifying the exceptions to better protect the interests of users to access and reuse copyright material for socially beneficial purposes. Despite the exhaustive consultation and report produced by the ALRC, and the support lent to it by the recent Productivity Commission Inquiry Report, there is little consensus about its recommendations. The proposal to introduce fair use is strongly contested by rightsholder groups, who are reluctant to cede further control over the use of information and cultural goods, particularly given the challenges they have faced transitioning to a digital environment.

Constructing the Problem of Religious Freedom: An Analysis of Australian Government Inquiries into Religious Freedom

Australia is the only western democracy without a comprehensive human rights instrument and has only limited protection for religious freedom in its constitution. It was Australia’s growing religious diversity—the result of robust political support for multiculturalism and pro-immigration policies in the post-war period—that led to the first public inquiry into religious freedom by an Australian statutory body in 1984. Responding to evidence of discrimination against Indigenous Australians and minority religious groups, the report detailed the need for stronger legal protections. By 2019, Australia’s religious freedom ‘problem’ was focused almost solely on the extent to which religious organizations should be allowed to discriminate against LGBTIQ people. Using the What’s the Problem Represented To Be? approach to policy analysis, this paper explores the changing representation of the ‘problem’ of religious freedom by examining all public, parliamentary and statutory body reports of inquiries into religious freedom from 1984 to 2019. In their framing of the problem of religious freedom, these reports have contributed to a discourse of religious freedom which marginalizes the needs of both those who suffer discrimination because of their religion and those who suffer discrimination as a result of the religious beliefs of others.

Impacts of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster on healthcare facilities: A systematic literature review

Understanding how a disaster impact functions of healthcare facilities is important future disaster risk reduction. This study aims to synthesise the impact of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, one of the largest chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear, or explosive (CRBNE) events in world history, on the functional status of healthcare facilities. Two data sources, Medline and Nursing databases, were searched for peer-reviewed papers written in English or Japanese. CiNii and Ichi-shi Web were searched for papers in Japanese. Articles written in English or Japanese and published from March 2011 to April 2019 were included. For further information within the month of the disaster, newspaper articles from Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun were also searched, as well as an inquiry report published by the National Diet of Japan. After screening, 66 articles and a book were included. In the acute phase of the disaster, problems around logistics and human resources resulted in the most severe damage to healthcare facilities, despite the relatively limited structural damage. Hospital evacuation posed a large problem, and ill-planned evacuations resulted in increased mortality among evacuated patients. No literature described direct impacts of radiation exposure, or radiation screenings, to the functioning of healthcare facilities. In the chronic phase, issues around human resources including staff shortages and mental health deterioration among healthcare staff remained as major problems. In conclusion, after the Fukushima nuclear disaster and subsequent social disruption, there was prominent damage to the infrastructure and logistics of healthcare facilities, and staff shortages at local healthcare facilities continued long-term.

Revamping doctoral training for a decarbonised future

Revamping doctoral training for a decarbonised future

Whistleblowing: what progress since the Francis Inquiry report?

Whistleblowing is established as an important aspect of safeguarding patients. Nevertheless, whistleblowers themselves have suffered as a result of their efforts to expose ‘wrongdoing’. In this paper, based on a presentation at the Royal Society of Medicine, in March 2019, the author considers what progress has been made since the Francis Inquiry report.

Running to stand still with patient safety in the NHS?

John Tingle discusses some major inquiry reports into patient safety crises in the NHS and asks whether any lessons have been learnt from events.

A Blueprint for Evidence-Based Practice? Assessing the Warnock Inquiry's Proposals for Research and Development in Special Education 40 Years On

In just seven of its almost 400 pages, the Warnock Report set out an ambitious programme for research and development in special education. The Committee not only identified areas in need of further investigation, revealed via the Inquiry process, but went beyond this, with recommendations designed to improve teachers’ involvement in and engagement with research, and the processes of translating research into practical tools and strategies for practitioners in schools and classrooms. Warnock’s vision reimagined academic roles as being more applied and in-touch with practice on the ground, created spaces for teachers to contribute to and conduct research, and suggested an elementary architecture for a coordinated and more democratised approach to research in special education. This paper explores the development of some of the Warnock Inquiry’s key proposals on research and development in special education. In the first half of this paper, we consider how the progress made to improving teachers’ relationship with research and usage of research findings. It is suggested that much of what has emerged in the UK in recent years regarding the principles and mechanisms for moving the mainstream teaching profession to adopting evidence-based practices are prefigured in the Inquiry report. The second half of the paper revisits the Committee’s research priorities and describes how the specific proposals relating to improving school-based research were addressed. We then consider the research priorities of today, and in particular, how ‘big data’ might be harnessed to improve our understanding and knowledge of the impacts of the more inclusive, less segregated, approaches to schooling that the Warnock Committee precipitated.

Thinking security through the event: Materiality, politics and publicity in the Litvinenko affair

While the turn towards materiality over the course of the last decade has enriched studies of security in a variety of ways, the security field continues to pose challenges for materially oriented thinking. This article argues that while recent materially oriented work on security has been concerned with events, working through the question of the event as a central analytical strategy is a promising way of addressing such challenges and developing broader insights. The article develops this argument by working through a particular event, the killing of the former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 by means of the radioactive element polonium 210. Approaching the event via the archive and report of the public inquiry that subsequently took place into it, and reflecting further on the utility of Bruno Latour’s idea of dingpolitik for materially oriented work on security, the article explores transformations of materiality, politics and publicity, and draws out how polonium 210 came to figure in the killing and the inquiry as actant, trace and evidence. In conclusion, the article reflects on the conceptual value of working through events and the methodological issues raised in the analysis.

Blowing the whistle: Perceptions of surgical staff and medical students in a public South African hospital.

Whistleblowing is defined as raising a concern about wrong doing and has gained prominence in the UK National Health Service (NHS) following the publication of the Francis Report (the report of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry) in 2013. The report revealed that lack of diligence and a reluctance to speak out about poor practice amongst staff had contributed to increased patient morbidity and mortality. In the wake of this report, a new framework was introduced by the NHS to help workers raise concerns regarding other staff and poor working practices in general. Nevertheless, it has been suggested that this new framework has not helped to increase whistleblowing or prevented staff who do raise concerns from being penalised. Furthermore, it has been claimed that such implementations will encourage defensive medicine and reduce the willingness of staff to report concerns, despite the important role of whistleblowing in helping to prevent catastrophic events and improve care. Further research is required to understand why healthcare professionals are reticent regarding whistleblowing. Moreover, while some research in the nursing and allied health community exists, this study is important as it adds to the limited evidence amongst medical students and staff in general.

Çocuklarda Suç Tekrarını Yordayan Risk Faktörleri

Amaç: Suça sürüklenen çocukların tekrar suça sürüklenmesine ilişkin risk faktörlerinin belirlenmesi, tekrarlayan suça sürüklenmelerin önlenebilmesi için önem arz etmektedir. Mevcut çalışmanın amacı suça sürüklenen çocukların tekrar suça sürüklenmesini yor- dayan değişkenlerin belirlenmesidir. Bu bağlamda, tek bir defa suça sürüklenen çocuklar ile üç ve daha fazla suça sürüklenen çocukların karşılaştırılması yoluyla çocukların birçok kere suça sürüklenmesini yordayan faktörlerin ortaya çıkarılması hedeflenmektedir.
 Gereç ve Yöntem: Suça sürüklenmiş çocukların tekrar suça sürüklenmelerini yordayan faktörlerin belirlenmesi amacıyla retrospektif belge taraması yapılarak İstanbul Adliyesi yargı çevresinde kurulu olan çocuk ve çocuk ağır ceza mahkemelerinde 2005-2015 yılları arasında yargılamaları yapılmış suça sürüklenen çocuklar hakkında yazılan sosyal inceleme raporları incelenmiştir. Üç veya daha fazla defa suça sürüklenen çocuklarla (n=200) rastgele seçilen ilk defa suça sürüklenen çocuklar (n=200) hakkında elde edilen veriler temel risk faktörlerine göre tasnif edilmiş ve tekrar suça sürüklenmeyi yordayan değişkenlerin tespiti için lojistik regresyon analizi kullanılmıştır.
 Bulgular: Tekrar suça sürüklenme olgusunda, riskli davranışlarda bulunan akranların varlığı, internet kafede zaman geçirme davranışı, okulu bırakma gibi faktörlerin oldukça güçlü ölçüde etkisinin bulunduğu; bunun yanı sıra kardeş sayısı, ilk defa suça sürüklendiği yaş, aile içi paylaşım ve iletişimin zayıf olması ile madde kullanma öyküsünün bulunmasının da tekrardan suça sürüklenme ile ilişkili olduğu ortaya konulmuştur.
 Sonuç: İlk defa suça sürüklenen ve 12-15 yaş grubunda bulunan çocukların, riskli davranış gösteren akranlarının olması, internet kafede vakit geçirmesi ve okulu bırakması halinde tekrar suça sürüklenme olasılığının oldukça yüksek olduğu anlaşılmıştır. Aile, toplum ve yetkili makamların özellikle çocuğun sağlıklı bir sosyal çevrede yetişebilmesi için gerekli tedbirleri alması gerek çocuğun gerekse de toplumun...

Avoidance of unnecessary hospital admissions through the implementation of a digital health programme

Introduction: 62% of hospital bed days are occupied by older adults 65 and older in the UK and it is estimated that there is a cost to the NHS of £820 million1. Elderly patients admitted to hospital have worse morbidity and mortality outcomes and often have a poorer experience2,3,. To reduce emergency admissions Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust developed a Digital Health Service, which supports frail people to stay within the community where their care can be managed, avoiding an Emergency room attendance and potential emergency admission. Practice change: To enhance the value of care provided to the local community a digital health service has been implemented in care homes. The service provides digital technology that enables care home staff to access a hospital specialist for advice and guidance on residents who have a deterioration in health before considering an Ambulance/ GP visit. Aim and theory of change: The aim is to use technology to enable care home staff to maintain older people with complex co-morbidities, within their home setting and avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions. Timeline: The programme was launched in March 2017 and will run for 3 years Highlights: In the period April and September 2017 94 Emergency and 258 GP attendances were avoided. Total hospital bed days saved 1268. Deflection rate of Emergency room attendance is currently 70% Comments on sustainability: The programme has now been expanded across the whole of the residential care home sector and will launched as a 24/7 service this year. Limitations: Awaiting more long term finding, ongoing evaluation is required to ensure that early results are sustainable overtime. Comments on transferability A joint End of Life bid is being developed. Conclusions: Elderly people suffer worsening health and poor experience when in hospital 3, 5. There is also a significant financial cost to systems treating frail elderly patients in hospitals 3. The Digital health programme enabled care staff to access acute hospital specialists for advice and guidance, which has led to a significant deflection in attendance. Discussions: The programme has proven successful at reducing admissions and in Emergency room attendance within the population group, data appears to show that the service has the potential to support people to remain within their place of residence rather than be treated in hospital. Lessons learned: General practitioners are key influencers within community setting and proved key to promoting and service

Equal North: how can we reduce health inequalities in the North of England? A prioritization exercise with researchers, policymakers and practitioners.

BackgroundThe Equal North network was developed to take forward the implications of the Due North report of the Independent Inquiry into Health Equity. The aim of this exercise was to identify how to reduce health inequalities in the north of England.MethodsWorkshops (15 groups) and a Delphi survey (3 rounds, 368 members) were used to consult expert opinion and achieve consensus. Round 1 answered open questions around priorities for action; Round 2 used a 5-point Likert scale to rate items; Round 3 responses were re-rated alongside a median response to each item. In total, 10 workshops were conducted after the Delphi survey to triangulate the data.ResultsIn Round 1, responses from 253 participants generated 39 items used in Round 2 (rated by 144 participants). Results from Round 3 (76 participants) indicate that poverty/implications of austerity (4.87 m, IQR 0) remained the priority issue, with long-term unemployment (4.8 m, IQR 0) and mental health (4.7 m, IQR 1) second and third priorities. Workshop 3 did not diverge from findings in Round 1.ConclusionsPractice professionals and academics agreed that reducing health inequalities in the North of England requires prioritizing research that tackles structural determinants concerning poverty, the implications of austerity measures and unemployment.

Musical play, creativity and metacognitive processes in developing improvisational expertise: expert improvising voices

ABSTRACTThis study investigates musical play within the one-to-one musical improvisation lesson. Improvisation is a specific and significant musical skill that relies on musicality, creativity and collaborative skills in spontaneous dialogic interplay. This article presents observations of four one-to-one lessons in a conservatoire environment. A phenomenological inquiry reports on data gathered both within the lesson, and on learning reflections of both teacher and student in post-lesson interviews. The study reveals teacher–student interactions that develop skill, knowledge and creativity in improvising students, and the way play acts as a powerful tool and strategy through which teachers can model, structure and enculturate learning. Links between musical play and self-regulation, co-regulation and socially shared regulation suggest relationships between play and evolving learning behaviours, and the development of creative thinking in students. Addressing constraining and re-creative goals and pedagogies prevalent in jazz education, implications are made for advancing current teaching practice in relation to creative arts teaching practices and music education and creative development in improvising students in particular.

Perceived difficulties between early years and primary teachers in International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme implementation

The purpose of this article is to contribute to discussion as to whether the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate (IB) meets the needs of early childhood (3-5 years old) learners. The research underpinning the article adopted a mixed method approach comprising both a qualitative and a quantitative framework located in six private Spanish schools across three autonomous communities. The research compared perceived difficulties of Early Years teachers and Primary teachers regarding PYP implementation. Aspects of the PYP involved in the research aligned to the IB Standards and Practices. This document, revised periodically, regulates the implementation of IB programmes around the world. The basis of the structure of the research has a direct alignment with those Standards (philosophy, organization, curriculum and assessment). These core themes take the discussion beyond the PYP when considering best practice. A questionnaire was delivered to all full-time PYP teachers, and qualitative analysis was undertaken of the main school documents such as IB preliminary visit reports, school action plans, studies of parent satisfaction surveys, professional development plans, Programme of Inquiry, Units of Inquiry, assessment tools and IB authorization reports. While the document analysis highlighted some areas of difficulty, it was the quantitative comparison that emphasized significant differences in perceived difficulty of PYP implementation between these Early Years and Primary teachers. Although results of the research, in general, are favourable regarding perceived ease in the implementation of PYP philosophies as well as fundamental aspects, there were perceived differences between these two groups regarding specific items. Early Years teachers in and among the schools found 32 items significantly more difficult than did Primary teachers, including the use of transdisciplinary theme descriptors, key concepts, and the Learner Profile. Regarding assessment, Early Years teachers expressed having more difficulties than did Primary teachers in making their students work with their portfolios and using student-led conferences. However, the role of constructivism was one of seven items perceived as easier for Early Years teachers.

Pathways to housing tax reform

This research is the final report of the AHURI Inquiry into ‘Pathways to Housing Tax Reform in Australia’. It features real-world modelling and implementation time frames to steer tax settings that progress the efficiency, equity and sustainability of housing tax policy, and also presents meaningful long-term political pathways to achieve these outcomes.

Risk avoidance and safety assurance: an overview

British Journal of Healthcare ManagementVol. 24, No. 7 Risk ManagementRisk avoidance and safety assurance: an overviewKate Harmond AllanKate Harmond AllanSearch for more papers by this authorKate Harmond AllanPublished Online:2 Jul 2018https://doi.org/10.12968/bjhc.2018.24.7.320AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article References BBC One. The doctor who gave up drugs. 2018;May:23 Google ScholarFrancis R (2013) Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry: Executive Summary. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279124/0947.pdf (accessed 20 June 2018) Google ScholarHearn B. Screening flaw. The Times, Letters to the editor. 2018;May:5 Google ScholarKay A. This is going to hurt: Secret diaries of a junior doctor. Picador: London; 2018 Google ScholarLe Fanu J. Too many pills: How too much medicine is endangering our health and what we can do about it. Little Brown: London; 2018 Google ScholarMcCarthy M (2017) WHO surgical checklist cuts post-surgical deaths by 22%, US studies find. www.bmj.com (accessed June 2018) Google ScholarNHS Choices (2018) NHS Choices: breast cancer screening. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/breast-cancer-screening/ (accessed June 2018) Google ScholarNightingale F. (2017 [1858]). Notes on nursing: what it is, and what it is not. Enhanced Media Publishing; Kindle Edition, BOO2RKR811, 07 July Google ScholarParliament (2018) Statement: breast cancer screening: 2 May 2018. https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2018/may/statement-breast-cancer-screening-2-may-2018/ (accessed 20 June 2018) Google ScholarLeake J, Razman I. Each baby costs hospitals £1000 injury insurance. The Sunday Times. 2018;May:6 Google ScholarThe Times Screening flaw. Letters to the Editor. 2018;May:5 Google ScholarWHO (2008) Topic 6: understanding and managing risk. http://www.who.int/patientsafety/education/curriculum/PSP_mpc_topic-06.pdf accessed June 2018 Google ScholarWHO (2009) Health topics, risk factors, global health risks. http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/global_health_risks/en/ (accessed 12 June 2018) Google ScholarWHO (2009) Patient safety, WHO surgical checklist. http://www.who.int/patientsafety/safesurgery/checklist/en/ (accessed June 2018) Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 2 July 2018Volume 24Issue 7ISSN (print): 1358-0574ISSN (online): 1759-7382 Metrics History Published online 2 July 2018 Published in print 2 July 2018 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download