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NMC sets out next steps toward change

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has set out the next steps towards change, having accepted all the recommendations of an independent review into its culture.

In the short-term , the NMC will take the following immediate actions, supported by external advice, to help it make the right decisions, address its cultural issues and follow through on change.

  • An external Empowered to Speak Up Guardian is now in place to support NMC staff to raise concerns and ensure they get independent support from a trained professional.
  • The NMC has invested in a partner to help improve psychological safety within the organisation, starting in Professional Regulation directorate.
  • It has started the process of appointing an equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) advisor to its executive board, to support decision making.

It has also made some immediate commitments:

  • The NMC will co-opt one or more senior independent advisers to the Council to increase the challenge and support that the Council receives, to ensure the necessary cultural changes are delivered and to prevent a recurrence of the findings in the report.
  • It has committed to increasing the diversity of its executive board.
  • It will double the amount it spends on staff learning and development so that by October 2024, it can roll out improvements in leadership, line management, safeguarding, casework and tackling poor behaviours identified in the report.
  • It will develop a competency and behaviour framework, to launch in September, that will support recruitment, career progression and performance management.
  • It will offer extended decompression support to staff working on sensitive casework.

In the medium term, the NMC is reviewing its existing plans in light of the independent report’s recommendations. It is also working to enhance its approach to safeguarding, people and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). In the longer term, the organisation will focus on wider culture change, including the full implementation of Nazir Afzal and Rise Associates’ recommendations over a projected two-year period.

Helen Herniman, Acting Chief Executive and Registrar, said, “The independent report on our culture made difficult reading for everyone at the NMC and for many outside our organisation, including our stakeholders, the professionals on the register and members of the public who have engaged in our regulatory work. We are sincerely sorry to everyone we have let down. We are committed to delivering a change programme rooted in the report’s recommendations, and we are confident this will help us to make a step change in both culture and performance."

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Read The Nursing and Midwifery Council Independent Culture Review (9 July 2024)

Source: Nursing and Midwifery Council, 24 July 2024

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NMC ‘toxic culture’: regulator appoints barrister to investigate

An employment and equality lawyer will lead investigations into claims of racism, sexism and toxic culture at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

The nursing regulator has appointed Ijeoma Omambala KC to review claims that fitness to practise cases have been mishandled, especially those involving racism, discrimination, sexual misconduct and child protection. She will lead a concurrent investigation into how complaints about allegations were handled.

"I’m sorry anyone has concerns about our culture, and the regulatory decisions we take. We’re committed to a rigorous, transparent and independent response".

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Source: Nursing Standard, 17 October 2023

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Nineteen hospitals targeted for ‘urgent support’ before winter

NHS England has revealed the hospitals it is targeting for “urgent support” to avoid deterioration in emergency care performance ahead of winter.

NHS England has told HSJ it will provide “targeted clinically led support” to “19 of the most pressured hospital sites across the country” in a bid to reduce long accident and emergency waits and avoidable admissions.

Senior teams from NHSE’s Getting it Right First Time and Emergency Care Improvement Support Team will visit the hospitals two to three days per week from September to December, with “virtual support outside of this”.

The “targeted support” will be aligned with NHSE’s existing emergency care intervention regime, which ranks systems requiring the most support in “tier 1” to those needing the least, in ‘tier 3’. NHSE has recently updated its tiering, which has meant an escalation in intervention for a number of systems.

The 19 sites were selected after NHSE reviewed all acute hospitals to identify areas for urgent improvement before winter in relation to access, and in particular quality and patient experience. HSJ understands no new money is backing up these “improvement offers”.

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Source: HSJ, 2 September 2024

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Nine Whorlton Hall care workers accused of verbal abuse and neglect

Nine care home workers are facing trial for neglecting, verbally abusing and deliberately antagonising extremely vulnerable patients in care described as “devoid of kindness and respect” but also criminal.

The six men and three women, aged 25-54, are being prosecuted after a reporter went undercover and filmed the behaviour for a BBC Panorama documentary.

Opening the case at Teesside crown court in Middlesbrough, the prosecuting barrister, Anne Richardson, said the patients all resided at Whorlton Hall, a 17-bed independent specialist hospital unit near Barnard Castle, County Durham, operated by Cygnet Health Care.

Richardson said caring for such residents was a “hard, demanding job, and that carers can face complex, difficult, obstreperous, and sometimes violent people who sadly do not realise what they are doing and cannot help their actions.” But they deserved to be treated with “kindness, respect and patience.”

Richardson said the jury would hear evidence of ill-treatment which was “cruel and abusive”. It was “not only devoid of the respect and kindness that those residents deserved but was also a criminal offence”.

It included care workers repeatedly saying words they knew to be triggers to patients, belittling those in their care and deliberately antagonising them.

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Source: The Independent, 8 March 2023

 

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Nine trusts account for third of ambulance ‘hours lost’

Nine acute trusts accounted for a third of all ‘hours lost’ to ambulance handover delays last week, according to new data.

The first NHS England winter sitrep data showed wide variation between providers on ambulance handover performance, with a small number of providers accounting for a huge proportion of delays.

There were nine trusts where, for each ambulance arrival in the week to 20 November, an average (mean) of more than an hour was lost to handover delays. The providers accounted for around 7,000 hours lost, 33% the national total, despite only accounting for 7% of ambulance arrivals. 

At University Hospitals Plymouth an average of 2.3 hours were lost.

The other trusts were; Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals; East and North Hertfordshire; The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn; Great Western Hospitals; University Hospitals of Leicester; Torbay and South Devon; University Hospitals of North Midlands; and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals.

Many of the worst performing hospitals were in the South West and East of England regions, which have previously been identified as areas which struggle on handover delays.

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Source: HSJ, 24 November 2022

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Nine out of 10 beauty clinics breaking the law by advertising Botox

Nine in 10 beauty clinics are breaking the law by advertising Botox, new research reveals, sparking fresh concern that Britain’s booming £3.6bn cosmetic treatments industry is like the “wild west”.

Academics at University College London (UCL) found 88% clinics in London are flouting regulations intended to protect public health banning the advertising of Botox and other forms of botulinum toxin.

The disclosure prompted warnings the illegal advertisements could help persuade vulnerable people to undergo injections that could leave them feeling traumatised.

Promotion of the anti-ageing substance is illegal because it is a prescription-only medicine, which cannot be advertised under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.

A group of beauty professionals who are seeking to rid the industry of its reputation for dubious practices said the findings showed consumers were being subjected to “a tsunami of untamed and unrestricted promotional activity that presents a threat to public protection and patient safety”.

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Source: The Guardian, 14 April 2023

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Nine in ten autistic people over 40 are undiagnosed, research suggests

Almost 90% of autistic people over the age of 40 in the UK are living without a diagnosis, a study suggests.

This could make them “more susceptible to age-related problems” and socially isolated in older age, researchers warned.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition and causes people to interact differently to others.

Those with the condition may get anxious in social situations, seem blunt, and struggle to understand what others are thinking or feeling, among other things.

The study estimated that among middle-aged adults who are autistic – between 40 to 59 years old – some 91.45% men and 79.48% of women are undiagnosed, with an overall underdiagnosis rate of 89.29%

Dr Gavin Stewart, British Academy postdoctoral research fellow at the IoPPN, said: “These very high underdiagnosis estimates suggest that many autistic adults will have never been recognised as being autistic, and will have not been offered the right support.

“This could make them more susceptible to age-related problems, for example being socially isolated and having poorer health.”

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Source: The Independent, 29 August 2025

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Nine in 10 women don’t know signs of heavy periods, research says

As few as one in ten women can pinpoint signs of heavy menstrual bleeding, as one of the UK’s top women’s health doctors says women and girls were “suffering in silence” from period problems, despite the availability of potential treatments.

Research by the charity Wellbeing of Women found that one in two women (51%) said their period negatively impacts their life, and the same proportion avoid exercise when on their period while nearly three in five (57%) experienced problems at work because of their period.

A Censuswide survey of 3000 people, commissioned by the charity, found that half of women also said their period symptoms had been dismissed, and just under a quarter said they felt their symptoms had been dismissed by a healthcare professional.

On Tuesday, the charity launched a new period symptom checker to help women and girls understand more about their menstrual cycle, which could help women talk to their GP about receiving better treatment.

The checker, which takes just four minutes to complete, asks various questions about health and reproductive symptoms, and at the end of the checker drafts a letter for women to give to their GP which can help open discussions about symptoms.

Wellbeing of Women said many women are "putting up with" disabling levels of pain and heavy bleeding, waiting for an average of two years before seeking help.

Professor Dame Lesley Regan, who was appointed as the first-ever Women's Health Ambassador for England under the Conservative government and is the chairwoman of Wellbeing of Women, said: "It is shocking that women are still suffering severe period pain and heavy bleeding in silence.

"A variety of medical treatments could be offered to girls and women with these distressing conditions.

"We hope that our new Period Symptom Checker will encourage women to speak up and seek help for their period problems.

"It aims to promote better engagement with GPs and other community healthcare professionals by creating a letter that outlines how their symptoms are affecting their everyday lives."

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Source: The Independent, 11 February 2025

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Nine in 10 professional organisations say doctors should have to register their financial interests

Nearly 90% of organisations representing doctors agree that the UK should have a mandatory and public register of doctors’ interests, a survey by The BMJ has found.

Last year the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, chaired by Julia Cumberlege, called for the General Medical Council (GMC) to expand its register to include a list of financial and non-pecuniary interests for all doctors.

That review investigated harmful side effects caused by the hormone pregnancy test Primodos, the anti-epileptic drug sodium valproate, and surgical mesh. One of its key conclusions was that patients had a right to know if their doctor had financial or other links with pharmaceutical or medical device companies.

The BMJ wrote to six faculties, 14 royal medical colleges, and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges about such a register. It received responses from two faculties, 12 colleges, and the academy, a 71% response rate.

Of the organisations that responded, 13 (87%) agreed that there should be a mandatory and public register of doctors’ interests in the UK.

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Source: BMJ. 8 April 2021

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Nine in 10 NHS bosses say staffing crisis endangering patients

Hospitals are so short of doctors and nurses that patients’ safety and quality of care are under threat, senior NHS leaders have warned in a dramatic intervention in the general election campaign

Nine out of 10 hospital bosses in England fear understaffing across the service has become so severe that patients’ health could be damaged. In addition, almost six in 10 (58%) believe this winter will be the toughest yet for the service.

The 131 chief executives, chairs and directors of NHS trusts in England expressed their serious concern about the deteriorating state of the service in a survey conducted by the NHS Confederation. The findings came days after the latest official figures showed that hospitals’ performance against key waiting times for A&E care, cancer treatment and planned operations had fallen to its worst ever level. However, many service chiefs told the confederation that delays will get even longer when the cold weather creates extra demand for care.

“There is real concern among NHS leaders as winter approaches and this year looks particularly challenging,” said Niall Dickson, the chief executive of the confederation, which represents most NHS bodies, including hospital trusts, in England."

 “Health leaders are deeply concerned about its ability to cope with demand, despite frontline staff treating more patients than ever."

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Source: 19 November 2019

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Nine hours and 52 minutes: did Dave Strachan’s ambulance wait cost him his life?

On the evening of 15 March 2022, Dave Strachan woke up with chest pains and difficulty breathing.

His wife, Lucille, called 999 and asking for an ambulance. Was Dave breathing, the call operator asked. Yes, but he has chest pains and he’s cold, said Lucille. The call operator asked her to monitor Dave, to tell them every time he took a breath, information which was then fed into a computer.

Lucille was told the ambulance would take about four hours to arrive. 

Just before 7am, after a wait of more than seven hours, an ambulance finally pulled up to the gate. “I thought: ‘Thank God.’” says Lucille. “But before the two men got out of the ambulance, another call came in and they said: ‘We’ve got to go.’ I said: ‘What do you mean, you’ve got to go?’ They said: ‘Because we haven’t put our foot out of the cab, we have to obey orders and go to another case.’ I said: ‘Dave is really ill.’ They were embarrassed. One of them said: ‘I’m so sorry, this is a red call.’"

Eventually, at 9.10am, nine hours and 52 minutes after Lucille’s first call, the ambulance arrived. 

Dave died of acute myocardial infarction and coronary artery atheroma. At the inquest last year, the coroner concluded that, “The time it took for an ambulance to be dispatched and arrive and convey him to hospital meant that there was a missed opportunity to have probable life-saving medical treatment.” In other words, he probably should be alive today. 

After Dave’s inquest, the coroner wrote a Report to Prevent Future Deaths, copies of which were sent to both the Welsh Ambulance NHS Trust and the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which provides NHS services in north Wales. The report highlighted areas of concern and two reasons for the delay were given.

First was that, “All available resources were managing incidents of a higher acuity or the same category but registered prior.”

The other reason why it took so long for Dave’s ambulance to come, wrote the coroner, was that “there were significant handover delays across all Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board sites.” If an ambulance crew is unable to hand over a patient at the hospital, it can’t go and pick up the next one. “Deaths are occurring and will continue to occur as a result of delayed ambulance attendances caused by these multifactorial issues.”

Lucille makes it clear she doesn’t blame anybody personally. At the end of the inquest, one of the paramedics spoke to her. “A junior ambulance lady, who hadn’t been there for very long, came over and said: ‘I want to apologise, I’ve been having sleepless nights about this.’ I said: ‘Well, you can stop that right now, Dave would not want that.’”

Nor does she blame anyone at the hospital Dave was taken to. “There was a highly trained specialist waiting in an operating theatre, and the theatre staff, all waiting for him, but he couldn’t get there. It’s the system and the organisation that’s at fault.”

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Source: The Guardian, 13 November 2024

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NIHR launches £50m funding to tackle health inequalities in maternity care

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has launched a £50m “Challenge” funding call to tackle inequalities in maternity care.

The funding call aims to establish a research consortium to deliver research and capacity building over five years.

The call was announced as part of the Department for Health and Social Care’s women’s health priorities for 2024.

Recent evidence suggests that Black women in the UK are almost three times more likely to die during pregnancy or up to six weeks after pregnancy compared to white women. Asian women are twice as likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after, compared to white women.

The new consortium is hoped to bring together experts across the UK to help change numbers like these.

The research aims to focus on inequalities before, during and after pregnancy. According to NIHR, a key aim is to identify specific areas where measurable improvements can be made.

Relevant charities, patient groups, community groups and the life sciences industry will be involved in the research where appropriate.

Professor Marian Knight, scientific director for NIHR Infrastructure, said: “I am hugely excited about what this research can achieve – funding truly innovative approaches to tackle maternity inequalities will save women’s and babies’ lives – this is a challenge the NIHR is ideally placed to deliver.”

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Source: FemTech World, 15 March 2024

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NIHR funded study offers hope for targeted treatment of long COVID

An NIHR and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded study has revealed that Long Covid leads to ongoing inflammation which can be detected in blood. 

This suggests that existing drugs which help treat conditions that affect the body’s immune system could be helpful in treating Long Covid, and should be investigated in future clinical trials. The study, which has been published in Nature Immunology, is from two collaborative UK-wide consortia, PHOSP-COVID and ISARIC-4C. These involve scientists and clinicians from universities across the UK, including Imperial College London and the Universities of Leicester, Edinburgh and Liverpool, among others.

The research compared 426 people who were experiencing symptoms consistent with Long Covid with 233 people who were also hospitalised for Covid-19 but had fully recovered. The researchers took samples of blood plasma and measured a total of 368 proteins known to be involved in inflammation and immune system modulation.

They found that, relative to patients who had fully recovered, those with Long Covid showed a pattern of immune system activation indicating inflammation of myeloid cells and activation of a family of immune system proteins called the complement system.

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Source: NIHR, 11 April 2024

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NIH to back RFK Jr. autism research campaign with comprehensive data resource from patients' medical records

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will begin work on a comprehensive federal database of patient records to study autism and chronic disease, Director Jay Bhattacharya announced Monday. 

The commitment gives legs to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s calls to find the root cause of childhood autism, which he calls an epidemic. The NIH appears poised to put federal resources to work to create a central, shareable resource for the researchers that undertake RFK Jr.’s call to action.

Last week at an event with reporters, Secretary RFK Jr. announced that HHS will soon be offering research grants for identifying the cause of autism, including exploring causes that were formerly considered taboo by the research community. “People will know they can research and follow the science no matter what it says, without any kind of fear that can be censored ...  gaslighted ... silenced," he told reporters.

The NIH will now work to build out a data resource consisting of medical records, insurance claims and data from wearable devices to aid autism researchers in their quest to find the root cause of the disease. Bhattacharya explained the initiative to a meeting of NIH advisors on Monday. 

The NIH will partner across the HHS and with external stakeholders. The data sources for the real-world data platform will be pharmacy chains, health organisations, clinical data, claims and billing, environmental, sensors and wearables. 

The initiative has sparked some privacy concerns from industry groups.

"Compiling health and disability-related data from both federal and commercial sources to create a federal registry of people with autism, without individuals’ consent, is the latest dangerous effort by this Administration to repurpose Americans’ sensitive information for unchecked government use," Ariana Aboulafia, project lead of disability rights in technology policy at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said in a statement. "This plan crosses a line in the sand, particularly given longstanding and historical concerns surrounding the creation of registries of people with disabilities.

"The data that would be used to create this registry and inform governmental studies on autism was originally shared with government agencies and private companies, like insurers and wearable technology companies, for a wide range of purposes," Aboulafia said. "It’s unclear exactly who the federal government plans to share this data with, or how they’ll eventually use it. And, while NIH has claimed that the confidentiality of this information will be safeguarded using 'state of the art protections,' it’s also unclear if it’ll be anonymized or disaggregated, or how it will be protected from a hack or breach." 

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Source: Fierce Healthcare, 22 April 2025

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NIH grant to study unstructured data that can improve patient safety

Reports that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US have led the Institute of Medicine and several state legislatures to suggest that data from patient safety event reporting systems could help health care providers better understand safety hazards and, ultimately, improve patient care.

"Tens of thousands of these safety report databases provide a free text field that does not constrain the reporter to fixed, predefined categories," said Srijan Sengupta, Assistant Professor of Statistics in the College of Science and a faculty member at the Discovery Analytics Center.

Sengupta has received an $815,218 Research Project Grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop novel statistical methods to analyze such unstructured data in safety reports.

"Detailed information that spans multiple categories can be more valuable than identifying an event by just checking off a category," he said.

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Source: EurekAlert, 13 November 2019

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NIH grant cuts have pulled $2B from medical schools, academic hospitals

National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant terminations have pulled almost $2 billion in funding away from U.S. medical schools and hospitals, including $314.5 million in funding intended to train biomedical and health researchers, according to an analysis from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

The halted funding undercuts medical schools and academic hospitals’ financial sustainability, immediately ended at least 160 active clinical trials for patients being treated for conditions like HIV/AIDS or cancer and threatens “the ability of academic medicine to attract and retain the best and brightest scientists,” the association warned in a Wednesday data brief.

An accompanying release from the AAMC framed the grant terminations alongside a slew of proposed executive and legislative actions it said threaten academic medicine and millions of patients, such as Medicaid provider tax limits and eliminating federal student aid programmes.

“For generations, bipartisan leaders have recognized that America’s strength and future rely on the groundbreaking research performed at our nation’s biomedical research facilities, the complex and highly sophisticated care provided at academic health systems that is the envy of the world, and the ability of our medical schools and teaching hospitals to train the next generation of physicians," AAMC President and CEO David Skorton, M.D., said in a position piece published Wednesday. “For the sake of medical advancement, economic prosperity, and the health of every citizen, we need policymakers to work with us, not against us. The stakes could not be higher—lives truly hang in the balance.”

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Source: Fierce Healthcare, 11 June 2025

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Nightingale surge hubs to be set up in eight hospitals, NHS England says

Coronavirus "surge hubs" are to be set up at hospitals across England in preparation for a potential wave of Omicron admissions, the NHS has said.

The eight temporary "Nightingale" units will each house about 100 patients, with building starting this week.

There are also plans to identify sites for a further 4,000 beds if needed.

Record Covid case numbers were reported in the UK on Wednesday and NHS medical director Prof Stephen Powis said the service was on a "war footing".

The NHS is often required to deploy extra beds over winter, but hospitalisations in England with Covid have risen above 10,000 for the first time since March.

Across the UK 183,037 daily cases were reported in the latest figures, with over 900,000 cases reported over the last seven days - up 41.4% on the week before.

Prof Powis said the NHS "cannot wait to find out before we act" given the number of infections and uncertainty about Omicron's severity.

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Source: BBC News, 30 December 2021

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Nightingale hospitals stand empty despite surging Covid cases as medics warn of staff shortages

The flagship Nightingale hospital is being dismantled as medics warn that there are not enough staff to run the facilities despite the NHS being at risk of being overwhelmed by coronavirus.

Amid surging virus case numbers, elective surgery is being cancelled as the number of patients in hospitals in England passes the peak of the first wave in April. 

Although the NHS is "struggling" to cope, the majority of the seven Nightingale hospitals, created at a cost of £220 million, have yet to start treating COVID-19 patients during the second wave. The Exeter Nightingale has been treating Covid patients since mid-November. 

The facility at London's Excel centre has been stripped of its beds and ventilators.

The NHS has told trusts to start preparing to use the overflow facilities in the coming weeks, but bosses have failed to explain how they will be staffed.

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Source: The Telegraph, 28 December 2020

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Night shifts linked to heart problems, study finds

A new study has found night shifts are "significantly associated" with health issues related to the heart, particularly atrial fibrillation, finding that women may be at a greater risk. The research, published in the European Heart Journal also found working night shifts is linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). 

“Night shift exposure also increased the risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) but not stroke or HF (heart failure). Whether decreasing night shift work frequency and duration might represent another avenue to improve heart health during working life and beyond warrants further study,” the paper said.

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Source: The Independent, 16 August 2021

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Nigerian government develops national policy on patient safety

The Nigerian government has developed the National Policy and Implementation Strategy on Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality.

The development, the government said, is part of efforts to improve the safety of all medical procedures and enhance the quality of healthcare delivery.

The Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health, Kachollom Daju, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday.

At the briefing, which was in commemoration of the 2023 World Patient Safety Day, Ms Daju said the national policy is in line with resolution 18 of the 55th World Health Assembly which called for member states to recognise the burden of patient safety and to set up policies to manage them.

“This policy focuses on improving patient and family engagement in healthcare, medication safety, surgical safety, infection prevention & control, safety of all medical procedures and others,” said Ms Daju.

She said the federal government is hopeful that health facilities at all levels will adopt and implement this policy.

She noted that patient safety fundamentally entails preventing errors and minimising harm to patients during provision of healthcare services.

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Source: Premium Times, 19 September 2023

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Nigeria: Wrong medications, major cause of deaths

The Deputy President of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Kabiru Sani, has said that 50% of deaths recorded in the sector are caused by unsafe medication practices and medication errors.

 This is as he lamented that the health sector loses $42bn annually due to the wrong medications.

 He stated this at an event in commemoration of 2022 World Patient Safety Day, themed, “Medication Safety” held in Abuja.

 He said, “According to WHO, unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in health care systems across the world. Globally, the cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at $42bn annually.

 “We, therefore, need to draw the domestic and global attention of all relevant authorities to the challenges facing patients, and healthcare workers and the urgent need to ameliorate them.

 The overall objective of world patient safety is to enhance and promote global understanding of patient safety, increase public engagement in the safety of healthcare workers, and promote global actions to enhance patient safety and reduce patient harm."

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Source: Punch, 20 September 2022

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Nigeria: Patients have the right to know their drugs

In order to avoid risk of having adverse drug reactions capable of prolonging the treatment period in the health facilities in Nigeria, experts have advocated the empowerment of patients to know the drugs being administered on them.

The call was made when the Occupational Health and Safety Managers in Nigeria commemorated the Work Patient Safety Day with the National Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi, NOHI,

Speaking at the programme aimed to advocate patient safety to members of staff of the NOHI with the theme: Medication Safety with the slogan ‘MEDICATION WITHOUT HARM’,  the Director of Nursing services, NOHI, Mrs Temidayo Rasaq-Oyetola, said where there is no medication safety, patient is at the risk of having adverse reaction that can prolong his or her treatment period.

She said: “Patients have the right to know their drugs and seek for clarification when necessary.

“Where there is no medication safety, patient is at risk of having adverse reaction that can prolong the treatment period.

“Patient’s safety should be every stakeholder’s priority that will lead to delivery of efficient health care and best patient outcome. Also, every health institution should ensure medication safety with series of checks.”

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Source: Vanguard, 23 September 2022

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NICE to remove approval from scores of drugs for first time

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will withdraw its backing for a large number of drugs and other interventions which now offer poor value for money in an unprecedented move set to be revealed in tomorrow’s 10-Year Health Plan, HSJ has learned.

Such a move would end the NHS’s statutory mandate to supply the “retired” medicines, treatments, medical devices and procedures.

At present, NICE does not remove its approval for interventions which have successfully completed its appraisal process, even when they are no longer recommended in guidelines as being clinically and/or cost-effective. This new policy will see those interventions not recommended having their NICE approval withdrawn.

Hundreds of technologies have been approved by NICE since its formation in 1999. HSJ understands scores could be retired following re-evaluation over the next few years.

The NICE business plan adds that technologies which remain recommended will be prioritised by ability to “maximise population health…expand access to treatments [and release] cost savings”.

The 10-Year Health Plan will also seek to address variation in prescribing practice across the country by proposing the creation of a “single national formulary” (SNF) by 2028. This is intended to replace the local formularies which the plan says “do not make sense” in the context of ensuring patients receive consistent, high-quality care across the country, HSJ understands.

The plan, due to be published tomorrow, will also confirm that some digital technologies approved by NICE will be nationally reimbursed.

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Source: HSJ, 2 July 2025

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NICE sets out steps NHS must take to implement ME/CFS guidelines

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued an unprecedented implementation statement1 setting out the practical steps needed for its updated guideline on the diagnosis and management of myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)2 to be implemented by the NHS.

Such statements are only issued when a guideline is expected to have a “substantial” impact on NHS resources, and this is thought to be the first. It outlines the additional infrastructure and training that will be needed in both secondary and primary care to ensure that the updated ME/CFS guideline, published in October 2021, can be implemented.

The statement is necessary because the 2021 guideline completely reversed the original 2007 guideline recommendations that people with mild or moderate ME/CFS be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET). Instead the guideline recommends that any physical activity or exercise programmes should only be considered for people with ME/CFS in specific circumstances and should begin by establishing the person’s physical activity capability at a level that does not worsen their symptoms. It also says a physical activity or exercise programme should only be offered on the basis that it is delivered or overseen by a physiotherapist in an ME/CFS specialist team and is regularly reviewed.

Although cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has sometimes been assumed to be a cure for ME/CFS, the guideline recommends it should only be offered to support people who live with ME/CFS to manage their symptoms, improve their functioning and reduce the distress associated with having a chronic illness.

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Source: BMJ, 16 May 2022

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