Jump to content
  • articles
    9,854
  • comments
    83
  • views
    12,500,525

Contributors to this article

About this News

Articles in the news

HIV blood tests to be rolled out to more hospitals

Opt-out blood tests for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C will be rolled out to a further 46 hospitals across England, the government has announced.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the new £20m programme would lead to earlier diagnoses and treatment.

Under the scheme, anyone having a blood test in selected hospital A&E units has also been tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, unless they opted out.

The trials have been taking place for the last 18 months in 33 hospitals in London, Greater Manchester, Sussex and Blackpool, where prevalence is classed by the NHS as "very high".

Figures released by the NHS earlier show those pilots have identified more than 3,500 cases of the three bloodborne infections since April 2022, including more than 580 HIV cases.

Ms Atkins said: "The more people we can diagnose, the more chance we have of ending new transmissions of the virus and the stigma wrongly attached to it."

She added that rolling out the tests to more hospitals would help ensure early diagnoses so people "can be given the support and the medical treatment they need to live not just longer lives but also higher quality lives".

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 29 November 2023

Read more

People with Covid discharged to care homes over fears for NHS, inquiry told

People with Covid-19 were discharged to care homes over fears about the NHS getting “clogged up”, the pandemic inquiry has heard.

Professor Dame Jenny Harries, England’s deputy chief medical officer during the pandemic and now head of the UK Health Security Agency, told the inquiry of how an email she sent in mid-March 2020 described the “bleak picture” and “top line awful prospect” of what needed to happen if hospitals overflowed.

Discharging people to care homes – where thousands of people died of Covid – has been one of the central controversies when it comes to how the Government handled the pandemic.

On Wednesday, the Covid inquiry was read an email exchange between Rosamond Roughton, an official at the Department of Health, and Dame Jenny on March 16 2020.

Ms Roughton asked what the approach should be around discharging symptomatic people to care homes, adding: “My working assumption was that we would have to allow discharge to happen, and have very strict infection control? Otherwise the NHS presumably gets clogged up with people who aren’t acutely ill.”

Ms Roughton added that this was a “big ethical issue” for care home providers who were “understandably very concerned” and who were “already getting questions from family members”.

In response, Dame Jenny emailed: “Whilst the prospect is perhaps what none of us would wish to plan for, I believe the reality will be that we will need to discharge Covid-19 positive patients into residential care settings for the reason you have noted.

“This will be entirely clinically appropriate because the NHS will triage those to retain in acute settings who can benefit from that sector’s care.

“The numbers of people with disease will rise sharply within a fairly short timeframe and I suspect make this fairly normal practice and more acceptable, but I do recognise that families and care homes will not welcome this in the initial phase.”

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 29 November 2023

Read more

Patient saw eight GPs before cancer spotted

Patients are at risk of having serious health conditions missed because of the lack of continuity of care provided by GPs, the NHS safety watchdog says.

Investigators highlighted the case of Brian who was seen by eight different GPs before his cancer was spotted as an example of what can go wrong.

Brian had a history of breast cancer and had been discharged from the breast cancer service. Two years later he began to have back pain. 

Over the following eight months, he saw two out-of-hours GPs and six GPs based at his local practices as well as a physio and GP nurse, before he was sent for a hospital check-up in late 2020.

A secondary cancer had developed on Brian's spine, but it was too late to offer him curative treatment and he was given end-of-life care. He has since died.

The watchdog said the lack of continuity of care resulted in the diagnosis of Brian's cancer being missed.

One of the key problems was that the different GPs he saw missed the fact he was attending repeatedly for the same issue.

Senior investigator Neil Alexander said Brian's case was a "stark example" of what can happen when there is a breakdown in continuity of care.

"He told our team 'when I am gone, no-one else should have to go through what I did'."

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 30 November 2023

Read more

Trust leaders raise alarm over ‘mad’ approach to scrutiny of maternity services

The management of fragile maternity services is being hamstrung by a lack of clear standards and direction from government and regulators, trust chairs and chief executives have told HSJ.

Kathy Thomson, the retiring chief executive of Liverpool Women’s Foundation Trust, told HSJ that a major overhaul of regulation and oversight of maternity care was needed.

She warned that trust leaders were confused about what was expected of their stewardship of maternity services. Much of the increased scrutiny of the sector was coming from people with little knowledge and experience of maternity care, and maternity was beset by too many initiatives which “somebody thinks are a nice thing to do”.

Ms Thomson’s comments were echoed by a wide range of other NHS leaders (see ’damaging confidence’ below). 

Ms Thomson told HSJ: “How clear are we nationally about the real ask of maternity services? Are we going to say it’s the ten NHS Resolution (NHSR) safety standards, which are really tough to achieve and which we agonise over? Or is it the CQC standards, because they will often take a different view around very similar issues?

“We’ve had that this year after we’ve been assessed as compliant by NHSR, but then had to re-provide evidence after we’ve been criticised by the CQC for something… and then NHSR have written back to say we’re still fully compliant.

“So, should you put your time and energy into the NHSR standards, or do you spend the time on the more subjective drivers? Because we can’t keep doing all of it and having different parts of the NHS saying this is what you need to do or expecting something different.”

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 30 November 2023

Read more

Number in hospital with norovirus in England 179% higher than last year

The number of people with norovirus in hospital in England is 179% higher than the average at this time of year, official data shows, as the NHS comes under mounting winter pressure.

Admissions caused by the vomiting and diarrhoea-causing norovirus have surged and cases of other seasonal viruses are also rising, according to NHS England figures. Health chiefs said the impact on hospitals from seasonal viruses was likely to be worsened by the current cold weather.

“We all know somebody who has had some kind of nasty winter virus in the last few weeks,” said Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director.

“Today’s data shows this is starting to trickle through to hospital admissions, with a much higher volume of norovirus cases compared to last year, and the continued impact of infections like flu and RSV in children on hospital capacity – all likely to be exacerbated by this week’s cold weather.”

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 30 November 2023

Read more

NHS budgets must double to ensure buildings are fit for care

According to analysis from the NHS Confederation, capital budgets within the NHS must double to ensure that the delivery of faster and more productive patient care can be supported.

Published yesterday, the Investing to Save: The Capital Requirement for a More Sustainable NHS in England report has outlined that a further £6.4 billion of capital funding must be committed through all three years of the next Spending Review so that the NHS’ maintenance backlog can be addressed. This will also help with the refurbishment of dilapidated buildings, the upgrading of equipment, and the increasing of staff productivity.

Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, said:

“Some of our members have parts of their estate that are barely fit for the 19th century, let alone the 21st, so any future Secretary of State for Health and Social Care must make the physical and digital condition of the NHS a priority if the health service is to reduce backlogs and get productivity levels to where the government want them to be.

“Lack of capital across different care settings, covering digital and physical infrastructure and mental and physical health, is clearly not just leading to missed opportunities to improve productivity, but actively undermining it and causing patient safety issues. Health leaders across England have endless ideas about how capital funding could drive large productivity increases.

“Equipping staff with the right tools, and allowing them to operate in safe, modern, optimised environments will improve efficiency, meaning that an increase to the capital budget will help limit the need for growth in revenue spend, relieve pressure on wider NHS finances and services, and put the NHS on the path to longer-term financial sustainability.

“This will require a significant increase to the NHS capital budget to make up for years of under-resourcing and repeated raids on capital that has left much of the estate broken. Based on the assessment of health leaders, this will need to be an increase of £6.4 billion to take the capital budget to £14.1 billion for each year of the next spending review in order to fully address the repairs backlog and realise some of the innovative transformation projects which have previously fallen by the wayside. The next government must grasp the nettle.”

Read full story

Source: National Health Executive, 29 November 2023

Read more

Stiffer stroke target introduced – despite failure to meet old standard

The failure of trusts to offer stroke patients the level of rehab required by standards introduced 10 years ago has not prevented the publication of new guidance which demands even higher performance.

New guidance has been issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which says recovering stroke patients should receive therapy for at least three hours a day, five days each week.

Performance against this standard is not yet measured, but figures analysed by HSJ show nearly all units treating stroke patients are falling well short of the previous NICE standard issued in 2013. This required a much less ambitious 45 minutes per day.

The figures suggest it is inconceivable the NHS will meet the new NICE rehab requirements in the near future. When they were launched, NICE said: “It shouldn’t be underestimated how important it is for people who have been left with disabilities following a stroke to be given the opportunity to benefit from the intensity and duration of rehabilitation therapies outlined in this updated guideline.”

But Chartered Society of Physiotherapy chief executive Karen Middleton said there was no funding for physios to work on rehab, despite increases in staff supply. “Funding that we know is already limited is being prioritised to other things rather than into rehab,” she said.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 29 November 2023

Read more

BMA stance on physician associates impacting patient confidence, warns Health Education England

Health Education England (HEE) and NHS England have warned BMA that its stance on medical associate professionals (MAPs) is impacting NHS relationships and patient confidence.

HEE published an open letter to the BMA in response to the union’s call to halt recruitment of MAPs – which includes physician associates (PAs) working in general practice – until regulation is in place.

The BMA Council passed a motion calling for a halt to recruitment of MAPs two weeks ago, on the grounds of patient safety. This followed a previous motion to that effect from its GP committee for England earlier this month.

Proposing to bring forward a planned meeting with the BMA to discuss the matter, HEE’s letter said: "This continuing public discourse around MAPs is impacting relations between your members and their MAP colleagues, the health and wellbeing of MAPs already working in the NHS, and potentially the confidence of patients."

HEE chief workforce, training and education officer Dr Navina Evans and NHS England medical director Sir Stephen Powis argued in the letter that evidence shows "MAPs are safe", and that they "increase the breadth of skill, capacity and flexibility of teams" and reduce workload pressure on other clinicians.

‘Any issues of patient safety identified resulting from MAPs ‘must be addressed in the same way we would any other profession’, the letter added.

Read full story

Source: Pulse, 27 November 2023

Read more
 

David Fuller: NHS failures enabled killer to abuse bodies

Mortuary abuser David Fuller was able to offend without being caught because of "serious failings" at the hospitals where he worked, an inquiry has found.

Between 2007 and 2020, Fuller abused the bodies of at least 101 women and girls in Kent hospitals.

Inquiry chair Sir Jonathan Michael said "there were missed opportunities to question Fuller's working practices".

He added the abuse "had caused shock and horror across our country and beyond".

The inquiry has made 17 recommendations to prevent "similar atrocities".

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 28 November 2023

Read more

Patients at risk from virtual GP appointments

GP appointments over the phone or online risk harming patients, a new study published in the BMJ has found.

An analysis of remote NHS doctor consultations between 2020 and 2023 found that “deaths and serious harms” had occurred because of wrong or missed diagnoses and delayed referrals.

Distracted receptionists were also found to be responsible for deaths after they failed to call patients back.

The report, led by the University of Oxford, suggested doctors should stop giving phone appointments to the elderly, people who are deaf, or technophobes.

As many as a third of GP appointments are now virtual after face-to-face appointments slumped to less than half during the pandemic.

Restoring access to face-to-face appointments has been a priority of multiple health secretaries, with Steve Barclay last year promising to name and shame GPs who did not see patients in person.

Patient groups said the study was likely to be “just the tip of the iceberg” given the “potential for tragic misdiagnoses because of the limitations of online or telephone consultations”.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: The Telegraph, 29 November 2023

Read more

Parents 'destroyed' after baby's death at Royal Sussex County Hospital

Parents of a two-day-old girl who died in hospital after an emergency C-section are calling for a national inquiry into maternity services.

Abigail Fowler Miller died at Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH), in January last year.

On 21 January 2022, Mr Miller and Katie Fowler contacted the hospital's maternity assessment unit four times during the day.

Their first phone call was to inform the maternity assessment unit Ms Fowler was in labour, then to report bleeding, and finally to tell them she had become faint and short of breath.

According to the Health Safety Investigation Branch's (HSIB) report, staff recorded that Ms Fowler sounded "distressed" in the fourth phone call to the unit, and she thought she was having a panic attack.

Staff said she could not answer questions in the fourth phone call because of her "distressed state" and she was asked to come into the hospital. Ms Fowler went into cardiac arrest on the journey in a taxi due to a uterine rupture.

An inquest last week found her life would have been prolonged if her mother had been admitted to hospital sooner.

In October, families whose babies have died or been harmed in the care of the NHS called for a statutory public inquiry into England's maternity services.

Robert Miller, Abigail's father, told BBC Newsnight: "A national inquiry is the only way forward - we cannot continue to treat every incident as a separate tragedy."

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 28 November 2023

Read more

New risk calculator can help prevent heart attacks and strokes in people with type 2 diabetes

A new risk calculator will help to identify people with type 2 diabetes who are at high risk of developing heart and circulatory diseases with greater accuracy than ever before.

By spotting high-risk individuals years in advance, doctors will be able to offer vital preventative treatment that can help save lives by warding off future heart attacks and strokes. 

The risk calculator is included in the new European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines advising doctors on the management of cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes, which were announced at the ESC’s annual Congress in August.
 
There are around 4.5 million people in the UK with type 2 diabetes, and one third of adults with diabetes die from a heart or circulatory disease.

The SCORE2-Diabetes risk calculator, published in the European Heart Journal, will allow doctors to estimate the risk of developing a heart or circulatory disease in the next 10 years, with much improved accuracy. 

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, our Medical Director, said: “People with diabetes are overall nearly twice as likely to die of heart disease or stroke as those who do not have the condition.

"This increased risk can be substantially reduced by interventions such as blood pressure control and statins, but this requires more accurate identification of those at increased risk.  
 
“SCORE2-Diabetes is a valuable advance that will allow doctors to tailor pre-emptive treatments for individuals with type 2 diabetes based on their personal risk of heart and circulatory diseases.

"Such an approach is vital as clinicians in the UK and across Europe find new ways to reduce the high levels of ill health associated with diabetes.” 

Read full story

Source: British Heart Foundation, 26 November 2023

Read more

Australia: After decades of pain, ‘thalidomiders’ welcome national apology but still mourn loved ones

“Gut-wrenching,” says Lisa McManus. She is looking for words to describe how she and other thalidomide survivors feel ahead of a historic apology by Anthony Albanese for government failings in the tragedy.

She is grateful for recognition of the medical disaster and relieved that a decade of advocacy has come to fruition. Around 80 of the 146 recognised survivors will witness the apology in Canberra on Wednesday in what McManus hopes will be “a step in the healing process”.

But she is also frustrated that too many others have not lived to see the day.

Thalidomide caused birth defects including “shortened or absent limbs, blindness, deafness or malformed internal organs”, according to the Department of Health.

The drug was not tested on pregnant women before approval, and the birth defect crisis led to greater medical oversight worldwide, including the creation of Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration. Survivors and independent reports have criticised the government of the day for not acting sooner to remove thalidomide from shelves when problems became apparent.

McManus leads Thalidomide Group Australia, having lobbied governments for a decade for an apology and better support. She’s “extremely grateful” for the apology, and says many survivors are anxious, excited and nervous – but that the apology itself can’t be the end.

“I’m relieved it’s happening, I just can’t say ‘thank you’,” McManus says. “I’m very happy to think it’s here, but it won’t fix things, and I don’t want the government thinking they will deliver this and it’ll all be fine.”

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 28 November 2023

Read more

Police investigate 105 cases of alleged negligence in Brighton hospital

Police are investigating 105 cases of alleged medical negligence at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton amid claims of a cover-up.

Specialist officers from the National Crime Agency and Sussex police are looking into cases of harm, which include at least 40 deaths, in the general surgery and neurosurgery departments between 2015 and 2021.

An email from Sussex police, released to The Times after a court application, revealed the huge investigation is looking into 84 cases connected to neurology and 21 related to gastroenterology. Most of the families are yet to be told that their case is among them.

Officers were called in by the senior coroner after she heard of allegations made by two consultant surgeons at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest NHS organisations with 20,000 staff.

The trust has been accused of bullying the whistleblowers and attempting to cover up the circumstances of the deaths. Mansoor Foroughi, a consultant neurosurgeon, was sacked for “acting in bad faith” in December 2021 after raising concerns about 19 deaths and 23 cases of serious patient harm.

Another whistleblower, Krishna Singh, a consultant general surgeon, claimed that he lost his post as clinical director because he said the trust promoted insufficiently competent surgeons, introduced an unsafe rota and had cut costs too quickly.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: The Times, 27 November 2023

Read more

Police to investigate former neurologist Michael Watt

The police have begun an investigation into the clinical practices of former consultant neurologist Michael Watt.

He was at the centre of Northern Ireland's largest patient recall in 2018.

Over 5,000 patients were recalled amid concerns over his clinical practice.

In a highly significant move, an email was sent to patients and families of deceased patients and explained that the investigation is called Operation Begrain.

It will be conducted by a major investigation team led by Det Ch Insp Neil McGuinness and Det Insp Gina Quinn.

Danielle O'Neill, a former patient of Dr Watt, said she and others are in "complete shock and hope that at last justice will be done".

"It's been a long and difficult five years and it is not over yet," she added.

Earlier this month a medical tribunal found that the former doctor's fitness to practice was "currently impaired" and that his professional performance was "unacceptable".

An appeal will be made to former patients who have concerns regarding their medical treatment by Michael Watt, to come forward to the police.

A short questionnaire will also be shared in order to "capture patients' concerns", that information will go straight to the investigation team and will be the first step in the police investigative process.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 28 November 2023

Read more

At least 20,000 annual UK cancer deaths avoidable, says charity

At least 20,000 cancer deaths a year could be avoided in the UK with a national commitment to invest in research and innovation, and fix the NHS, says Cancer Research UK.

Progress is being made in finding new treatments for the condition that affects 50% of people at some point. But the charity says the UK lags behind comparable countries for survival.

It has launched a manifesto of priorities for this government and the next, ahead of a general election.

The document sets out what the charity says needs to change - and fast.

Whoever is running the country must commit to developing a 10-year cancer plan, spearheaded by a National Cancer Council accountable to the prime minister to bring government, charities, industry and scientific experts together, it says.

Key areas to focus on include:

  • More investment in research to close an estimated £1bn funding gap.
  • Greater disease prevention - banishing smoking to the history books, for example.
  • Earlier diagnosis, through screening.
  • Better tests and treatments, as well as cutting NHS waiting lists and investing in more staff.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 28 November 2023

Read more
 

‘They thought I had cancer’: painkiller banned in UK linked to Britons’ deaths in Spain

A patients group representing several British victims has launched legal action against the Spanish government over claims it failed to safeguard people against the potentially fatal side effects of one of the country’s most popular painkillers, involved in a series of serious illnesses and deaths.

The drug metamizole, commonly sold in Spain under the brand name Nolotil, is banned in several countries, including Britain, the US, India and Australia. It can cause a condition known as agranulocytosis, which reduces white blood cells, increasing the risk of potentially fatal infection.

The Association of Drug Affected Patients (ADAF) says adverse reactions to the drugs have led to sepsis, organ failure and amputations. It has identified about 350 suspected cases of agranulocytosis between 1996 and 2023, including those of 170 Britons who live in Spain or were on holiday there.

The ADAF is examining more than 40 fatalities in which it considers the drug may have led, or contributed, to death. The patients group says that case reports, including a 2009 study, suggest the British population may be more susceptible to the drug’s side effects, but this has not been confirmed by independent scientific study.

The group is demanding an investigation into the drug and new controls. It filed its action on 14 November in the national court in Madrid. Cristina García del Campo, founder of the organisation, said: “This drug has destroyed people’s lives and it should now be withdrawn. One lady took three tablets and she had part of her feet amputated and several fingers. Even if it doesn’t kill you, once you’ve had sepsis your body is never the same.”

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 26 November 2023

Read more

NHS in crisis as almost half of maternity wards are offering substandard care

Almost half of all English maternity units are offering substandard care, making it one of the worst performing acute medical services in the NHS, Byline Times analysis has found.

The analysis, based on inspections of English hospitals by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), found that 85 of 172 inspected maternity services in England received ratings of ‘inadequate’ (18) or ‘requires improvement (67) at their latest inspection.

Some 65% of maternity wards were given subpar ratings for patient ‘safety’ one of several metrics looked at by the CQC.

The findings come after the health regulator began a focused inspection programme of maternity wards last year after the a government review into the Shropshire maternity scandal, which saw 300 babies left dead or brain damaged by shoddy care.

In one unit at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, there was a shortage of midwives, not all medicines practices were safe which “potentially placed women at risk of harm” and serious incidents were not being investigated. The report found a backlog of 215 patient safety incidents that had not yet been looked into, as of March this year.

Maria Caulfield, Minister for Women’s Health Strategy, told Byline Times that “maternity care is of the utmost importance to this Government” and stressed they have “invested £165 million a year since 2021 to grow the maternity workforce and improve neonatal services”.

“Every parent must be able to have confidence in the care they receive when giving birth, and we are working incredibly hard to improve maternity services, focusing on recruitment, training, and the retention of midwives,” she added.

Read full story

Source: Byline Time, 28 November 2023

Read more

Scandal of healthy mental health patients trapped in hospitals for years

Mental health patients have been left languishing in hospitals for years due to a chronic shortage in community care, as the number of people trapped on wards hits a record high, The Independent can reveal.

Analysis shows 3,213 patients were stuck on units for more than three months last year, including 325 children kept in adult units. Of those a “deeply concerning” number have been deemed well enough to leave but have nowhere to go.

One of these cases was Ben Craig, 31, who says he was left “scarred” after being stranded on a ward for two years – despite being fit enough to leave – because two councils fought over who should pay for his supported housing.

He missed his daughter's birth and didn’t meet her until she was 18 months old while waiting to be discharged, which only exacerbated his depression.

He told The Independent: “I was promised I was going to be moving on, but it just seemed like it went on forever.”

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive for NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, told The Independent mental health patients stuck in hospitals were experiencing “personal distress” and getting ill again while they wait.

She called on the government to put mental health on an “equal foot” to physical care and said not doing so suggested the government was content not to treat all patients equally.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 27 November 2023

Read more

NHS care delays in England harmed 8,000 people and caused 112 deaths last year

Almost 8,000 people were harmed and 112 died last year as a direct result of enduring long waits for an ambulance or surgery, prompting warnings that NHS care delays are “a disaster”.

The fatalities included a man who died of a cardiac arrest after waiting 18 minutes for his 999 call to be answered by the ambulance service and was dead by the time the crew arrived.

The figures are the first time NHS England has disclosed how often doctors and nurses file a patient safety report after someone suffers harm while waiting for help.

They show that patient deaths arising directly from care delays have risen more than fivefold over the last three years, from 21 in 2019 to 112 last year, as the NHS has come under huge strain. The number of people who came to “severe harm” has also jumped from 96 to 152 during that period.

“These data are alarming and show quite clearly the human impact the crisis in the NHS is having on individual patients,” said Rachel Power, the chief executive of the Patients Association. “We have been watching a disaster unfolding across the NHS and have repeatedly warned about the threat to patient safety because of it.”

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 27 November 2023

Read more
 

Coeliac UK calls for change following death of coeliac patient in hospital

A North Wales coroner has concluded there was a ‘gross failure’ in the case of a coeliac patient, who tragically died in Wrexham Maelor hospital.

Mrs Hazel Pearson, 79, had coeliac disease and a number of other medical conditions and died from aspiration pneumonia four days after being given Weetabix for breakfast while at the hospital.

Whilst her coeliac disease was noted on her admission records, there was no sign above her bed and staff were unaware of her dietary needs and as a result Mrs Pearson had been fed gluten containing food on multiple occasions.  

Tristan Humphreys, Head of Advocacy for Coeliac UK said: 

“We are deeply saddened and concerned by this verdict and our thoughts go out to Mrs Pearson’s loved ones at this very difficult time. Her death reflects a clear failure of care and it is patently unacceptable that this was allowed to happen. Coeliac disease is a serious autoimmune condition for which the only treatment is a medically prescribed gluten free diet. It is critical that people with coeliac disease can access the gluten free food they need to be healthy. This is all the more important when someone is unwell and, as in Mrs Pearson’s tragic case, unable to advocate for themselves. Wales has mandatory food standards which make very clear the level of care that should be provided yet these have not been met. As a charity, we are empowering patients, family members, carers and working with hospital caterers by providing advice and guidance to support safe provision of gluten free food. However, it’s high time the health service consistently delivered the care people with coeliac disease deserve.” 

Read full story

Source: Coeliac UK, 24 November 2023

Read more

Chaotic communication by NHS in England ‘causing treatment delays’

Chaotic communication by the NHS in England is causing harmful delays to treatment and endangering patient health, according to research.

Widespread communication problems that leave patients and staff scrambling to find their referrals, missing appointments, or receiving late diagnoses have been uncovered in a study by the Demos thinktank, the Patients Association, and the PMA, a professional membership body for healthcare workers.

In a poll of 2,000 members of the public and NHS staff across England in October, more than half said they had experienced poor communication from the health service in the past five years, with one in 10 saying their care had been affected as a result.

The research also found that over the last year, 18% had their care, or the care of an immediate family member, delayed or affected because they were referred to the wrong service, while 26% said they or a close family member had been inconvenienced because they were given the date and time of an appointment without enough notice.

Miriam Levin, the director of participatory programmes at Demos, said that despite the great esteem and pride in the NHS, patients found navigating the system frustrating and stressful. “We heard countless stories of critical appointments missed, diagnoses not shared or shared too late, and referrals for treatment that went missing. This leads to real harm,” she said.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 27 November 2023

Read more

Hysteroscopy without anaesthetic like being flayed alive

Undergoing a medical procedure without an anaesthetic felt like being "flayed alive", according to Dee Dickens.

The 53-year-old is one of many in the UK who have reported having a hysteroscopy, which is used to examine the uterus, without enough pain relief.

Clinical guidelines say patients must be given anaesthetic options before the gynaecological exam.

Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board said it was concerned by the experiences of Ms Dickens and urged her to get in touch.

Ms Dickens, from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, had a hysteroscopy as an outpatient at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant after experiencing bleeding despite being menopausal.

Ms Dickens said her medical notes and past childhood sexual abuse were not considered and she was not offered a local anaesthetic prior to the procedure in October 2022.

Due to underlying health conditions, including fibromyalgia and Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS), she was reluctant to have a general anaesthetic as it would have left her "poorly for weeks" so she had the hysteroscopy on painkillers only.

"Everybody's bustling, so it's really difficult to advocate for yourself," said Ms Dickens.

When the procedure began, she said she felt extreme pain, adding: "I was very aware that I was a black woman who felt like she was being experimented on with no anaesthetic.

"They took out my coil and then they started on the biopsies and good God, that felt like being flayed alive. It was awful.

"It was like having my insides scraped out and blown up all at the same time."

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 27 November 2023

What is your experience of having a hysteroscopy? Add your story to our painful hysteroscopy hub community thread.

 

Read more

‘A fake Ozempic jab nearly killed me – it’s time for the Government to step in’

A 45-year-old mother who almost died after injecting herself with a life-threatening amount of insulin she thought was Ozempic is calling on the Government and social media companies to crack down on the online counterfeit weight-loss jab trade.

Michelle Sword, a receptionist from Carterton, Oxfordshire, first took Ozempic without any issues after she was prescribed it by a legitimate online pharmacy in early 2021. Ms Sword said she completed an online questionnaire and gave a false BMI that she knew would qualify her the drug. “I just told them what they wanted to hear,” she said.

Ms Sword said she takes responsibility for her actions, but criticised rogue sellers for taking advantage of people with insecurities and selling a product that “can kill you”.

She also wants the Government and social media companies to step in to tackle the trend. “I think the drug was in such infancy in what we knew about it that they weren’t able to “police” who got it, who took it, who sourced it. I think they [the Government] need to look at that.”

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: inews, 26 November 2023

Read more

Bristol surgeon Tony Dixon defends not waking patient for consent

A surgeon has said it would have been "cruel and unacceptable" to have woken up a patient to get consent for a mesh operation.

Anthony Dixon is accused of failing to provide adequate clinical care to five patients at Southmead Hospital and the private Spire Hospital in Bristol.

He had pioneered the use of artificial mesh to lift prolapsed bowels.

Mr Dixon appeared at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing in Manchester on Thursday.

He faces charges of performing procedures that were not "clinically indicated", failing to carry out tests and investigations and failing to obtain consent from patients.

It followed complaints many had suffered pain or trauma after having pelvic floor surgery using artificial mesh, a technique known as laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR).

Giving evidence, he was asked why he did not consider waking up one female patient who underwent an LVMR, to get her consent to surgery.

Mr Dixon said it would have meant giving her more drugs for pain relief and could have "multiplied the risks" to her.

He is also accused of failing to advise patients about the risks of procedures, failing to discuss non-surgical options and dismissing patients' concerns when they experienced pain or other symptoms following surgery.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 23 November 2023

Related reading on the hub:

 

Read more

© 2026 Patient Safety Learning. All rights reserved.

Patient Safety Learning is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission Registration number 1180689.

×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.