Evaluation of the 16-19 Bursary Fund: year 1 report

Key Findings: The total number of young people in England receiving a Defined Vulnerable Group (DVG) Bursary in 2011/12 is estimated to be 27,400. The total number of students awarded Discretionary Bursaries in 2011/12 in England is estimated to be 251,800. - Profiles of applicants and recipients for DVG and Discretionary Bursaries across all characteristics were very similar, suggesting that no groups were more or less likely to be awarded Bursaries if they applied. - The majority of providers used income-related criteria to determine eligibility for Discretionary Bursaries, with Free School Meal entitlement, household income and household benefit receipt being the most common criteria. Other eligibility criteria used by providers included identifying financial needs, transport costs and equipment needs. - Discretionary Bursaries were most commonly awarded to cover the costs of transport or educational equipment. - In-kind awards were used by more than a quarter (27%) of providers for at least some Bursaries and by a smaller proportion (12%) for all Bursary awards. - Two-thirds of providers (68%) thought that the Bursary Fund was effective in targeting young people with the greatest barriers to participation

Giving to Excellence: Generating Philanthropic Support for UK Higher Education

This report shows trends in philanthropic giving to UK Universities, based on analysis done on data provided by nearly 100 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) for each of the three years (i.e. 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2013-14):Total new funds secured rose significantly by 21 percent since 2012-13 to £795.2 million (among these institutions). Cash income received changed marginally by only 1 percent since 2012-13 which reflects that cash receipts tend to lag the pledges that are included in the study's definition of new funds secured. There was also a sizeable increase in the number of donors - a 25 percent rise since 2011-12 - and in alumni donors, which rose by 14 percent since 2011-12. The number of alumni in contact with their university continued to rise in 2013-14, increasing by 15 percent between 2011-12 and 2013-14. Universities spent 12 percent more on fundraising in 2013-14 than they did in 2012-13

The ticking clock: does actively making an enhanced care team aware of the passage of time improve pre-hospital scene time following traumatic incidents

Introduction:Pre-hospital enhanced care teams like Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) are often dispatched to major trauma patients, including patients with traumatic brain injuries and those with major haemorrhage. For these patients, minimizing the time to definitive care is vital. The aim of this study was to determine whether increased awareness of elapsed on scene time produces a relevant time performance improvement for major trauma patients attended by HEMS, and weather introducing such a timer was feasible and acceptable to clinicians. Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study of all single casualty traumatic incidents attended by Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (AAKSS) between 15 October 2016 and 23 May 2017 to test if introduction of a prompting scene timer within the service resulted in a reduction in pre-hospital scene times. Results: The majority of the patients attended were male (74%) and sustained blunt trauma (92%). Overall, median scene time was 25.5 [IQR16.3] minutes before introduction of the scene timer and 23.0 [11.0] minutes after introduction, p = 0.13). Scene times for patients with a GCS < 8 and for patients requiring prehospital anaesthesia were significantly lower after introduction of the timer (28 [IQR 14] vs 25 [1], p = 0.017 and 34 [IQR 13] vs 28 [IQR11] minutes, p = 0.007 respectively). The majority of clinicians felt the timer made them more aware of passing time (91%) but that this had not made a difference to scene time (62%) or their practice (57%). Conclusion: Audible scene timers may have the potential to reduce pre-hospital scene time for certain single casualty trauma patients treated by a HEMS team, particularly for those patients needing pre-hospital anaesthesia. Regular use of on-scene timers may improve outcomes by reducing time to definitive care for certain subgroups of trauma patientsPeer reviewe