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US maternal deaths doubled in last 20 years, study finds

Maternal mortality rates have doubled in the US over the last two decades - with deaths highest among black mothers, a new study suggests.

American Indian and Alaska Native women saw the greatest increase, the study in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) said.

Southern states had the highest maternal death rates across all race and ethnicity groups, the study found.

In 1999, there were an estimated 12.7 deaths per 100,000 live births and in 2019 that figure rose to 32.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019, according to the research, which did not study data from the pandemic years.

Unlike other studies, this one examined disparities within states instead of measuring rates at the national level, and it monitored five racial and ethnic groups.

Dr Allison Bryant, one of the study's authors, said the findings were a call to action "to understand that some of it is about health care and access to health care, but a lot of it is about structural racism".

She said some current policies and procedures "may keep people from being healthy".

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Source: BBC News, 4 July 2023

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US law will overrule states for abortions in cases of medical emergencies

Physicians must continue to offer abortions in cases of medical emergencies without exception, Joe Biden’s administration said on Monday, as it insisted federal law would overrule any total state bans on abortion.

In a letter to healthcare providers, the president’s health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) protects providers from any purported state restrictions should they be required to perform emergency abortions.

“Under the law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care – including abortion care,” Becerra said. “Today, in no uncertain terms, we are reinforcing that we expect providers to continue offering these services, and that federal law preempts state abortion bans when needed for emergency care.”

Becerra said medical emergencies include ectopic pregnancies, complications arising from miscarriages, and pre-eclampsia, NBC News reported.

Becerra said in his letter to medical providers: “If a physician believes that a pregnant patient presenting at an emergency department, including certain labor and delivery departments, is experiencing an emergency medical condition as defined by EMTALA, and that abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve that condition, the physician must provide that treatment.

“And when a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the life and health of the pregnant person – or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA’s emergency medical condition definition – that state law is preempted.”

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Source: The Guardian, 12 July 2022

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US Joint Commission surveys to include safety briefings in 2023

The US Joint Commission will hold a safety briefing with healthcare organisations at the start of every accreditation survey starting in 2023, the organisation has said.

Site surveyors and staff members preselected by the healthcare organisation will conduct an informal, five-minute briefing to discuss any potential safety concerns — such as fires, an active shooter scenario or other emergencies — and how surveyors should react if safety plans are implemented while they are on site. 

 The change takes effect 1 January 2023 and applies to all accreditation surveys performed by the organisation. 

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Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 13 December 2022

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US hospital flu cases hit 10-year high as vaccinations fall

US influenza hospital admissions have hit the highest rate in a decade as vaccinations sag, US officials say.

They said adults have received five million fewer influenza jabs this year compared with the same time last year.

Health experts are worried a so-called tripledemic of flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and coronavirus could swamp hospitals this winter.

At least 730 people have died of flu this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While older people are the most vulnerable age group, at least four children are among the dead.

CDC data shows there have been at least 1.6 million flu cases overall and some 13,000 people have been taken to hospital.

This season's severity has not been matched at this point in the year since the H1N1 swine flu pandemic hit the US in 2009.

"There's no doubt we will face some challenges this winter," Dawn O'Connell, the US Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said at a media briefing on Friday.

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Source: BBC News, 5 November 2022

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US healthcare workers sound alarm on staffing shortage

Concerned healthcare workers in Illinois and Indiana are calling on The Joint Commission to add a safe staffing standard to its accreditation process.

Yolanda Stewart, a patient care technician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, once injured her back so badly on the job that she couldn’t work for six months. But when she talks about that time, she doesn’t mention her own pain. Instead, she talks about the patient she’d been trying to help, recalling his extreme discomfort.

Because the unit was short-staffed, Stewart lifted and turned the patient on her own. The move helped the patient but cost Stewart. Many healthcare workers have similar stories, she says, adding, “Working short-staffed is a safety issue for workers and patients.”

In fact, reports show that lack of staff in hospitals leads to higher patient infection and death rates. 

Covid-19 has greatly worsened the healthcare staffing shortage, with 1 in 5 hospital employees — from environmental services workers to nurses — leaving the field. Hospitals have grappled with staffing issues since before the pandemic, but Covid-19 highlighted the challenges — and exacerbated them.

Now, concerned healthcare workers throughout Illinois and Indiana are sounding the alarm. They’re calling on The Joint Commission — the third-party agency that accredits 22,000 US healthcare organisations — to add a safe staffing standard to its accreditation process, similar to student-to-teacher ratio requirements that many states have.

“We have all kinds of rules to make sure that hospitals are safe: We make sure that healthcare workers wash their hands before procedures, that they wear gloves and protective equipment, that bed sheets are changed between patients. Yet there are no statewide regulations about hospital staffing levels,” said Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Illinois President Greg Kelley at a demonstration in early June. 

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Source: Chicago Health, 8 June 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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US gunman shot surgeon he blamed for pain

Two talented physicians, a patient who sacrificed his life and a selfless receptionist were the four people killed on 1 June 1 a shooting inside a medical office building on the Saint Francis Health System campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Police in Tulsa say the gunman, Michael Louis, had gone to the hospital for back surgery 19 May and was treated by Dr Preston Phillips. Louis was discharged from the hospital 24 May and subsequently called Dr Phillips' office several times complaining of pain and seeking additional treatment. The surgeon saw Mr. Louis on 31 May  for more treatment, police said. 

On 1 June, Mr Louis called Dr Phillips' office again complaining about pain and seeking additional care. Mr Louis purchased an AR-15-style rifle that afternoon, just hours before the shooting, police said.

Dr Phillips was killed in the shooting and was the gunman's primary target, police said. "He blamed Dr Phillips for the ongoing pain following surgery," Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said at a news conference. 

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Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 2 June 2022

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US federal government to start providing free coronavirus tests once again

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is reviving a programme to mail free rapid coronavirus tests to Americans.

Starting 25 September, people can request four free tests per household through covidtests.gov. Officials say the tests are able to detect the latest variants and are intended to be used through the end of the year.

The return of the free testing program comes after Americans navigated the latest uptick in covid cases with free testing no longer widely available. The largest insurance companies stopped reimbursing the costs of retail at-home testing once the requirement to do so ended with the public health emergency in May. The Biden administration stopped mailing free tests in June.

The Department of Health and Human Services also announced Wednesday that it was awarding $600 million to a dozen coronavirus test manufacturers. Agency officials said the funding would improve domestic manufacturing capacity and provide the federal government with 200 million over-the-counter tests to use in the future.

“These critical investments will strengthen our nation’s production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Experts say free coronavirus testing proved to be an effective public health tool, allowing people to check their status before attending large gatherings or spending time with older or medically vulnerable people at risk of severe disease even after being vaccinated. It also enables people to start antiviral treatments in the early days of infection to prevent severe disease.

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Source: Washington Post, 20 September 2023

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US faces deficit of 450,000 nurses by 2025

The United States could see a deficit of 200,000 to 450,000 registered nurses available for direct patient care by 2025, a 10 to 20% gap that places great demand on the nurse graduate pipeline over the next three years.

The new estimates and analysis come from a McKinsey report published this week. The shortfall range of 200,000 to 450,000 holds if there are no changes in current care delivery models. The consulting firm estimates that for every 1% of nurses who leave direct patient care, the shortage worsens by about 30,000 nurses.

To make up for the 10 to 20%, the United States would need to more than double the number of new graduates entering and staying in the nursing workforce every year for the next three years straight. For this to occur, the number of nurse educators would also need to increase.

"Even if there was a huge increase in high school or college students seeking nursing careers, they would likely run into a block: There are not enough spots in nursing schools, and there are not enough educators, clinical rotation spots or mentors for the next generation of nurses," the analysis states. "Progress may depend on creating attractive situations for nurse educators, a role traditionally plagued with shortages."

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Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 12 May 2022

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US drug regulator approves world's first RSV vaccine

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) - an illness that kills thousands of Americans each year.

The vaccine still needs approval from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before it can be rolled out to the public.

Officials say the vaccine, named Arexvy by the manufacturer GSK, is a major breakthrough that will save many lives.

It could be available to people over 60 within months, officials say.

"Today's approval of the first RSV vaccine is an important public health achievement to prevent a disease which can be life-threatening," said Dr Peter Marks, who leads the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

RSV is a respiratory illness that typically results in cold-like symptoms for adults, but can be dangerous for young children, the elderly, and those with underlying health conditions.

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Source: BBC News, 4 May 2023

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US doctor issues warning of many undiagnosed polio cases

A health official in New York State has told the BBC there could be hundreds or even thousands of undiagnosed cases of polio there.

It follows an announcement last month that an unvaccinated man had been paralysed by the virus in Rockland County, New York. His case has been linked genetically to traces of polio virus found in sewage in London and Jerusalem.

Developed countries have been warned to boost vaccination rates.

Dr Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, health commissioner for Rockland County, said she was worried about polio circulating in her state undetected.

"There isn't just one case of polio if you see a paralytic case. The incidence of paralytic polio is less than 1%," she said.

"Most cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and those symptoms are often missed. So there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands of cases that have occurred in order for us to see a paralytic case."

"This is a very serious issue for our global world - it's not just about New York. We all need to make sure all our populations are properly vaccinated," she said.

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Source: BBC News, 9 August 2022

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US doctor accused of killing 14 patients found not guilty

In an unprecedented murder case in the United States about end-of-life care, a physician accused of killing 14 critically ill patients with opioid overdoses in a Columbus, Ohio hospital ICU over a period of 4 years was found not guilty by a jury Wednesday.

The jury, after a 7-week trial featuring more than 50 witnesses in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, declared William Huse not guilty on 14 counts of murder and attempted murder.

In a news conference after the verdict was announced, lead defense attorney Jose Baez said Husel, whom he called a "great doctor," hopes to practice medicine again in the future. The verdict, he argued, offers an encouraging sign that physicians and other providers won't face prosecution for providing "comfort care" to patients suffering pain. "They don't need to be looking over their shoulders worrying about whether they'll get charged with crimes," he said.

The trial raised the specific issue of what constitutes a medically justifiable dose of opioid painkillers during the end-of-life procedure known as palliative extubation, in which critically ill patients are withdrawn from the ventilator when they are expected to die. Under medicine's so-called double-effect principle, physicians must weigh the benefits and risks of ordering potentially lethal doses of painkillers and sedatives to provide comfort care for critically ill patients.

To many observers, however, the case really centered on the largely hidden debate over whether it's acceptable to hasten the deaths of dying patients who haven't chosen that path. That's called euthanasia, which is illegal in the United States. In contrast, 10 states plus the District of Columbia allow physicians to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill, mentally competent adults who can self-administer them. That's called medical aid in dying, or physician-assisted dying or suicide.

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Source: Medscape, 27 April 2022

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US Department of Health and Human Services awards $45 million in grants to expand access to care for people with Long Covid

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), announced nine grant awards of $1 million each for up to 5 years to support existing multidisciplinary Long COVID clinics across the country to expand access to comprehensive, coordinated, and person-centered care for people with Long COVID, particularly underserved, rural, vulnerable, and minority populations that are disproportionately impacted by the effects of Long COVID.

The grants are a first of their kind. They are designed to expand access and care, develop, and implement new or improved care delivery models, foster best practices for Long COVID management, and support the primary care community in Long COVID education. This initiative is part of the Biden-Harris Administration's whole-government effort to accelerate scientific progress and provide individuals with Long COVID the support and services they need.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is supporting patients, doctors and caregivers by providing science-based best practices for treating long COVID, maintaining access to insurance coverage, and protecting the rights of workers as they return to jobs while coping with the uncertainties of their illness,” said Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Treatment of Long COVID is a major focus for HHS, and AHRQ is helping lead the way through grants to investigate best practices and get useful guidance to doctors, hospitals, and patients.”

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Source: AHRQ, 20 September 2023

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US cancer death rates down but younger Americans see rise in certain cancers

Fewer Americans are dying of cancer, part of a decades-long trend that began in the 1990s as more people quit smoking and doctors screened earlier for certain cancers.

However, the American Cancer Society warned that those gains are threatened by an increase in cancers among people younger than 55, in particular cervical and colorectal cancer, and by the continued disparities between white Americans and people of colour.

“The continuous sharp increase in colorectal cancer in younger Americans is alarming,” said Dr Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice-president for surveillance and health equity science at the American Cancer Society.

“We need to halt and reverse this trend by increasing uptake of screening, including awareness of non-invasive stool tests with follow-up care, in people 45-49 years, [old]” said Jemal.

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Source: The Guardian, 17 January 2024

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US cancer death rate drops by 30% since 1991

Death rates from cancer in the US have fallen by 32% over the three decades from 1991 to 2019, according to the American Cancer Society.

The decline is thanks to prevention, screening, early diagnosis and treatment of common cancers, including lung and breast cancer.

The drop has meant 3.5m fewer deaths. However, cancers are still the second leading cause of death in the US, after heart disease.

In 1991, the cancer death rate was 215 per 100,000 people and in 2019 it dropped to 146 per 100,000 people.

Lung cancer, of which there are 230,000more cases each year, kills the most patients, 350 per day.

But people are being diagnosed sooner, and technological advancements have increased the survival rate by three years.

The report also examined racial and economic disparities in cancer outcomes.

The Covid-19 pandemic added to already existing difficulties for marginalised groups to get cancer screenings and treatment.

For nearly every type of cancer, white people have a higher survival rate than black people. Black women with breast cancer face a 41% higher death rate than white women.

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Source: BBC News, 12 January 2023

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US approves first RSV vaccine for use during pregnancy to protect babies

US regulators this week have approved the first RSV vaccine for pregnant women so their babies will be born with protection against the respiratory infection.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared Pfizer’s maternal vaccination to guard against a severe case of RSV when babies are most vulnerable – from birth through six months of age.

The next step: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must issue recommendations for using the vaccine, named Abrysvo, during pregnancy. 

“Maternal vaccination is an incredible way to protect the infants,” said Dr Elizabeth Schlaudecker of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, a researcher in Pfizer’s international study of the vaccine. If shots begin soon, “I do think we could see an impact for this RSV season.”

RSV is a coldlike nuisance for most healthy people but it can be life-threatening for the very young. It inflames babies’ tiny airways so it’s hard to breathe or causes pneumonia. In the US alone, between 58,000 and 80,000 children younger than five are hospitalised each year, and several hundred die, from the respiratory syncytial virus.

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Source: The Guardian, 22 August 2023

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US abortion laws spark profound changes in other medical care

A sexual assault survivor chooses sterilization so that if she is ever attacked again, she won’t be forced to give birth to a rapist’s baby. An obstetrician delays inducing a miscarriage until a woman with severe pregnancy complications seems “sick enough.” A lupus patient must stop taking medication that controls her illness because it can also cause miscarriages.

Abortion restrictions in a number of states and the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade are having profound repercussions in reproductive medicine as well as in other areas of medical care.

“For physicians and patients alike, this is a frightening and fraught time, with new, unprecedented concerns about data privacy, access to contraception, and even when to begin lifesaving care,” said Dr. Jack Resneck, president of the American Medical Association.

Even in medical emergencies, doctors are sometimes declining immediate treatment. In the past week, an Ohio abortion clinic received calls from two women with ectopic pregnancies — when an embryo grows outside the uterus and can’t be saved — who said their doctors wouldn’t treat them. Ectopic pregnancies often become life-threatening emergencies and abortion clinics aren’t set up to treat them.

It’s just one example of “the horrible downstream effects of criminalizing abortion care,″ said Dr. Catherine Romanos, who works at the Dayton clinic.

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Source: AP News, 16 July 2022

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US abortion bans leave grey areas in complicated pregnancies

Moments after unveiling a bill that would ban all abortions in the United States at 15 weeks, US Senator Lindsey Graham was interrupted by a mother with a devastating story.

"I did everything right and at 16 weeks we found out that our son would likely not live," Ashbey Beasley told a crowded room. "When he was born, for eight days he bled from every orifice of his body," she said.

But, she said, at least she got to choose how to handle her difficult pregnancy, while Mr Graham's law would take away that choice.

"What do you say to someone like me?"

Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade this summer, states across the US have pushed through abortion bans or severely restricted the procedure. But as such laws have gone into effect, unintended consequences have followed.

Doctors and patients say that confusing standards and the vague language of these laws have had a chilling effect on the medical field in anti-abortion states, leaving tragedies in their wake - and more in the making.

For the last year, Amanda Horton, a Texas doctor who specialises in high-risk pregnancies, has struggled to care for patients with pregnancy complications.

At times, Dr Horton must inform families that their babies have been diagnosed with a fatal foetal anomaly. These conditions are rare and likely to lead to the death of a foetus in utero, or shortly after birth.

But under a strict abortion ban in Texas, her hands are tied.

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Source: BBC News, 17 September 2022

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Urology inquiry: Waiting lists greatest source of harm

A former consultant at the Southern Health Trust has told an inquiry into urology services that waiting lists are the "greatest source of patient harm".

The inquiry was established in 2021 and is examining the trust's handling of urology services prior to May 2020.

Aidan O'Brien became a consultant urologist in Craigavon Area Hospital in July 1992.

His work is at the centre of the inquiry.

Giving evidence on Monday, he said waiting list figures highlighted what "myself and my colleagues [have said] for decades" and described it as a "grossly inadequate service".

"If you look at four-and-a-half years for urgent surgery, it is appalling," he told the inquiry.

"I don't have a magic solution to the current situation, which is dire."

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Source: BBC News, 8 April 2024

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Urologists support New Zealand MOH report recommendations on surgical mesh

The Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ) supports recommendations in the Hearing and Responding to Stories of Survivors of Surgical Mesh report released by the New Zealand Ministry of Health in response to complications resulting from the use of surgical mesh in a range of operations, including for stress incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

The Ministry of Health commissioned the review, in which New Zealand urologists participated alongside a wide range of consumer and other health groups, to provide a plan “to minimize future risk to consumers and support those harmed by it”.

“The Urological Society acknowledges that complications from the use of mesh for treating stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse has caused considerable physical and psychological harm in some patients, which we feel is unacceptable, said USANZ President, Dr Stephen Mark. "We also acknowledge and accept findings that there were deficiencies in technical and communication skills of some surgeons. We recognise the distress caused to these patients and want to be part of the solution in helping these people, as well as ensuring no patients are harmed in future."

“Further research is necessary to achieve best practice outcomes and help us understand why, when, and in which patient complications may occur. For this reason, USANZ supports participation with Australia in a mesh registry. By collaborating with Australian researchers, we can be part of a substantial database that would underpin ongoing research in the interests of patient safety."

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Source: New Zealand Doctor, 13 January 2020

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Urgent warning over fake oxygen supplied to dentists as health chiefs launch criminal probe

Dentists across Britain have been given 'falsified' oxygen supplies. 'Several' practices have been told to immediately stop using a batch of tanks and replace them with 'legitimate stock'.

Tricodent Limited, the Sussex-based firm which supplied the oxygen, is now under criminal investigation. 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has not said how the oxygen was falsified, and they stated that the risk to public health and patient safety was 'low'.

The MHRA alert urged affected practices to check their oxygen cylinders. If any are labelled 'Medical Oxygen B.P PL No 04280/0001 MEDIGAS OXYGEN', they should be replaced with legitimate stock immediately, the MHRA said.

All remaining stock must be quarantined, the agency added.

The MHRA did not, however, confirm the number or locations of impacted practices.

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Source: Mail Online, 6 June 2023

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Urgent surgery ‘may be postponed’ by nurses’ strikes, say NHS bosses

Hospitals may not be able to provide key elements of healthcare such as urgent surgery, chemotherapy and kidney dialysis during the forthcoming strikes by nurses, NHS bosses have said.

Trusts may also have to stop discharging patients, postpone urgent diagnostic tests and temporarily withdraw services to people undergoing a mental health crisis.

Executives have been warned that industrial action by nurses in their pay dispute with the government could mean that a range of important, and in some cases time-critical, services to seriously ill patients may have to be scaled back or suspended altogether.

NHS England bosses have raised that possibility in a letter sent on Monday to hospitals and other care providers ahead of crunch talks with the Royal College of Nursing later this week. At that meeting they will try to agree what areas of care will be hit on Thursday 15 and Tuesday 20 December, and which will continue as normal because they are covered by “derogations” – agreed exemptions to the action.

The letter sets out a list of 12 areas of care and some non-clinical activity in hospitals, such as food supply, which could be affected if agreement is not reached with the nurses’ union.

Eight of those involve direct patient care, three involve support services in NHS trusts and the other involves “system leadership and management to oversee safe care” on strike days.

NHS England’s letter sets out 10 other types of vital care, mainly involving life or death scenarios, headed “derogations not needed”, which they hope to agree with the RCN to go ahead as normal.

These include A&E care, services in intensive care units and emergency operating theatres as well as maternity services, including the delivery of babies, psychiatric intensive care, time-critical organ transplants and palliative and end of life care.

Meanwhile, the chief executive of NHS England has insisted patients will not have procedures cancelled at the last minute due to the nurses’ strikes, but warned some care would have to be delayed.

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Source: The Guardian, 28 November 2022

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Urgent safety measure took three years to implement

A key national policy change recommended by the inquest which led to the East Kent maternity inquiry will not be implemented until next February – more than three years after it was called for by a coroner.

The recommendation – that obstetric locum doctors be required to demonstrate more experience before working – was made in a prevention of future deaths report following the inquest into the death of seven-day-old Harry Richford at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust.

The remaining 18 recommendations from the PFD report were requiring specific actions by the trust, rather than national policy makers. The trust says they have been implemented. 

However, NHS England and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have only in recent months produced guidance on using short-term locums in these services, and it will not come into effect until February.

When it does, it will require them to complete a certification of eligibility, demonstrating they have had recent experience in a number of clinical situations, including complex Caesarean sections. Middle-grade locums have until next February to gain the certificate.

The independent inquiry into maternity at the trust – prompted by Harry’s death – will report tomorrrow, Wednesday 19 October, and is expected to be highly critical of the trust, and of national efforts to make services safe over recent years. 

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Source: 18 October 2022

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Urgent referrals rejected for one in three GPs during COVID-19 outbreak

More than three quarters of GPs fear delays to care because of COVID-19 will harm patients, with one in three reporting that urgent referrals have been rejected during the pandemic, a GPonline poll shows.

The poll of 415 GPs found that 77% were concerned that delays to operations and treatments for non-COVID-19 issues would result in patients coming to harm.

Meanwhile, 30% of GPs said they have had an urgent referral rejected during the pandemic. Rejected referrals included two-week-wait referrals for suspected cancer as well as urgent referrals for investigations such as ECGs, echocardiograms and CT scans.

GPs also highlighted concerns over delays to treatment for cancer, with respondents warning that breast cancer surgeries had been postponed or chemotherapy delayed.

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Source: GP Online, 5 May 2020

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Urgent recall of contaminated antibiotic powder

Some batches of an antibiotic medicine called teicoplanin (brand name Targocid) are being urgently recalled in the UK because of possible contamination.

The two affected batches are labelled 0J25D1 and 0J25D2, say safety experts.

Patients and prescribers are being asked to check packs and stop using the medicine if it has either batch number.

Four patients so far have suffered high fevers just hours after being given a dose from these batches.

Other products containing teicoplanin are not affected by the recall.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says the two batches of Targocid 200mg powder for making a solution to take as an injection, by infusion or by mouth, were found to contain high levels of bacterial endotoxins - a toxic compound found in bacterial cell walls that can cause inflammation-related symptoms, high fever and, in very serious cases, septic shock.

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Source: BBC News, 21 October 2022

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