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Trust admits staff shortages causing inappropriate discharges

A trust has admitted it is having to discharge patients inappropriately into care homes or community hospital beds because of a shortage of home care workers.

A report to East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust’s board last week revealed that 160 extra beds had been commissioned to maintain flow across the local health economy “due to insufficient domiciliary/care package capacity.”

It went on: “The clinical commissioning group have tried via Kent County Council to commission additional domiciliary care without success. It is acknowledged by the local health economy that it is important to withdraw from these additional beds as quickly as possible as they are not a cost-effective resource and more importantly, in many cases, they are not the ideal discharge destination for those patients who could have been discharged home with a care package.

“Patients are being transferred into community hospital beds or residential home beds due to a lack of domiciliary care packages. Although this is a national issue, it will not be resolved locally until appropriate pathway capacity is commissioned.”

Professor Adam Gordon, president elect of the British Geriatrics Society, said: “If people have been sent to a care home when they don’t want or need to be there that can affect their motivation and result in a form of deconditioning. One of the principles of effective rehabilitation in older people is that if you don’t use it, you lose it.”

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Source: HSJ, 17 March 2022

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Jeremy Hunt joins BMA call to stem ‘bleed’ of NHS doctors

The former health secretary Jeremy Hunt will join doctors’ representatives today in a call to stem the “bleed” of GPs or risk endangering patients.

Polling shows that almost nine in ten GPs fear that patient safety is being put at risk by shortages of family doctors and too little time for appointments.

The government has admitted that it will fail to fulfil an election pledge to recruit 6,000 extra full-time GPs by 2024.

Hunt is campaigning with the British Medical Association and the GPDF, which represents local medical committees, in calling for the government to put forward a GP workforce plan to “rebuild general practice”.

He said: “The workforce crisis is the biggest issue facing the NHS. We can forget fixing the backlog unless we urgently come up with a plan to train enough doctors for the future and, crucially, retain the ones we’ve got.

“As someone who tried hard to get more GPs into local surgeries but ultimately didn’t succeed because the numbers retiring early exceeded those joining, I’m passionate about fixing this.”

The campaign wants the government to deliver on its pledge for an extra 6,000 GPs in England and action to tackle the reasons for GPs leaving the profession, such as burnout. It says that a plan is needed to reduce GP workload, which would improve patient safety.

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NHS Trust declares two critical incidents as Covid admissions double

A hospital in Devon has declared a second critical incident following extreme pressures, as Covid-19 admissions in the region double, The Independent has learnt.

North Devon Healthcare Trust declared a critical incident on Monday, after it declared another earlier this month it has confirmed.

The news comes as the number of people with Covid-19 across two hospitals in Devon has doubled in just two weeks.

As of Thursday, there were 292 Covid positive patients in across hospitals in Devon, with a further 37 awaiting test results.

According to a statement from healthcare leaders in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, as of Thursday there were almost 1,200 NHS staff off work due to Covid.

Meanwhile 183 care services, such as care homes and other social care providers, in the area have reported Covid outbreaks, making it harder to discharge patients, the leaders said.

NHS data published on Thursday showed there were 213 patients across three hospitals in Devon, waiting to be discharged.

Covid-19 infections are also continuing to rise across most of the UK, with levels in Scotland hitting another record high, new figures show.

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Source: The Independent, 19 March 2022

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Women died after ‘gross failings’ by scandal hit mental health trust

A young woman died following “gross failings” and “neglect” by a mental health hospital in Essex which is also facing a major independent inquiry into patient deaths.

Bethany Lilley, 28, died on 16 January whilst she was an inpatient at Basildon Mental Health unit, run by Essex Partnership University Hospitals.

The inquest examined the circumstances of her death this week and concluded that her death was contributed by neglect due to a “plethora of failings by Essex University Partnership Trust”.

Following the three week inquest, heard before coroner Sean Horstead, a jury found “neglect” contributed to Ms Lilley’s death and identified “gross failures” on behalf of the trust.

The jury identified a number of failings in her care including evidence that cocaine had made its way onto a ward where she was an inpatient.

There was evidence of “very considerable problems in the record-keeping at EPUT psychiatric units.”

It was also concluded staff failed to carry out a risk assessment of Ms Lilley in the days leading up to her death, and failed to carry out observations.

Ms Lilley’s death is one of a series of patients who have died under the care of mental health services in Essex, which have been brought into the light following the campaigning of bereaved families.

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Source: The Independent, 19 March 2022

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Over 80% of UK GPs think patients are at risk in their surgery, survey finds

More than 80% of GPs believe that patients are being put at risk when they come into their surgery for an appointment, a new survey shows.

A poll of 1,395 GPs found only 13% said their practice was safe for patients all the time. Meanwhile, 85% expressed concerns about patient safety, with 2% saying patients were “rarely” safe, 22% saying they were safe “some of the time” and 61% saying they were safe “most of the time”.

Asked if they thought the risk to patient safety was increasing in their surgery, 70% said it was.

Family doctors identified lack of time with patients, workforce shortages, relentless workloads and heavy administrative burdens as the main reasons people receiving care could be exposed to risk. The survey, which was self-selecting, also found that:

  • 91% said more GPs would help improve the state of general practices.
  • 84% have had anxiety, stress or depression over the past year linked to their job.
  • 31% know a colleague who was physically abused by a patient in the last year.
  • 24% know of a member of general practice staff who has taken their own life due to work pressures.

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Source: The Guardian, 21 March 2022

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Doctor accused of failings following Claire Roberts' death

A paediatrician who was at the centre of one of Northern Ireland's longest running public inquiries will appear before a professional misconduct panel.

Dr Heather Steen is accused of several failings following the death of Claire Roberts at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children in October 1996.

The nine-year-old's death was examined by the hyponatraemia inquiry, which lasted 14 years.

It examined the role of several doctors.

Among his findings, the inquiry's chairman Mr Justice O'Hara said there had been a "cover-up" to "avoid scrutiny."

Monday's tribunal will inquire into allegations that, between 23 October 1996 and 4 May 2006, Dr Steen "knowingly and dishonestly carried out several actions to conceal the true circumstances" of the child's death.

Also that the doctor provided inappropriate, incomplete and inaccurate information to the child's parents and GP regarding the treatment, diagnosis, clinical management and cause of her death.

The tribunal website adds: "It is also alleged that Dr Steen inappropriately recommended a brain-only post-mortem for Patient A (Claire Roberts) when a full post-mortem was necessary.

"In addition, it is alleged that Dr Steen failed to refer Patient A's death to the coroner, inappropriately completed the medical certificate of cause of death and inaccurately completed the autopsy request form for Patient A.

"Furthermore, it is alleged that during a review of Patient A's notes, Dr Steen failed to consult with the necessary colleagues and medical teams and provided a statement and gave evidence to the coroner's inquest into Patient A's death which omitted key information."

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Source: BBC News, 21 March 2022

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‘Disproportionate’ infection control holding back electives, say NHS bosses

Infection control rules in hospitals are ‘now disproportionate to the risks’ posed by covid and should be relaxed, some of the NHS’s most senior leaders have warned.

The government rules – such as not allowing covid-positive staff to work, and separating out services for covid, non-covid and covid-contact patients – make a big dent in hospital capacity and slows down services.

Glen Burley, who is chief executive of three Midlands trusts and involved in national-level discussions on elective matters, told HSJ: “Pretty much every pathway has a covid and non-covid route, which slows down flow and staff productivity.

“There is a growing argument that these rules are now disproportionate to the risks. With covid cases in the community also rising now, we may have to question again the relative risks of continuing to isolate staff.”

NHS Confederation director of policy Layla McCay told HSJ: “Healthcare leaders are concerned the current [IPC] measures are having a serious knock-on effect on capacity and that the measures in their current form are reducing efficiency and capacity within healthcare settings.

“We need more clarity on if and how current measures can be safely adjusted so [the NHS] can further increase bed capacity and patient throughput, as well as the ability to transport patients more quickly and efficiently.”

But NHS Providers, which has previously said relaxing the IPC guidance would not enable a “rapid” increase in the NHS’ capacity to tackle the elective care backlog and could pose significant “risks”, remains more cautious.

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Source: HSJ, 21 March 2022

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US health officials monitor the rising cases of UK Covid hospitalisations

US health officials are monitoring an unusual situation in the UK, where COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations are simultaneously climbing due to the BA.2 subvariant, CNN reports. 

COVID-19 cases were up 52% in the UK last week compared with the week prior, and hospitalisations were up 18%t over the same period, according to the UK Coronavirus Dashboard. 

The seemingly in-tandem ascent of cases and hospitalisations is unusual, given that increases in COVID-19 cases preceded increases in hospitalisations by about 10 days to two weeks in previous waves. 

"So we're obviously keenly interested in what's going on with that," Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN.

Dr Fauci said in conversation with his U.K. counterparts, they attribute the rising cases and hospitalisations to three things, listed in order of contribution: the BA.2 variant, which is more transmissible than the original omicron; the opening of society, with people socializing indoors without masks; and waning immunity from vaccination or prior infection. 

Hospitalisations in the U.K. raise questions, given that BA.2 doesn't appear to cause more severe disease.

"The issue with hospitalization is a little bit more puzzling, because although the hospitalizations are going up, it is very clear their use of ICU beds has not increased," Dr. Fauci said. "So are the numbers of hospitalizations a real reflection of COVID cases, or is there a difficulty deciphering between people coming into the hospital with COVID or because of COVID?"

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Source: Becker Hospital Review, 16 March 2022

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Gloucestershire CQC inspection highlights urgent care delays

An inspection of a county's urgent and emergency services found delays were caused by a lack of empty beds and prolonged waiting times.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Gloucestershire emergency care services in November and December.

The report found staff worked well in challenging circumstances but the CQC said pressures on workers across the system needed addressing.

Dr Jeremy Welch said: "The system is being stretched and we need to adapt."

CQC deputy chief inspector for hospitals, Nigel Acheson, said: "We found the system to be complicated. As a result, staff and patients weren't always able to understand which urgent and emergency care service was best suited to their needs.

"This meant people sometimes attended the emergency department when they could have been treated more appropriately elsewhere."

In addition the report touched on adult social care and the possibility of using empty care home beds when hospitals were struggling to cope.

Dr Welch recognised "it's been a blinking tough time in care homes" over the pandemic and credited the relaxing of rules to allow visits but said there are other factors that would need to be considered.

However he added: "We've got enough beds when we map across, it's just getting patients through the hospital and home because home is where they want to be."

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Source: BBC News, 17 March 2022

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Australia: Disability carer sentenced to six years’ jail over death of patient due to criminal neglect

The carer who admitted the manslaughter of Adelaide woman Ann Marie Smith, who had cerebral palsy, has been jailed for at least five years and three months for her criminal neglect.

Sentencing Rosa Maria Maione in the Supreme Court, Justice Anne Bampton said the 70-year-old was grossly negligent, with her care for Smith falling well short of the standard expected.

“You did not mobilise her from the chair in which she was found. You did not toilet her properly and you did not clean her properly,” she told Maione on Friday.

“You did not feed her a nutritional diet or monitor her intake. You knew you were not capable of properly supporting her and you did not seek assistance in providing for Ms Smith’s needs."

“Despite the deterioration in Ms Smith’s health, you did not seek assistance from your supervisor or medical professionals until it was too late.”

Justice Bampton said Maione had absolutely no insight into Smith’s physical condition leading up to her death.

“Your incompetence, lack of training, lack of assertiveness and lack of supervision produced an environment where you failed to provide appropriate care,” she said.

“Every person living with a disability, every person who requires support, every parent, carer and support worker of persons living with a disability, I have no doubt shudders with fear when they hear of the utter lack of care and human dignity afforded to Ms Smith in those last months of her life.”

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Source: The Guardian, 18 March 2022

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Just 1 in 10 patients preferred face-to-face GP during Covid, finds NHS-backed research

Just 1 in 10 patients preferred face-to-face GP appointments during the Covid pandemic, with most requesting telephone consultations instead, according to research carried out on behalf of NHS England.

The Improvement Analytics Unit (IAU) – a partnership between NHS England and think-tank the Health Foundation – looked at data from 146 England GP practices using the askmyGP online consultation system between March 2019 and September 2021, examining over 7.5 million patient-initiated consultation requests.

During the pandemic, GPs suffered a backlash from the media, Government and NHS England over accusations that general practice was closed and GPs were not seeing patients face-to-face.

GP leaders suggested that NHS England needed to take the research into account and allow practices to decide their own way of working.

The research found that:

  • Before the pandemic, 30% of patients requests specified a face-to-face consultation, dropping to less than 4% at the beginning of the pandemic. 
  • But by the end of the study period in September 2021, only 10% of patients requests were for face-to-face GP appointments. 
  • Telephone consultations were the most popular option, making up over half (55%) of patient requests in 2020/21.
  • However, less than 1% of patients preferred a video consultation, according to the data.

IAU head at the Health Foundation Arne Wolters said: ‘Our analysis shows that patients often choose remote over face-to-face consultations and that GP practices can mitigate the risk of digital exclusion via a blended approach.’

He said that ‘traditional routes to accessing and delivering care’ had been ‘offered alongside an online option and, in planning care, practices were able to take account of factors such as patients’ age, frequency of use, clinical needs and preferences’, at the studied practices."

And he added: ‘With patient demand at an all-time high due to the care backlog

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Source: Pulse, 18 March 2022

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Covid-19: Evusheld is approved in UK for prophylaxis in immunocompromised people

The UK’s drug regulator has approved a combination of two monoclonal antibodies to prevent Covid-19 in people who are unlikely to mount an immune response from vaccination or for whom vaccination is not recommended.

Evusheld, a combination of the two long acting antibodies tixagevimab and cilgavimab, is authorised for Covid-19 prevention by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The government’s independent advisory body, the Commission on Human Medicines, endorsed the approval after independently reviewing the evidence.

Almost 500 000 people in the UK are immunocompromised, including people with blood cancers, those taking immunosuppressive drugs after an organ transplant, or those with conditions such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The treatment could offer this group of patients, many of whom are still shielding, protection against Covid-19 and help them feel more confident about returning to a normal life.

June Raine, MHRA chief executive, said, “While Covid-19 vaccines continue to be the first line of defence, we know that some people may not respond adequately to these vaccines and for a small number they may not be recommended. For these people, Evusheld could provide effective protection against Covid-19.”

Penny Ward, an independent pharmaceutical physician and visiting professor in pharmaceutical medicine at King’s College London, said, “This treatment could be a good way to protect patients who are not able to respond normally to vaccination. Many of these people are continuing to shield while Covid is still circulating in the community and this agent could help them feel more confident to return to a more normal life.”

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Source: BMJ, 17 March 2022

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Care homes ‘could face widespread closures’ under social care reforms

Hundreds of England’s care homes could be closed and care rationed because the government has “seriously underestimated” the costs of a shake-up, experts are warning.

Widespread closures would leave hundreds of thousands of elderly and vulnerable residents homeless.

Those in the southeast, the east and the southwest would be hardest hit, according to a new study.

Under a package of social care reforms announced in September, ministers are aiming to make care fees fairer between private and state fee payers.

At the moment, residents who self-fund all their care pay up to 40% more on average than those eligible for state support, for whom their local authority arranges care, and care homes charge councils lower rates.

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Source: The Independent, 18 March 2022

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USA: Dentist found guilty of damaging patients’ teeth to boost profits

A Wisconsin dentist was found guilty of healthcare fraud and other charges after he intentionally damaged his patients’ teeth to boost profits, raking in millions from his scheme.

Scott Charmoli, 61, was convicted of five counts of healthcare fraud and two counts of making false claims about his clients’ treatment last Thursday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

With his sentencing scheduled for June, Charmoli faces up to 10 years for each healthcare fraud charge and a maximum of five years for each of the two other charges.

Prosecutors say that Charmoli had routinely drilled or broken his clients’ teeth on purpose, charging them for additional treatment services to fix the damage he had just done. As a result, Charmoli’s profits ballooned, with the dentist going from making $1.4m and installing 434 crowns in 2014 to $2.5m in 2015, installing over 1,000 crowns, reported the Washington Post.

According to prosecutors, in 2015, Charmoli began pressuring his clients into getting unnecessary crowns, a dental procedure where a tooth-shaped cap is placed on a damaged tooth. Charmoli would drill or break his client’s teeth and send X-rays of the intentional damage to insurance as “before” photos to justify the crown procedures.

One client, Todd Tedeschi, testified that Charmoli pressured him into getting two crowns in one appointment, despite Tedeschi believing that his teeth were fine.

“It seemed excessive, but I didn’t know any better,” said Tedeschi. “He was the professional. I just trusted him.”

Some of the patients that Charmoli badgered into unnecessary procedures were also vulnerable, said prosecutors.

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Source: The Guardian, 16 March 2022

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Focus on acutes has left mental health facing ‘significant uncertainties’ say trust leaders

A large mental health trust has highlighted a lack of additional funding for the sector, in contrast to the £8bn earmarked for acute providers to tackle elective waiting lists.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Foundation Trust expects demand for its services to be 20% higher than pre-covid levels, but says uncertainties around funding could “impede” progress and “wider service sustainability”.

In an interview with HSJ last week, TEWV’s chief executive Brent Kilmurray said: “Quite often, we are facing the challenge of trying to find beds and meet demand. What we’ve seen is an increase in occupancy and an increase in length of stay. And we are relating that to an increase in acuity.

“We really welcome the investment that goes into the long-term plans on the specialist services that are coming through. [But] what we want to do with our work is give greater transparency to the backlogs that have developed and some of the additional pressures.

Asked about the trust’s actions to address multiple concerns around safety and quality, Mr Kilmurray said staffing had improved in forensics, although the vacancy rate is still higher than the trust average, and that a leadership development programme is aiming to improve the culture of the organisation. He said he hopes the CQC “would see significant improvement” when they are inspected again.

He added that “a lot has changed” since the high-profile deaths of two teenagers under the care of the trust, which are subject to an ongoing inquiry

He said: “We will be able to build on the legacy of those young women in terms of the learning that we want to embed within the organisation.”

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Source: HSJ, 16 December 2022

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Ban on home abortions increases risks to women, Government told

Banning home abortions could increase risks to women and waste NHS resources, leading doctors have warned.

The “pills by post” system is set to be dismantled in England by September, having been introduced as a temporary measure at the start of the pandemic.

However, the plans, disclosed by The Telegraph last month, have sparked outrage from medical organisations and women’s groups.

The decision by ministers to return to pre-pandemic abortion systems in England has sparked fierce debate and could be subject to a vote in Parliament on Wednesday.

Writing for The Telegraph, the leaders of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have urged ministers to reconsider their intentions.

They said that the current system has meant terminations take place earlier in the pregnancy, reducing the risk of complications, and that the most vulnerable women, including domestic abuse victims, are able to get help.

Baroness Sugg of Coldharbour, a former operations chief to David Cameron, said that the UK should “stand strongly against the rollback of women’s rights”. She has also tabled an amendment to the Health and Care Bill seeking to maintain the current system in England.

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Source: The Telegraph, 15 March 2022

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Somerset care home staff continue working with Covid

Some care homes have "no choice" but to allow workers who have Covid to deliver care, a public health official said.

According to Public Health England cases are rising the fastest in Somerset.

As a result, care homes in the county are struggling to safely staff their services and schools are seeing a rise in staff sickness.

Somerset Council said ensuring vulnerable residents received care was "lower risk" than them being infected.

Health officials advised care workers to continue working only if they wore PPE and felt well enough.

Council public health consultant Alison Bell said: "In some cases, we have no choice but to have people who are testing positive delivering care to people in Somerset.

"That risk is actually less than that person not receiving care."

She said the Omicron variant was more transmissible and people were getting re-infected with it, some within a matter of weeks.

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Source: BBC News, 16 March 2022

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‘Cinderella’ postnatal care leaves women ‘forgotten’ after birth

Women and NHS staff have warned that mothers are being “forgotten” after giving birth, with a staff crisis only making matters worse.

Kate, a 32-year-old from Leeds, says she has been left in “excruciating” pain for nine years after horrifying postnatal care.

Other women have told The Independent stories of care ranging from “disjointed” to “disastrous”.

It comes as midwives warn there are “horrendous” shortages in community services, which have prevented women from accessing adequate antenatal and postnatal care.

Mary Ross-Davie, the Royal College of Midwives’ director for professional midwifery, said that with each Covid wave midwifery staffing has been hit worse than the last.

To provide safe care during labour, antenatal and postnatal care, teams are sent into wards putting “huge pressure on care”.

She said this could mean clinicians end up “missing things”, such as women struggling emotionally after birth.

The warnings over poor antenatal and postnatal care come after experts at the University of Oxford said in November there were “stark” gaps in postnatal care, despite the highest number of deaths being recorded in the postnatal period.

Dr Sunita Sharma, lead consultant for postnatal care at Chelsea and Westminster Trust, said that when NHS maternity inpatient staffing overall is in crisis “often the first place staff are moved from is the postnatal ward, which is clinically very appropriate, but it can come at a cost of putting more pressure on postnatal care for other mothers”.

Dr Sharma said postnatal teams were doing their best to improve services but need national drivers and funding to sustain improvement.

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Source: The Independent, 16 March 2022

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Is the CQC giving the NHS an easy ride?

The purpose of Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings has been a hotly contested question since the creation of the four category classifications in the last decade.

The original idea was to give the public a sense of how good their local hospital was, as well as providing commissioners, system managers and government with an idea of whether the local, regional or national health services they had responsibility for were getting better or worse.

The practicality of the first aim was always questionable given the public’s inability and unwillingness, in most cases, to take their custom elsewhere. The second ran into the lack of desire and/or courage on behalf of most commissioners to challenge their local provider, but it did seem to have traction at the top of the shop.

Jeremy Hunt, told HSJ, once they had been dished out across the sector, that their CQC classification now mattered much more then whether or not it had achieved foundation status or not.

Another function, whether intended or not, was that by splashing “inadequate” and unsafe care on the front pages, in the wake of the Francis report, CQC ratings fuelled a drive to put more staff on the wards (forcing the Treasury to pay for the consequent agency bills and deficits, and curtailing Simon Stevens’ transformation funds).

Whatever your take on their purpose, however, they only make sense if they accurately reflect the state of the service. And the latest data suggests that may not be the case.

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Source: HSJ, 17 March 2022

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Dying patients living longer than expected lose NHS funds

More than 1,300 patients a year are having NHS funding for their palliative care withdrawn after living longer than expected, BBC analysis shows.

Terminally ill or rapidly-declining patients are given fast-track support, allowing them to live outside hospital.

From 2018 to 2021, a total of 9,037 people had this funding reviewed in England and Wales, with 47% of them losing all support.

A further 15% of patients had their continuing healthcare support replaced with the more limited NHS-funded nursing care.

Sandra Hanson was referred to the fast-track pathway of the NHS continuing healthcare scheme in mid-2020, after her needs were judged by a clinician to be "end of life".

She was diagnosed with end-stage dementia, and had been in hospital eight times in the previous year following multiple falls and bouts of pneumonia.

The funding covered the costs of a nursing home, where she suffered fewer falls. But in March 2021, this funding was reviewed by her local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

These assessments, usually undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team including health and social care professionals, consider the severity of a person's needs in areas such as mobility, cognition and behaviour.

Sandra's daughter, Charlotte Gurney, said the family was represented by a social worker they had not previously met, and describes the meeting as "traumatic" as she tried to explain her mum's needs.

"We just felt not listened to... we were treated as if we were trying to swindle the system.

Sandra's support was withdrawn, and she had to be moved to a new nursing home, financed by her husband Malcolm.

Shortly afterwards, she broke her wrist following a fall and injured her face. The family believe had the review correctly identified Sandra's needs and risks, this could have been avoided.

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Source: BBC News, 17 March 2022

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NHSE director calls out trust over ‘speak English’ rule

An ‘outstanding’ London trust has come under fire for asking staff to communicate ‘only in English’ when around other people.

A document published under the ‘trust values’ section of Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust’s website, says: “I will only communicate in English in the presence of others.”

The document has been widely shared on social media in the last 24 hours, with many criticising the trust for its wording. The document itself is dated 2014, but was reposted by the trust in 2019, and remained on its website as of midday today.

NHS England’s director of equality – medical workforce, Partha Kar, who is also NHSE’s diabetes lead, questioned the document on Twitter. He also said: “I am not aware of any NHS England ‘diktat’ suggesting we must all only speak in English to uphold NHS values.”

It follows a separate notice being posted on Twitter yesterday signed simply by “Matron”, by a doctor who claimed her friend saw it at her “hospital placement”. It seemingly threatened staff with “disciplinary action” if they spoke any other language other than English.

It reads: “English is the only language to be spoken in the ward area – this includes the kitchen. Disciplinary action will be taken against staff who do not comply, including agency and bank.”

The documents have prompted a backlash on Twitter, with many criticising them and raising concerns about racism and inclusivity of staff. NHSE’s chief nursing officer, Ruth May, has publicly queried where the document is from.

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Source: HSJ, 16 March 2022

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IHI's Patient Safety Awareness Week

This week is Patient Safety Awareness Week (13-19 March) and is an annual recognition event intended to encourage everyone to learn more about healthcare safety. During this week, the US Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) seeks to advance important discussions locally and globally, and inspire action to improve the safety of the health care system — for patients and the workforce.

Patient Safety Awareness Week serves as a dedicated time and platform for growing awareness about patient safety and recognising the work already being done.

Find out more here.

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Surgery and cancer care in England will have long delays for years

Patients waiting for surgery and cancer care in England will face long delays for years to come, MPs have warned in a new report that is highly critical of both ministers and NHS bosses.

The already-record 6.1 million-strong waiting list for vital treatment will keep growing and officials are “too optimistic” that plans to tackle it will succeed, the public accounts committee (PAC) said in a report on Wednesday.

“For the next few years it is likely that waiting time performance for cancer and elective care will remain poor and the waiting list for elective care will continue to grow,” it said.

The committee of MPs, which monitors spending across Whitehall, acknowledges Covid-19’s role in contributing to the ballooning backlog and lengthening waiting times. But it singled out years of inaction by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for particular blame.

Patients waiting for surgery and cancer care in England will face long delays for years to come, MPs have warned in a new report that is highly critical of both ministers and NHS bosses.

The already-record 6.1 million-strong waiting list for vital treatment will keep growing and officials are “too optimistic” that plans to tackle it will succeed, the public accounts committee (PAC) said in a report on Wednesday.

“For the next few years it is likely that waiting time performance for cancer and elective care will remain poor and the waiting list for elective care will continue to grow,” it said.

The committee of MPs, which monitors spending across Whitehall, acknowledges Covid-19’s role in contributing to the ballooning backlog and lengthening waiting times. But it singled out years of inaction by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for particular blame.

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Source: The Guardian, 16 March 2022

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Javid ‘unconcerned’ as Covid admissions rise 46% in a fortnight

Admissions of covid positive patients to English hospitals are once again rising steadily across England.

The seven day total of new confirmed covid cases in hospitals on 12 March (the latest data available) stood at 9,642. This is 46% higher than the seven day total of 6,612 recorded on 25 February, the day before the current rise began.

Asked on Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday about the rise in Covid infections, health and social care secretary Sajid Javid said there was “nothing in the [covid] data that gives us any cause for concern”.

The Covid admissions figures used include patients who are already covid-positive when admitted, are diagnosed on admission, or are diagnosed while in hospital, so in some cases have caught Covid while in hospital.

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Source: HSJ, 15 May 2022

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Government overseen years of decline in NHS

The government has overseen years of decline in cancer care and non-urgent hospital services in England, MPs say.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said services had started deteriorating long before the pandemic. It pointed out key targets had not been met since 2016 and the pandemic had just exacerbated the problems.

But ministers said they were investing extra money and creating more capacity to treat patients, to address the backlog that had now developed.

More than six million people are currently on a hospital waiting list - one in nine of the population - the highest figure on record. This includes people waiting for operations such as knee and hip replacements.

Meanwhile, just two-thirds of urgent cancer patients start treatment within the target time of 62 days. And the number of referrals for cancer care has dropped by between 240,000 and 740,000 since the pandemic started.

The MPs said people would face serious health consequences because of delays in cancer treatment, with some dying earlier.

The government is also accused of failing to recognise staffing the health service remains its biggest problem.

The MPs said the workforce was crippled by shortages and exhausted by two years of the pandemic.

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Source: BBC News, 15 March 2022

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