Where Have All The Workers Gone? Exploring Public Sector Workforce Planning

Governments undertake extensive planning of many services and functions, but tend to neglect planning of public service workforces. Disruptions to public service delivery, such as shortages of nurses and doctors, have rejuvenated interest in workforce planning, but many organisations struggle to do it effectively. This historical study examines the capacity of central personnel agencies to predict workforce risks and support workforce planning, using a study of the Queensland public service. It identifies lack of workforce data as a barrier to effective workforce planning, as a result of factors such as changes in the direction of the central personnel agency, lack of appreciation for the value of comprehensive central workforce data, and limited agency human resource (HR) skills or capacity.     

Can debt be used to combat political corruption in Africa?

Whilst political corruption is undoubtedly a global phenomenon its consequences for the states of Tropical Africa are held to be dire, allegedly leading in some cases to state collapse. This article assesses those policies which aim to curtail corruption by linking greater transparency in government to debt forgiveness. An example of this initiative, which has been supported by President Yowerri Museveni of Uganda, is evaluated in terms of feasibility and appropriateness. The article concludes that although fraught with immense practical and political difficulties, such initiatives could provide a starting point for dealing with the problem. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Future Public Service Capacity: Employment of Young People into Australian Public Services during the GFC

Public services face several workforce challenges, including impending retirements and austerity programs. Although employing more young people is a likely solution to balancing the demographic profile of public services, the literature and theory suggest that young people would have fared worse during the global financial crisis. This research tests propositions around the vulnerability of young people in selected Australian public services during the global financial crisis, in terms of quantity and quality of jobs obtained. Surprisingly, the findings suggest that many young people fared as well or sometimes better than other age cohorts during the global financial crisis in terms of both recruitment and access to ongoing jobs. There are several indications that perhaps public services provided a safe haven in a turbulent labour market.     

Is Fluorescence Under an Alternate Light Source Sufficient to Accurately Diagnose Subclinical Bruising?

This single‐blinded, randomized validation study was conducted to evaluate whether fluorescence under alternate light sources (ALS) is sufficient to diagnose subclinical bruising (bruising not visible under white light). Standardized trauma was induced on randomly selected ventral forearms. On days 1, 7, and 14 investigators independently examined case forearms under white light for perceived bruising and under ALS for fluorescence and compared body maps. 56 case and 62 control forearms (n = 118) were examined. Sensitivity of ALS on days 1, 7, and 14 was 76.8%, 69.6%, and 60.7%, respectively, compared to 69.6%, 60.0%, and 32.1% for white light. The specificity of ALS on days 1, 7, and 14 was 51.6%, 59.7%, and 53.2%, respectively, compared to 71.0%, 81.4%, and 86.9% for white light. ALS has increased sensitivity yet low specificity compared to white light in accurately detecting bruises. Fluorescence under ALS is not sufficient to accurately or responsibly diagnose subclinical bruising.     

Nineteenth century newspaper accounts of a murder committed by an inmate of a Scottish asylum

This study explores an incident from the late nineteenth century in which an inmate at the Royal Dundee Lunatic Asylum murdered a fellow patient while working in the hospital grounds. The incident was reported extensively in the local press in the days following the event. Analysis of these reports reveals a picture, which while recognisable to the twenty-first century newspaper reader, does however depart from contemporary media reporting in some important ways. We argue that while the image of the unpredictable dangerousness of the lunatic has a long history and is deeply embedded in popular conceptions of mental disorder, shaping public perceptions of those with mental illnesses, it is the manner in which this is presented by the media that has bearing upon how the case is understood by wider society.     

A qualitative investigation into the U.S. Department of Agriculture 18‐item Household Food Security Survey Module: Variations in interpretation,understanding and report by gender

Food insecurity, or limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways, affects more than 10% of Americans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 18‐item Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) is the most common measure used in the United States to assess food insecurity. This measure is to be completed by one adult who reports on the severity of disruptions in the quality and quantity of the household food supply. Recent work suggests that men and women might respond differently to some of the items in this measure. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to further explore how men and women interpret each of the items and specific concepts in this measure. Pairs (n = 25) of low‐income and food‐insecure mothers and fathers of children aged 2.5–10 years participated in one‐on‐one interviews to answer the HFSSM questions using the think‐aloud method. The data were analyzed using basic inductive qualitative methods, and the findings suggest that gender is related to interpretation of key concepts relevant to food insecurity including “household,” “balanced meal,” and “worry.” These findings have policy implications for the use of this measure as a national benchmark of food insecurity such as the potential need for an additional, complementary instrument to include several male reference questions with different terminology.