Virtual hospital Health Dictionary

An institution the primary function of which is to provide inpatient diagnostic and therapeutic services for a variety of medical conditions, both surgical and nonsurgical. Most hospitals provide some outpatient services, particularly emergency care.... hospital

A facility, which may be attached to an acute hospital, geriatric centre or nursing home, providing non-residential care, such as medical care, nursing care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, speech therapy and counselling services, usually during the day.... day hospital

A medical condition for which hospitalization could have been avoided if ambulatory care had been provided in a timely and efficient manner.... avoidable hospital condition / admission

A facility that serves patients who do not need acute care or care in another kind of specialty hospital and whose needs for frequency of monitoring by a medical practitioner and for frequency and duration of nursing care exceed the requirements for care in a comprehensive care or extended care facility.... chronic hospital

A procedure that links COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY of the COLON (see also INTESTINE) with techniques that produce three-dimensional views of the mucosa of the large bowel similar to those obtained during traditional colonoscopy. Early experience suggests that the new technique produces better results than barium enemas (see ENEMA) and is almost as e?ective as conventional colonoscopy. Virtual colonoscopy o?ers faster results, and image analysis will probably soon be automated. The procedure is easy, non-invasive, safe and complete; once the need for bowel cleansing is eliminated (as seems likely) it will provide a prominent tool in screening for cancer of the colon and RECTUM.... colonoscopy, virtual

A hospital providing a variety of services, including medicine and surgery, to meet the general medical needs of the community it serves.... general hospital

A hospital which, not only provides high quality comprehensive medical and nursing services, but also develops a corporate identity that embraces the aims of health promotion; develops a health-promoting organizational structure and culture, including active, participatory roles for patients and all members of staff; develops itself into a health-promoting physical environment; and actively cooperates with its community.... health-promoting hospital

Schemes providing nursing care, personal care or practical help for older people who have returned home after a stay in hospital.... home-from-hospital / hospital after-care schemes

A service provided by a religious denomination, primarily aimed at meeting the spiritual and religious needs of patients in hospitals. In the UK, NHS hospital trusts employ both full-time and part-time chaplains, usually representing the mainline Christian churches (Anglican, Free and Roman Catholic). Their duties vary but always at the least involve meeting the speci?cally religious needs of patients as well as of relatives and sta? who may ask for help. Public services in chapels, the bedside administration of the Word and Sacraments, and prayers and radio services are among chaplains’ duties. When requested by patients, chaplains also liaise with representatives of other world faiths.

Chaplains have a broad responsibility for the spiritual health care of all in hospital. They share this with other sta? members, particularly the nursing sta?, for whom the chaplains can be a resource. Chaplains also train and use volunteers from local churches to help with ward visiting and other chaplaincy duties. Much of the time spent with patients takes the form of a listening ministry, helping patients to ?nd their own answers to what is happening to them in hospital and in life generally. Spiritual health can be seen as a quest for the right relationships in four areas – with other people; with oneself; with the world around; and with ‘Life’ itself. The religious person subsumes all that in his/ her relationship to God.

The link between spiritual disease and physical ill-health is well established; the chaplain therefore helps a hospital to provide a HOLISTIC approach to health care. Chaplains also give time to the care of sta? who face increasing levels of stress at work, making use of support groups, counselling, meditation, etc. Chaplains support patients’ relatives facing a crisis, for example, by being with them over the period of a death, and by providing regular bereavement services for those who have lost babies. Some chaplains have a particular expertise in ETHICS and are members of the various hospital ethics committees. A chaplain may have a ‘nonmanagement’ view of the health of the hospital itself, which can be of use to hospital management. (See also SPIRITUAL PAIN.)... hospital chaplaincy

A scheme which ensures a smooth transition from hospital to home.... hospital discharge scheme

An infection acquired by a patient while in hospital. Because of the high level of antibiotic use in hospitals, some bacteria become resistant

– for example, METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (MRSA). This makes hospital-acquired infections potentially dangerous and sometimes life-threatening, and is one of the developments that is prompting calls for greater care in the prescribing of antibiotics as well as higher standards of cleanliness.... hospital-acquired infection

Home-based specialist medical care used to shorten hospital stays or prevent hospital admission.... hospital-at-home scheme

A hospital that specializes in providing restorative services to rehabilitate chronically ill and/or disabled individuals to a maximum level of functioning.... rehabilitation hospital

A hospital that admits only certain types of patients or those with specified illnesses or conditions. Examples include psychiatric hospitals and rehabilitation hospitals for the older population.... specialty hospital

A hospital that provides education for students in the health professions.... teaching hospital

Most of the hospitals in the are part of the National Health Service.

Each district has a general hospital providing services that include medicine, surgery, gynaecology, obstetrics, and paediatrics.

Some more specialist services are concentrated in fewer centres.

Many of the ’s private hospitals are nursing homes for the elderly; others cater for nonemergency surgery, obstetric care, or inpatient care for the mentally ill.... hospitals, types of

A hospital, formerly known as an asylum, specializing in the treatment of psychiatric illness.

Most admissions to mental hospitals are for acute psychiatric illness.

The majority of admissions are voluntary, but in some cases detention under the Mental Health Act may be necessary.... mental hospital

see hospital.... community hospital

see foundation trusts.... foundation hospitals

(HES) (in England) a database containing data on all admissions to NHS hospitals and admissions of NHS patients treated elsewhere. See record linkage.... hospital episode statistics

see case fatality rate.... hospital fatality rate

see nosocomial infection.... hospital infection

a social worker employed to assist hospital patients with social problems that may arise through illness. See also social services.... hospital social worker

(secure hospitals) hospitals for the care of mentally ill patients who are also dangerous and must therefore be kept securely. The level of security can be low, medium, or high. Most (but not all) patients are there compulsorily under a hospital order made by a court according to the *Mental Health Act 1983.... special hospitals

in the USA, a hospital that is owned or operated by a religious organization or community association to provide health-care facilities on a non-profit basis. In recent decades the role of voluntary hospitals has changed from one of caring primarily for *charity patients to one of serving all members of a community. At the same time, the practice of charging higher fees to patients able to afford them in order to compensate for the expense of caring for charity patients has generally been eliminated.... voluntary hospital