News

Concerns have been raised amid allegations that hospital managers have told minority ethnic staff to adopt 'Western work names' as their original names were 'too difficult to pronounce'.

In a letter from the Care Quality Commission, published in the trust's July board papers, workers at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston Foundation Trust told inspectors about their experiences during an unannounced visit in June. 

“This is not acceptable, individuals can only truly thrive in a work environment where they feel safe as themselves and belong rather than having to ‘fit in’.” Wrote the CQC’s head of hospital inspections Amanda Williams. 

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Source: HSJ, 4 August 2021

New research examining severe harm incidents and deaths in NHS hospitals has been published today in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. The research, looking at more than 370 incidents has highlighted the risks to patients from fragmented care on busy wards and shortages of staff.

According to the findings, “errors occurred due to a lack of clarity regarding responsibilities for patient care coordination, especially during emergency situations or out of hours. Poor documentation of long-term management plans and no reliable review system to ensure follow-up by the most appropriate teams contributed,” with researchers also saying many of the errors in medication happened more often overnight due to a lack of out-of-hours pharmacy support. 

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Source: The Independent, 5 August 2021