Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Hywel Dda University Health Board has welcomed today’s expert independent report by Cardiff University epidemiologist Professor Stephen Palmer. The University Health Board has worked closely with Professor Palmer in the preparation of his report and the Medical Director is already leading a comprehensive review of its quality and safety measures with the majority of the work already in train or complete. These review measures include clinical audit data, incidents and complaints and implementation of care packages which has provided assurances about standards of care at Glangwili Hospital, Carmarthen. Professor Palmer’s report concludes that reviewing the medical records of patients who have died in hospital provides a better and more robust way of assessing quality and safety in hospital than mortality data, the Risk Adjusted Mortality Index (RAMI). The University Health Board is already reviewing medical records, but Professor Palmer makes recommendations to make the process eve...

Hywel Dda Health Board | Wales-wide drive to reduce harm from alcohol A joint training programme to reduce the harm caused by alcohol has been launched by Public Health Wales, Cardiff University and Welsh Government, at the Temple of Peace and Health, Cathays Park, Cardiff. The National Alcohol Brief Intervention Programme gives guidance to staff working in oral or maxillofacial units, trauma clinics, social workers, midwives and other professionals or volunteers who are in regular contact with people who drink harmful amounts. The programme helps them to offer support and advice to people drinking harmful amounts to enable them to reduce their drinking levels.

If you've been reading recent posts on this blog about the HPC Wales high performance computer project, you might be wondering how it all helps researchers at our universities. Here is one case study from Cardiff - Tracking the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates is not easy. As we move further back in time, there are fewer clues about how the plates have moved on the Earth's surface. Creating a model of the entire planet requires hundreds of millions of calculations for each moment in time. It's a task Cardiff University's School of Earth and Ocean Sciences has only been able to contemplate with the help of High Performance Computing. Over the past two years, a PhD project at the School has tried to work out how the Earth has worked as a body for the past 300 Million years. Supervised by Dr Huw Davies, the Universities of Utrecht and Lausanne are also involved along with a major international company. The modelling work is based on concepts of mantle convection...