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Zoe Wilson inquest: Patient stayed on ward for 'low-risk patients'

A vulnerable woman judged to be at medium risk of self harm was on a mental-health ward that catered for low-risk patients, an inquest heard.

Zoe Wilson, 22, died on the Larch Ward at Bristol's Callington Road Hospital in June 2019 after being found unconscious in her room at 01.30 BST.

She had previously told staff that voices were telling her to kill herself, her inquest heard.

Healthcare assistant Sarah Sharma found her and immediately called for help. Addressing a jury inquest at Avon Coroners' Court, she said that "patients admitted to Larch should have all been low risk". 

This meant they would "preferably" have hourly observations by staff and be able to take their medication without any issues. Many were ready to be discharged and they were there because something was holding them up, normally housing, she said.

The experienced healthcare assistant said if the patient's risk increased they should be placed under "one to one" monitoring with a member of staff until they were moved to a more suitable unit.

The inquest heard earlier that Ms Wilson had been judged to be medium risk and was placed on 30-minute observations on 18 June.

Her risk level was re-assessed when she handed a belt to staff and informed them voices were telling her to kill herself.

Ms Sharma told the court that she was on her first overnight shift in two and a half weeks that night, and was informed in a handover that Ms Wilson was at risk of self-harming.

Having never met Ms Wilson - who had schizophrenia - she queried what kind of self-harm the patient was at risk of but said the nurse performing the handover told her he "didn't know".

Ms Sharma told the inquest she was unaware of the belt incident or that Ms Wilson had not been sleeping well and had requested medication to calm her down.

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Source: BBC News, 24 January 2022

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Zambia: Avoid buying medicines in undesignated places such as buses

Copperbelt province Clinical Care Specialist Morgan Mweene has warned people against buying medicines from undesignated places such as buses or on the street as the trend is risky to their health.

And stakeholders on the Copperbelt have come together to advocate for reduced deaths or disability related cases resulting from wrong administering of medicine to patients in health facilities.

Speaking at the inaugural World Patient Safety Day, commemorated in Ndola under the theme, “Medication Safety”, Dr Mweene emphasised the need for people to avoid buying medicines from undesignated places such as buses and on the streets.

He further urged patients to take keen interest in medication given at hospitals.

“As health workers, we also need to take interest in patients. As health workers let us not tire as we the custodian of health. It is our duty that we take keen interest of whatever we administer to our patients,” he said.

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Source: Mwebantu, 30 September 2022

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Ysbyty Glan Clwyd: Stroke patients would rather go to England

People would rather go to England if they had a stroke than use the A&E at a north Wales hospital, a health watchdog has said.

Inspectors said there was a "clear and significant risk to patient safety" after inspections at the department in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Denbighshire.

North Wales Community Health Council's Geoff Ryall-Harvey said it was the "worst situation" they had seen.

The report said inspectors found staff who were "working above and beyond in challenging conditions" during a period of "unrelenting demand". Many staff told them they were unhappy and struggling to cope. They said they did not feel supported by senior managers.

However inspectors said that the health board was not fully compliant with many of the health and care standards, and highlighted significant areas of concern, which could present an immediate risk to the safety of patients, including:

  • Doctors were left to "come across" high-risk patients instead of being alerted to them.
  • Patients were not monitored enough - including a suspected stroke patient and one considered a suicide risk.
  • Children were at serious risk of harm as the public could enter the paediatric area unchallenged.
  • Inspectors found evidence of children leaving unseen or being discharged against medical advice.

Betsi Cadwaladr health board said it was committed to improvements.

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Source: BBC News, 8 August 2022

 

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YouTube starts verifying health workers in the UK

YouTube has launched a verification system for healthcare workers in the UK as it battles disinformation online.

In 2022, health videos were viewed more than three billion times in the UK alone on the video-sharing platform.

Doctors, nurses and psychologists have been applying for the scheme since June and must meet rigorous criteria set by the tech giant to be eligible.

Successful applicants will have a badge under their name identifying them as a genuine, licensed healthcare worker.

But YouTubers have warned the system is only meant for education purposes, not to replace medical advice from your GP.

Vishaal Virani, who leads health content for YouTube, said it was important simply due to the sheer number of people accessing healthcare information on the video-sharing platform.

"Whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not, whether the health industry is pushing for it or not, people are accessing health information online," he told the BBC.

"We need to do as good a job as possible to bring rigour to the content that they are subsequently consuming when they do start their care journey online."

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Source: BBC News, 8 September 2023

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Young, poor and black Britons most hesitant about getting Covid vaccine, new statistics show

Younger adults and those living in poorer neighbourhoods and black people have the highest levels of vaccine hesitancy, new survey data from the Office for National Statistics has shown.

The vast majority of Britons back the COVID-19 vaccines and are keen to be inoculated, with more than 9 out 10 people being positive about the jab. But the ONS said data from a survey between 13 January and 7 February revealed reluctance among less than 10% of the population.

It found more than 4 in 10 of black or black British adults reported vaccine hesitancy, the highest of all ethnic groups, while adults aged 16-29 were most likely to report hesitancy, at around 1 in 6 or 17%.

Adults living in the most deprived areas of England were more likely to report vaccine hesitancy at 16%, compared with 7% of adults in the least deprived areas of England.

This has been evident in the take up of the vaccine among some deprived areas of the country which have struggled to vaccinate everyone in priority groups. Even among NHS and social care staff there has been reported hesitancy over vaccines, particularly among BAME staff.

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Source: The Independent, 9 March 2021

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Young people warn of long Covid in NHS vaccination drive

Young people experiencing long Covid have urged people to get their vaccine in a new NHS video, featuring three previously healthy people in their early 20s and 30s.

Quincy Dwamena, a 31 year-old a support worker, described himself in the video as a “healthy young guy”, warned “I ended up being hospitalised and thought I was going to die. My advice is to get the vaccine: don’t put yourself and others at risk, I wish I’d got mine as soon as it was offered.”

Data from Public Health England has shown young people aged 16 to 29 at more likely to develop long Covid, however, vaccine uptake among this age group is lower than average, particularly within the London area. 

Speaking in the NHS video, Dr Emeka Okorocha, an emergency medicine physician said, “As an A&E doctor, I’ve seen a lot during the pandemic. But nothing has shaken me like the sight of young, otherwise healthy adults being rushed into our hospitals with Covid-19. As well as their age, many of them have one other thing in common: they are unvaccinated.”

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Source: The Guardian, 23 August 2021

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Young people put at risk by delays for treatment

More than 70 children and young people have been put at risk by long delays in treatment by mental health services in Kent and Medway, HSJ has learned.

According to a response to a Freedom of Information request submitted by HSJ, 205 harm reviews have been carried out for patients waiting for treatment following a referral to the North East London Foundation Trust, which runs the child and adolescent mental health services in Kent and Medway.

Of those, 76 patients, who had all waited longer than the 18 week target time for treatment, were found to be at risk of harm. One patient had to be seen immediately as they were judged to be at “severe” risk. Seven were found to be at “moderate” risk and 68 at “low” risk. 

The trust said “risk” meant a risk of harm to themselves or others. But it said none of the 76 patients had come to actual harm. 

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Source: HSJ, 25 February 2020

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Young people more likely to suffer rare vaccine blood clots, MHRA says

Younger adults are particularly affected by the rare blood clotting disorder linked to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the UK's medicines regulator has said.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there were 209 cases in the UK of the rare combination of blood clots with low platelet counts following being vaccinated the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, with 41 deaths, up to 21 April.

This is up from 168 cases and 32 deaths the previous week.

The new data also shows 24 cases of clots in people aged 18 to 29, 28 in those in their thirties, 30 in people in their forties, 59 in people in their fifties and 57 in those aged 60 and above, with the age not known in the remaining cases.

The numbers appear to rise with age but that is because more older people have been vaccinated. Fewer than one in five clots was fatal.

The latest NHS England data show that 5.5 million people under 45 had received a first dose by 25 April, while 22.6 million of those 45 and over had done so.

MHRA chief executive June Raine said no medicine or vaccine was without risk, but that blood clots were extremely rare.

She added: “The benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for most people. It is still vitally important that people come forward for their vaccination when invited to do so."

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Source: The Independent, 3 May 2021

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Young mother reveals sepsis warning signs after losing both feet and 10 fingers

A young mother lost both her feet and all 10 fingers to sepsis after a significant delay in treatment, an investigation has found.

Sadie Kemp has been left permanently disabled from the “dangerous condition”, whilst an NHS hospital probe found a 3.5 hour delay in starting her care.

Sadie is now calling for lessons to be learned after the internal report found numerous concerns in her treatment that ultimately led to her needing multiple amputations.

The 35-year-old mother-of-two first attended A&E with agonising back pain caused by a kidney stone on Christmas night 2021.

She was given pain relief at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Cambridgeshire, and sent home to return the following morning for a kidney scan.

She returned the same night at 4am as her pain endured.

An assessment at 5.40am found she may have also been suffering from sepsis, but the step-by-step guide to chart and treat the illness was not found in her notes as being done at the time.

The investigation found not only should the sepsis have been discovered and treated sooner, but the “lack of effective treatment” of the sepsis prior to the surgery meant she needed prolonged critical care.

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Source: The Independent, 22 November 2022

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Young mental health patients 'at risk' in child wards

A safety investigation has warned that young people with complex mental health needs are being put at significant risk, by being placed on general children's wards in England.

The findings come from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB).

BBC News recently highlighted the plight of a 16-year-old autistic girl, who spent several months in a children's ward.

Other families have since contacted the BBC describing similar situations.

The majority had faced similar difficulties getting appropriate support.

HSIB says that paediatric wards are designed to care for patients who only have physical health needs and not for those with mental health needs.

It describes the situation in 18 hospitals it visited as "challenging", and 13 were described as "not safe" for children who were suicidal or at risk of harming themselves to be on their paediatric wards.

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Source: BBC News, 25 May 2023

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Young children in A&E with mild winter viruses

It has been reported Accident and Emergency are seeing record numbers of young children being brought in with mild winter viruses, overwhelming the department. 

Experts have said it is unlikely to be serious and that people should seek to speak with their GP, pharmacist or NHS 111 as the first port of call, but that A&E is an option if parents are worried it could be an emergency. 

It has emerged that most of the children are under the age of five and it may be that as lockdown has been easing and people are mixing, winter viruses are reappearing. 

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Source: BBC News, 25 June 2021

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Young autistic people still dying despite coroner warnings over care

Dozens of young autistic people have died after serious failings in their care despite repeated warnings from coroners, BBC News has found.

Their investigation found issues that were flagged a decade ago are still being warned about now.

Two bereaved mothers said lessons had not been learned by their local health authority after the deaths of their teenage sons, two years apart.

The coroner who oversaw both cases, noted a repeated failure in care.

After the first death, the coroner criticised NHS Kent and Medway for "inadequate support" and said a similar incident may happen if this continued.

Two years later, the second autistic teenager died under the care of the same authority. The same coroner found that had the victim received the recommended level of care, he might have got the therapy he needed.

In the first piece of research of its kind, the BBC combed through more than 4,000 Prevention of Future Death (PFD) notices delivered in England and Wales over the past 10 years.

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Source: BBC News, 7 September 2023

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You can pay for private healthcare — but can you trust it?

More than a quarter of million people dipped into their savings or took a loan to pay for a private hospital operation or appointment last year — a record high. This year could exceed that.

And who can blame them? With the NHS waiting list at a staggering 7.6 million and monthly strikes by doctors lengthening waiting times, patients are increasingly prepared to jump the queue and pay hard cash to do so.

In an effort to cut waits and expand choice for patients, Rishi Sunak is funnelling thousands more NHS patients into the private sector.

Yet private healthcare is not without risks, many of which are not fully understood. There is a difference between the NHS, which — for all its faults — has been a dependable, free at the point of use health service for more than 75 years, and the sometimes murky world of private doctors and hospital companies who use them.

Can you trust your private doctor? When you look under the bonnet of private healthcare, beyond the glossy adverts, things can get a little uncertain.

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Source: The Times, 10 September 2023

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Yorkshire heart attack patient urged to take lift to York hospital

An ambulance trust has apologised after a man having a heart attack said he was advised to get a lift to hospital or face a long wait.

Graham Reagan said he was on the verge of collapsing when he finally got to York hospital after a lift from his son.

Mr Reagan said he was concerned about the impact on patients with potentially life-threatening conditions.

Speaking to BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire's Politics North programme, Mr Reagan described his experience as "scary".

"I'd had indigestion, or so I thought, for a couple of days, and then on 17 December I went to bed early feeling rough," he said.

In the early hours, Mr Reagan said the pains in his chest grew worse and he asked his wife to call for an ambulance. "I couldn't take it any more," he said.

Mr Reagan, from Malton in North Yorkshire, said his wife was asked "can you get to hospital" as the nearest ambulance was about 20 to 30 miles away.

"My wife doesn't drive, but fortunately my son was with us and he drove me to York hospital."

On arrival Mr Reagan said they found the entrance to A&E had also been re-routed.

"So, we then had to walk out of the hospital grounds and back in - by which time I'm collapsing," he added.

He said staff at the hospital were "absolutely brilliant" and arranged for him to be transferred to Hull for treatment after a heart attack was confirmed. However, he said he was faced with a further 35-minute delay while he waited for an ambulance to take him.

Mr Reagan said he wanted to share his experience to raise awareness.

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Source: BBC News, 16 January 2022

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York eating disorder clinic served unsafe food

A hospital for adults with eating disorders has been rated inadequate after inspectors found the provision of food was "unsafe and unacceptable".

A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report of the Schoen Clinic in York said some patients were given mouldy bread and one was served food containing plastic.

Concerns were also raised around lack of staff and patient safety, though wards were clean and well-equipped.

Schoen Clinic Group said issues raised in the report "were quickly addressed".

Following the inspection in January the hospital has been placed in special measures and will be visited again in six months.

Brian Cranna, CQC's head of hospital inspection, said: "The standards of care we found at Schoen Clinic York were putting patients at risk and so we have taken urgent enforcement action, which means the service must improve if it's to retain its registration."

According to the report patients were put at risk of "physical and psychological harm due to unsafe and unacceptable food provision".

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Source: BBC News, 21 April 2022

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Yew Trees hospital: Ten staff suspended at mental health unit

Ten workers at a mental health unit have been suspended amid claims patients were "dragged, slapped and kicked". Inspectors said CCTV footage recorded at the Yew Trees hospital in Kirby-le-Soken, Essex, appeared to show episodes of "physical and emotional abuse".

The details emerged in a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report after the unit was inspected in July and August. A spokeswoman for the care provider said footage had been passed to police.

The unannounced inspections were prompted by managers at Cygnet Health Care, who monitored CCTV footage of an incident on 18 July.

At the time, the 10-bed hospital held eight adult female patients with autism or learning difficulties.

The CQC reviewed 21 separate pieces of footage, concluding that 40% "included examples of inappropriate staff behaviour". "People who lived there were subjected not only to poor care, but to abuse," a CQC spokesman said.

Workers were captured "physically and emotionally abusing a patient", and failing to use "appropriate restraint techniques", the report said. It identified "negative interactions where staff visibly became angry with patients" and two cases where staff "dragged patients across the floor".

"We witnessed abusive, disrespectful, intimidating, aggressive and inappropriate behaviour," the inspectors said.

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Source: BBC News, 23 September 2020

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Year-long waits for NHS care at highest since 2008

The numbers waiting over a year for hospital treatment have hit a 12-year high in England as hospitals struggle to get services back to normal. Nearly 2m patients have been waiting more than the target time of 18 weeks for routine care with 111,000 left for over a year, NHS England figures show.

The numbers starting cancer treatment and getting urgent checks are also below the levels seen a year ago.

But NHS England said "progress" was being made.

It pointed out more patients were starting to be seen - although there are now warnings service may have to be cut back on again as admissions for Covid continue to rise.

About 500 patients a day are being admitted to hospital with the disease - double the number two weeks ago.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK was in a "perilous" position and the ability of the NHS to see non-Covid patients was under threat.

Health minister Nadine Dorries predicted within 10 days hospitals would be a "critical" point.

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Source: BBC News, 8 October 2020

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Wynter Andrews: Trust faces fine in baby death prosecution

A hospital trust is facing a fine in a criminal prosecution over the death of a baby.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is prosecuting Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust over the death of Wynter Andrews.

Wynter died 23 minutes after she was born by Caesarean section in September 2019 at the Queen's Medical Centre. 

The prosecution is one of only two the CQC has brought against an NHS maternity unit.

The trust is due to face sentencing at Nottingham Magistrates' Court later.

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Source: BBC News, 25 January 2023

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Wrong surgery and jabs among hundreds of NHS ‘never events’

A woman who had her ovaries removed by mistake was one victim of the hundreds of “never events” that occurred in the NHS over the past year.

Between April 2021 and March 2022 more than 400 patients in England’s hospitals suffered errors so serious that they should never have happened according to data released by NHS England. They include the wrong hips, legs, eyes and knees being operated on, and diabetic patients being given too much insulin.

Foreign objects were left inside 98 patients after operations, including gauzes, swabs, drill guides, scalpel blades and needles. Vaginal swabs were left in patients 32 times and surgical swabs were left 21 times. Other objects left inside patients included part of a pair of wire cutters, part of a scalpel blade, and the bolt from surgical forceps. On three separate occasions part of a drill bit was left in a patient.

“Wrong-site surgery” was carried out on 171 patients and six patients had injections to the wrong eye. The wrong hip implant was put in 12 times, a wrong knee implant was performed 11 times, and patients were connected to air instead of oxygen 13 times. Seven patients were given the wrong type of blood during a transfusion.

Some patients were given doses of drugs that were far too high, including the immunosuppressant methotrexate, which is used for severe arthritis, psoriasis and leukaemia. There were 11 overdoses of insulin.

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Source: The Times, 19 May 2022

 

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Wrong patient fitted with coil after Caesarean

A new mum was confused for another patient and mistakenly fitted with a contraceptive coil after a C-section.

Another patient in north Wales almost had the wrong toe removed during surgery to amputate two others.

A third incident happened when a patient, unable to swallow oral medication, had it crushed, mixed with water and administered with a syringe.

These so-called "never events" happened at hospitals in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board area in February.

In a report into the three incidents in February, Betsi Cadwaladr health board outlined how a patient had a coil - an intrauterine device which prevents pregnancy - inserted after undergoing a Caesarean section.

Described in the report as "wrong procedure", it had been planned for a different patient but a mistake had been made after the "list order was changed due to the increase in category for this patient".

Another incident, described in the report as "wrong site surgery", described a patient who was due to have their second and third toes amputated. However, an incision was made in their fourth toe by accident.

Luckily, the error was spotted and the correct toes were amputated.

In the third never event, described as "wrong route", the report details the case of a patient who was unable to swallow oral medication.

To administer it, a member of staff crushed it, mixed it with water and "inadvertently" gave it intravenously, according to the report.

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Source: BBC News, 28 March 2024

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Wrong leg amputation focuses attention on surgical errors and other medical mistakes

“Human error” resulted in a man having the wrong leg amputated at a major Austrian hospital.  The error occurred when a healthcare employee marked the wrong leg for amputation during pre-surgical procedures.

The mistake was not noticed anytime during the surgery, or even during the immediate postoperative period.  It was recognised during a routine wound dressing change, about 48 hours postoperatively.

“A disastrous combination of circumstances led to the patient’s right leg being amputated instead of his left,” the hospital’s statement said.  “We would also like to affirm that we will be doing everything to unravel the case, to investigate all internal processes and critically analyze them. Any necessary steps will immediately be taken.”

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Source: Lansing Injury Law News, 24 May 2021

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Wrong bodies released by NHS mortuaries dozens of times

New figures has revealed serious incidents have occurred in NHS trusts where the wrong bodies of patients were released to families or lost, damaged or kept the organs or bodies of babies without family permission. According to data from the Human Tissue Authority, these incidents have reduced over the years, however, the errors still affected more than 100 families in the latest year to March 2021.

Incidents such as these are extremely distressing for the friends and family of the deceased patient, but also for the staff working in the mortuaries involved, who try their best to uphold the highest standards of patient care in often difficult circumstances. The fact that the mortuary profession is not a profession regulated by statute – as other professions such as laboratory staff and paramedics are – makes the maintenance of these quality standards more difficult than it needs to be." Said John Pitchers, chair of the Association of Anatomical Pathology Technology

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Source: The Independent, 8 August 2021

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Writer Wayne Brown welcomes new blood donation rule change

Oxford writer Wayne Brown describes how he tried donating blood in the middle of the pandemic last year but was turned away due to his same-sex marriage of 14 years. 

However, since the ban has been lifted, he has already booked his appointment to donate. 

Wayne Brown discusses how since the ban has been lifted, it may now mean more progress and positive changes are happening for gay men. 

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Source: BBC News, 13 June 2021

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Wrist-worn trackers can detect Covid before symptoms, study finds

Health trackers worn on the wrist could be used to spot Covid-19 days before any symptoms appear, according to researchers.

Growing numbers of people worldwide use the devices to monitor changes in skin temperature, heart and breathing rates. Now a new study shows that this data could be combined with artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose Covid-19 even before the first tell-tale signs of the disease appear.

“Wearable sensor technology can enable Covid-19 detection during the presymptomatic period,” the researchers concluded. The findings were published in the journal BMJ Open.

The discovery could lead to health trackers being adapted with AI to detect Covid-19 early, simply by spotting basic physiological changes. This could help provide an early warning system to users that they may be infected, which may in turn help to prevent the spread of the disease more widely.

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Source: The Guardian, 21 June 2022

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Wrexham Maelor Hospital patients 'waiting on trolleys for hours'

Inspectors have demanded action over patients facing long waits on trolleys at Wrexham Maelor Hospital's A&E unit.

Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) said officials found some people waiting eight hours during an unannounced visit in August. It wants Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) to make rapid improvements.

In a statement, it said some of HIW's recommendations had already been addressed.

In its report, HIW acknowledged efforts made by emergency department staff to look after those in need, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

"It was identified that patients who were waiting on trolleys in the corridor were not receiving appropriate and timely care," said HIW. "We had to alert the nurse responsible for the patients in the emergency department corridor to a patient who was experiencing increased chest pain."

"During the inspection, we found that there were no pressure relieving mattresses available for any patients who were waiting on trolleys within the emergency department."

"We considered the above practices to be unsafe and increased the risk of harm to patients."

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Source: BBC News, 9 November 2019

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