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Small towns, Patient rescue and resuscitation

Laurie Taylor discusses a study of Todmorden in Yorkshire. Also, the dilemmas surrounding the rescue and resuscitation of chronically ill patients.

Small towns: Laurie Taylor talks to Steve Hanson, Associate Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Lincoln, and author of an ethnographic study of Todmorden in 'austere' times. Dr Hanson returned to his home town, on the border of Lancashire and Yorkshire, to immerse himself in the life and times of a place which has almost halved since its industrial heyday. He finds micro worlds that never encounter each other, debunking the myth that people in small towns all know each other's business. They're joined by Katherine Tyler, Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Exeter.

Rescuing 'acute' patients: what happens when patients in a hospital ward become acutely unwell? Nicola Mackintosh, Research Fellow at Kings College, London, interviewed doctors, nurses, health care assistants and managers at two UK hospitals, in order to explore the practice of 'rescue' and patient safety on the front line.

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28 minutes

RELATED LINKS

Steve Hanson at the University of Lincoln 
Katharine Tyler at the University of Exeter
Nicola Mackintosh at King's College, London

READING LIST 

Steve Hanson, Small TownsAustere Times: The Dialectics of Deracinated Localism (Zero Books, 2014) 

Nicola Mackintosh, Mackintosh, N., & Sandall, J. (2015). The social practice of rescue: the safety implications of acute illness trajectories and patient categorisation in medical and maternity settings. Sociology of health & illness. Volume 38, Issue 2, Pages: 252–269

Broadcasts

  • Wed 9 Mar 2016 16:00
  • Mon 14 Mar 2016 00:15

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Explore further with The Open University

This programme is co-produced by the Open University.

Explore further with The Open University

Explore further with The Open University

BBC Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with The Open University

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