Literacy and the media in the Fiji Islands

In a previous article in this journal (Geraghty 2001), I pointed out that while Fijian and Fiji Hindi are by far the most commonly used language in everyday interaction in Fiji, the language of the media is almost exclusively English. There are historical reasons for this, but now that colonialism is past, nominally at least, the question arises as to whether it is possible to promote vernacular media that more accurately reflect actual language use, and hence better serve the people of Fiji. In this commentary, I point to the potential problems with vernacular media in Fiji, specifically Fijian, and suggest ways to improve them

Talking the wrong talk?

If a serious commitment were made to produce a quality Fijian daily, I don't doubt that it would soon outsell all the English ones. Next time anyone in the Fiji media suggests that a major problem today is that the Fijian people are so ill-informed, maybe they should question the Fiji media

Incidence of wrong-site surgery list errors for a 2-year period in a single national health service board

Introduction: Wrong-site/side surgical "never events" continue to cause considerable harm to patients, healthcare professionals, and organizations within the United Kingdom. Incidence has remained static despite the mandatory introduction of surgical checklists. Operating theater list errors have been identified as a regular contributor to these never events. The aims of the study were to identify and to learn from the incidence of wrong-site/side list errors in a single National Health Service board. Methods: The study was conducted in a single National Health Service board serving a population of approximately 300,000. All theater teams systematically recorded errors identified at the morning theater brief or checklist pause as part of a board-wide quality improvement project. Data were reviewed for a 2-year period from May 2013 to April 2015, and all episodes of wrong-site/side list errors were identified for analysis. Results: No episodes of wrong-site/side surgery were recorded for the study period. A total of 86 wrong-site/side list errors were identified in 29,480 cases (0.29%). There was considerable variation in incidence between surgical specialties with ophthalmology recording the largest proportion of errors per number of surgical cases performed (1 in 87 cases) and gynecology recording the smallest proportion (1 in 2671 cases). The commonest errors to occur were "wrong-side" list errors (62/86, 72.1%). Discussion: This is the first study to identify incidence of wrong-site/site list errors in the United Kingdom. Reducing list errors should form part of a wider risk reduction strategy to reduce wrong-site/side never events. Human factors barrier management analysis may help identify the most effective checks and controls to reduce list errors incidence, whereas resilience engineering approaches should help develop understanding of how to best capture and neutralize errors