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Will Jeremy Hunt foot the bill for NHS staffing? The signs aren’t promising

“There’s a gap today that no locum filled, so I am carrying both bleeps and doing the work of two people.” That recent tweet, by a children’s doctor, is one of many examples posted on social media by medics illustrating how NHS staff shortages affect them, patients, the smooth running of important services – and, sometimes, the safety of those who are receiving care.

It is a concern shared by every organisation that represents frontline staff, by regulators such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and by NHS England, the body that oversees the service. 

In January the CQC reported that an inspection it had undertaken of Colchester hospital in Essex found patients were missing out on meals because there were too few staff on duty to feed them. Some patients were wearing dirty dressings, and others did not have their call bells answered promptly, for the same reason.

In a letter to the trust that runs the hospital, it said: “All wards’ actual staffing levels and skill mix meant staff were often overstretched. All staff we spoke with expressed concern about the impact on patient care and personal wellbeing.

“Some staff we spoke to were tearful, reported feeling exhausted and concerned that they were unable to care for patients well enough to keep them safe.”

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Source: The Guardian, 26 March 2023

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Invest in health workforce or risk collapse, WHO warns governments

Last year the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report warning of a “ticking time bomb” threatening health systems in Europe and Central Asia: a growing shortage of health workers.

With quickly ageing populations and an ageing health workforce—40% of doctors in Europe are close to retirement in a third of countries—along with a surge in chronic illnesses and the ongoing effects of the covid pandemic, WHO warned that many countries could soon see their healthcare systems collapse unless they take urgent action.

Six months on, the situation has worsened, as healthcare workers throughout Europe increasingly resort to industrial action over pay and conditions.

Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said, “The health workforce crisis in Europe is no longer a looming threat—it is here and now. Health providers and workers across our region are clamouring for help and support...

“We cannot wait any longer to address the pressing challenges facing our health workforce. The health and wellbeing of our societies are at stake—there is simply no time to lose.”

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Source: BMJ, 24 March 2023

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Birmingham hospital apologises after delays leave baby disabled

Dilshad Sultana was 36 weeks pregnant with her second child in 2019 when she experienced stomach pain and noticed her baby was moving less.

Mrs Sultana, from Sutton Coldfield, said she had been due to have a Caesarean section on 8 July but on 20 June she started to feel pain in her abdomen and lower back.

She said she was confused but that it did not feel like a contraction and called hospital staff at about 17:00 to say it felt like her baby was moving less.

After following advice to rest and take pain relief, she attended hospital at about 22:30 and staff started monitoring Shanto's heart rate.

It was not until almost three hours later that Shanto was delivered by emergency C-Section. Shanto suffered severe brain damage and would spent the next 22 days in intensive care, suffering seizures and multiple brain haemorrhages.

Shanto now requires around-the-clock care and Mrs Sultana enlisted lawyers to pursue a care of medical negligence against the trust.

Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust has admitted liability and made a voluntary interim payment allowing the family to move to a new home specifically adapted to meet Shanto's extensive care, therapy and equipment needs.

Fiona Reynolds, the chief medical officer, said: "We'd like to offer our heartfelt apologies again to the family.

"It's clear the standard of care we offered to them fell below those required and expected. For this, we are truly sorry."

Now, Mrs Sultana is campaigning for change - she wants to see mothers listened to in maternity care and more attention paid to monitoring babies' heart rates.

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Source: BBC News, 27 March 2023

 

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Trust fears medics will be ‘harassed’ if it publishes surgery report

Two external reviews have been carried out into a trust’s general surgery services amid concerns about whether it is a ‘safe interpersonal working environment’.

But University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust has refused to make the reviews – which were both completed last year – public, partly because of what it says are concerns that they could lead to “harassment” of doctors who spoke to the authors.

Both reviews were into aspects of the general surgery services at the Royal Sussex County Hospitals in Brighton. The trust has had a series of highly critical Care Quality Commission reports into some of its surgical services and a “well led” report is expected to be released in the next few weeks.

The trust has refused HSJ’s Freedom of Information Act request to release the reviews, arguing that those interviewed had been promised confidentiality, and the issues involved are “emotive and sensitive matters”.

“Disclosure could cause those involved in the reviews damage, distress and upset and could even lead to harassment,” it said.

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Source: HSJ, 27 March 2023

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My daughter took her own life after pain caused by mesh surgery

A woman whose daughter took her own life after being left in chronic pain caused by giving birth has spoken of her family's heartbreak.

Sara Baines, 34, from Flintshire, died in September last year leaving her family devastated.

This week an inquest heard Sara suffered from chronic pain due to complications resulting from surgical mesh that was implanted after she gave birth in 2011.

Her mother, Alison Sharrock, says Sara was failed by the health system on multiple occasions.

Sara bled heavily whilst giving birth and suffered a second-degree tear. She had to have two surgeries to repair the tear, neither of which was completely successful. Sara found herself completely incontinent, at the age of 24.

In 2015, Sara was advised to have mesh fitted.

Alison said: "We were told the mesh was a 'quick-fix'. It felt like the answer to all her problems and she was thrilled. She had surgery but afterwards, though the incontinence improved, she had terrible abdominal pain."

The pain became so severe that Sara was offered a hysterectomy, aged 28. Afterwards, the pain only intensified, and her general health deteriorated. She suffered water infections, skin rashes, gum disease and unexplained pain. Unable to eat or sleep, she became depressed and anxious.

"She felt nobody was really listening to her. She felt she was gaslighted and fobbed off," said Alison.

Kath Sansom, founder of Sling The Mesh which has almost 10,000 members suffering irreversible pan and complications from surgical mesh implants, said: "Our hearts go out to Sara's family. Nine out of 10 people in our support group were not told any risks of having a plastic mesh permanently implanted."

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Source: Mail Online, 24 March 2023

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Hull A&E is a 'death trap', whistleblowers warn

Whistleblowers have described the accident and emergency (A&E) department at Hull Royal Infirmary as "incredibly dangerous" and a "death trap".

The Care Quality Commission (CSC) found Hull University Teaching Hospitals required improvement overall and its A&E department was rated inadequate.

Two clinical staff members, who wished to remain anonymous, described it as a "toxic" place to work.

Speaking to the BBC, the two staff members who have worked in Hull's A&E department said they had raised concerns with senior managers and the CQC.

They said there were frequently fewer staff than needed and warned inexperienced staff, one whom had never seen a cardiac arrest, were working in areas like resuscitation, which was "incredibly dangerous".

"Nurses who aren't even signed off to give oral medication are being put in resuscitation," one said.

"It's a death trap, it is terrifying."

Despite these concerns, CQC inspectors in December and November did find the service "had enough nursing and support staff to keep patients safe".

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Source: BBC News, 28 March 2023

 

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NHS staff shortages in England could exceed 570,000 by 2036, leaked document warns

The NHS in England needs a massive injection of homegrown doctors, nurses, GPs and dentists to avert a recruitment crisis that could leave it short of 571,000 staff, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian.

A long-awaited workforce plan produced by NHS England says the health service is already operating with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs, and that number could balloon to 571,000 staff by 2036 on current trends.

The 107-page blueprint, which is being examined by ministers, sets out detailed proposals to end the understaffing that has plagued the health service for years. It says that without radical action, the NHS in England will have 28,000 fewer GPs, 44,000 fewer community nurses and an even greater lack of paramedics within 15 years.

However, the Guardian understands that the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is playing a key role in behind-the-scenes moves by the Treasury to water down NHS England’s proposals to double the number of doctors that the UK trains and increase the number of new nurses trained every year by 77% – because it would cost several billion pounds to do that.

A senior NHS leader said: “Jeremy Hunt has been very resistant to the numbers in the workforce plan. The Treasury and Hunt don’t want numbers in it. They want it to be not very precise. They want the numbers to be projected in a different way that would be less expensive and to not commit to training specific numbers of doctors, nurses and others.

“While intellectually Hunt gets it, and emotionally he gets the patient safety argument, it seems that his priority, if the government has any financial headroom, is to use that for tax cuts or giving the army more money rather than training more doctors, nurses and speech and language therapists.

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Source: The Guardian, 26 March 2023

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Apologies for 2013 mental health failings over mum

A son has accepted a settlement and an apology from the north Wales health board nearly 10 years after his mother was a patient in a mental health unit.

Jean Graves spent nine weeks at the Hergest unit in Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor in 2013 after struggling with anxiety and depression.

Her son David said she was left "severely malnourished" and fell.

He previously said his mother - who was 78 when she was treated at the unit - collapsed six times and, over the course of six weeks, lost 25% of her body mass.

The health board also apologised for the "distress" the family experienced while seeking answers "over many years" and said it hopes to "learn and improve" from Mr Graves's experience.

In a letter to him, executives said: "It is very clear to us that we have failed your mother and that she should have had a better care whilst in our services."

It said her records were incomplete or were "amended without proper evidence" and she was placed on a ward with a mix of patients with both psychiatric illness and older organic mental illness, which was not "best practice".

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Source: BBC News, 26 March 2023

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‘Waiting to die’: Woman’s agonising transplant surgery delay as waiting list hits 10-year high

A young woman receiving end-of-life care says she is “just waiting to die” as an agonising three-year wait for a kidney transplant has left her “living like a prisoner”.

Diana Isajeva is one of approximately 7,000 patients who are on the waiting list, according to the NHS Blood and Transplant service (NHSBT) – the highest figure in a decade.

The 29-year-old was due to have a transplant last year but was denied it at the last minute, after the living donor she was matched with pulled out just 24 hours before her planned surgery.

Data from NHSBT shows that the rate of families giving consent for their loved ones’ organs to be donated has dropped – despite a change in the law in 2020 aimed at boosting the number of organs available, which means that consent for donation is now presumed after death.

Professor Peter Friend, transplant lead for the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), said decreasing donor rates are a “big challenge” and that it is concerning that the number of donations has not yet recovered to its pre-pandemic level.

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Source: The Independent, 27 March 2023

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Australia: brain surgeon defends slapping patient after surgery

The high-profile Australian neurosurgeon Charlie Teo admits making an error by going “too far” and damaging a patient, but maintains she was told of the risks.

The doctor on Monday appeared at a medical disciplinary hearing to explain how two women patients ended up with catastrophic brain injuries.

Teo also defended allegations that he acted inappropriately by slapping a patient in an attempt to rouse her after surgery, contrasting it with Will Smith’s notorious slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards last year.

“It wakes them up and it wakes them up pretty quickly. And I will continue to do it.”

Charlie Teo tells inquiry he ‘did the wrong thing’ in surgery that left patient in vegetative state

One of the issues the panel of legal and medical experts is considering is whether the women and their families were adequately informed of the risks of surgery.

Both women had terminal brain tumours and had been given from weeks to months to live. They were left in essentially vegetative states after the surgeries and died soon after.

“We were told he could give us more time,” one of the husbands said, according to court documents. “There was never any information about not coming out of it".

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Source: The Guardian, 27 March 2023

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Two-thirds of UK workers with Long Covid have faced unfair treatment, says report

UK ministers should act to ensure Long Covid sufferers receive the support they need from employers, with as many as two-thirds claiming they have been unfairly treated at work, a report argues.

The report, from the TUC and the charity Long Covid Support, warns that failing to accommodate the 2m people who, according to ONS data, may be suffering from long Covid in the UK will create, “new, long-lasting inequalities”.

The analysis is based on responses from more than 3,000 long Covid sufferers who agreed to share their experiences.

Two-thirds said they had experienced some form of unfair treatment at work, ranging from harassment to being disbelieved about their symptoms or threatened with disciplinary action. One in seven said they had lost their job.

The report makes a series of recommendations, including urging the government to designate Long Covid as a disability for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act, to make clear sufferers are entitled to “reasonable adjustments” at work; and to classify Covid-19 as an occupational disease to allow people who contracted it through their job to seek compensation.

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Source: The Guardian, 27 March 2023

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CQC’s ICS ratings put on hold

Plans for integrated care systems (ICSs) to be given Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings are on hold, and no ratings will be issued until summer 2024 at the earliest, HSJ  understands. 

The government had previously said ICSs would be given ratings – after pressure from Jeremy Hunt, then Commons health committee chair and now chancellor – and there was an expectation the process would begin next month. 

However, while legislation says the CQC will review and assess ICSs, it does not require it to give ratings. 

HSJ understands the Department of Health and Social Care supports the CQC beginning early work on assessing ICSs shortly, but does not plan to sign off on ratings being issued, nor set any date for that to happen. 

It means that, at the very earliest, more detailed reviews leading to ratings could happen from spring/summer 2024. One source with knowledge of the decision said there was not strong support for ratings work to start, and the CQC still needed to do a lot of work to adapt its approach to ICSs. 

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Source: HSJ, 27 March 2023

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USA: Healthcare leaders, staff differ on safety culture views

US clinical and nonclinical healthcare workers have an upward-trending perception of safety culture, but physicians and leaders do not agree, according to a Press Ganey report.

Press Ganey, a US company that focuses on patient satisfaction surveys, found in its annual safety culture trends report that senior management perceptions of all safety culture metrics are lower. Overall safety scores are down 0.04 points, prevention and reporting decreased 0.02 points, pride and reputation declined 0.05 points, and resources and teamwork are down 0.04 points. 

The report analysed 2022 data from 813,900 healthcare workers across 194 systems and 3,279 facilities.

"Senior management safety culture scores are typically higher than those of operational management, suggesting a more positive perspective among those at the highest levels of provider organizations," the report said. "Yet the continued downward trajectory of senior management scores stands out as significant." 

Among physicians, pride and reputation fell 0.12 points. Their perceptions of overall safety declined 0.06 points, prevention and reporting is down 0.03 points, and resources and teamwork is down 0.05 points. 

Other healthcare employees had higher perceptions of these metrics except for pride and reputation. Also, "fewer employees today say they would recommend their organization for care than in previous years," Press Ganey found. 

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Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 21 March 2023

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"There is a level of complacency": trial exposes UK’s vulnerability to organ harvesting

The UK is supposed to have one of the best systems in the world for preventing vulnerable people being exploited for their organs. How then did one of its biggest hospitals become embroiled in the macabre trade of kidney harvesting?

The UK’s first trial organ trafficking trial has exposed alarming vulnerabilities to a illegal trade that makes up 10% of transplants worldwide. The case has highlighted how poverty can tempt some people to sell their body parts to those willing to exploit an acute global shortage of organs for donation.

The case heard that doctors at a private renal unit at London’s Royal Free hospital and the regulators, the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), were fooled by Dr Obinna Obeta, into approving his kidney transplant in July 2021.

As the prosecutor, Hugh Davies, said: “If there’s a lesson to be learned here – those clinicians need to set the index of suspicion for safeguarding somewhat lower.”

Dominique Martin, a professor of health ethics at Australia’s Deakin University who studies organ trafficking, said the case highlighted the need for robust vetting by hospitals and regulators.

She said: “There is a level of complacency, including in the UK, the US and Australia regarding the risks of organ trafficking happening within our borders. Screening programmes may not be as strong as we assume or as consistently implemented as we might expect.”

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Source: The Guardian, 23 March 2023

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Ringfence 10% of UK health spending for preventive measures, report urges

Governments should set aside 10% of health spending for preventive and public measures such as cycle lanes and anti-obesity strategies, a thinktank has said, warning that “political short-termism” over health is making the UK increasingly ill and unequal.

The report by the Tony Blair Institute argues that a centralised NHS model “almost entirely focused on treating sickness” rather than on wider objectives is not only harming people’s health but hampering the economy, with more than 2.5 million people out of the labour market because of long-term ailments.

The report emphasises the human cost as well, noting that the effect of diseases caused or exacerbated by lifestyle means UK life expectancy is stagnating, while men living in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea can now expect to live 27 years longer than their peers in Blackpool, Lancashire.

Along with a coherent central plan, the authors stressed the need for effective localism, with accountable regional bodies working to improve public health, rather than “the existing top-down and reactive approach of the NHS”.

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Source: The Guardian, 24 March 2023

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Police investigating ‘sexual assault’ at scandal-hit children’s hospital as watchdog threatens closure

Police are investigating fresh allegations of sexual assault against a child patient by a care worker at a scandal-hit private mental health hospital group.

It is the second time reports have been made about a former Huntercombe Group hospital after two care workers were quizzed over the alleged rape of a child at its Taplow Manor Hospital in Maidenhead last year.

The latest allegations are from a patient at the group’s Ivetsy Bank Hospital, in Staffordshire, which was rated as inadequate last week. In a statement, Staffordshire Police confirmed it had received a report of sexual assault and said inquiries were ongoing.

The news comes as the NHS’s safety watchdog has threatened to close Taplow Manor after hospital leaders failed to make improvements in care.

The action comes after joint investigations by The Independent and Sky News found the private hospital had put the safety of young mental health patients at risk, with more than 50 patients and staff members alleging “systemic abuse” and poor care.

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Source: The Independent, 24 March 2023

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NHS to miss April deadline to end 78-week waits by around 11k patients

National NHS forecasts are predicting there will be around 11,000 patients on the elective waiting list who have been waiting longer than 78 weeks at the start of April, the target for clearing this cohort, HSJ understands.

Senior NHS figures familiar with the forecasts told HSJ they had stood at around 9,000 last week, but mass cancellations during the three-day junior doctors’ strike had pushed up the potential outstanding cases by approximately 2,000.

One senior NHS figure close to national efforts said they “hoped” trusts could cut the figure to under 10,000 by the deadline, and that intense work was going on across systems to ensure the figure was as small as possible. 

It is understood system leaders expect the 78-week breach figure to be cut to around 2,000 by the summer. However, as has been the case for the 104-week breaches, they are also predicting a long tail due to a combination of complex cases and patients choosing to wait longer.

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Source: HSJ, 23 March 2023

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Three-year wait for Essex girl, 8, to have tooth removed

An eight-year-old girl waiting three years to have three teeth removed has been left in "agony".

Ella Mann, from Dovercourt in Essex, first went to the dentist with an issue with a baby tooth in December 2019.

She was given a temporary filling and told it needed to be removed but has still not had the NHS procedure.

The youngster has now been placed on an NHS waiting list for the tooth extraction.

Ella's dad Charlie Mann, 54, said his daughter was sometimes in "agony".

Healthwatch England last year warned of people struggling to get dental treatment as increasing practices closed to new patients.

A BBC investigation identified cases of people driving hundreds of miles in search of treatment and pulling out their own teeth without anaesthesia.

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Source: BBC News, 23 March 2023

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Four-day junior doctor strike set for April

Junior doctors are to stage a four-day walkout in April in their fight to get a 35% pay rise in England.

Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) will take strike action from 11 April to 15 April.

Last week's walkout led to the cancellation of 175,000 treatments and appointments, with consultants brought in to provide cover in emergency care.

Hospitals bosses said the fallout from the strike would last weeks given the huge number of bookings that have to be rescheduled.

The new walkout of both planned and emergency care comes directly after the Easter weekend, which tends to be a busy period for the NHS.

Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, the membership organisation for NHS trusts in England, said demand would have built up over the bank holiday weekend.

"This threatens the biggest disruption from NHS walkouts so far," she said, adding: "There should be no doubt about the scale of the impact on patients, staff and the NHS."

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Source: BBC News, 23 April 2023

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‘It is not right to normalise the current GP workload’, says RCGP chair

It is ‘not right to normalise’ the current workload in general practice as numbers of GPs and practices goes down, the RCGP chair told delegates at Pulse Live this week. 

Professor Kamila Hawthorne highlighted the pressure GPs are under with general practice appointments increasing most last year, compared to A&E and outpatients. 

She also said her priority from a new GP contract would be better resourcing for GPs working in deprived areas. 

Her speech looked at the challenges facing general practice and imagined what the future could look like, including what the college can do to bring about change.

Professor Hawthorne said: ‘The workload that we’re facing – it’s not right to normalise it. The sort of work days that we have in general practice, it is not right to normalise this.

‘The number of GPs is going down because they’re leaving the profession faster than they’re entering it. The number of practices in England is going down, and compared with affluent areas, GPs in deprived areas earn less but see more patients with more chronic illness.’ 

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Source: Pulse, 21 March 2023

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Man died of sepsis after being sent home from Milton Keynes Hospital A&E

A father-of-two died of sepsis three days after being sent home from A&E with antibiotics for a suspected urinary tract infection, an inquest heard.

Alex Blewitt, 48, died in July 2022 after suffering a cardiac arrest caused by a perforated bowel and sepsis.

Senior coroner for Milton Keynes, Dr Sean Cummings, said Mr Blewitt's death was avoidable.

The coroner recorded a narrative conclusion and said he intended to issue a prevention of future deaths report.

Mr Cummings said: "The doctor, who saw and assessed Mr Blewitt in the emergency department, did not read the Urgent Care Centre communication that was provided and did not record important factual information in the clinical note.

"Mr Blewitt was discharged, but returned two days later when suffering with sepsis due to a previously undiagnosed bowel perforation."

Mr Blewitt's widow, Amy Blewitt, said: "Alex was in such pain and kept asking the hospital for help, but they sent him home.

"My plea to the hospital is please, please don't let this type of mistake ever happen to anyone else ever again."

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Source: BBC News, 22 March 2023

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Stretched A&E staff ‘rarely saw exec team’, review finds

Trust executives and senior managers have been criticised by a former national director for their lack of support for an under-pressure A&E.

An independent review described York Hospital as “reluctant” to trigger internal escalation processes, and suggested it should be quicker to admit extra patients to inpatient wards during busy periods.

Professor Matthew Cooke, a former national clinical director for emergency care who conducted the review, said that during his two-day visit to the department he witnessed a 60-hour delay for a patient to be admitted: “I was surprised not to see any senior managers or executives in the ED, despite such long delays. ED staff reported they rarely saw the executive team.”

Professor Cooke also warned of uncertainty over escalation processes, including for reducing pressure in the emergency department by “boarding” patients on wards beyond normal capacity.

He said: “On the second morning, there were multiple patients on oxygen in ordinary seats in majors waiting room, cared for by a single nurse. I find it difficult to understand how this is safer than boarding one extra patient on several wards.”

“Staff perceived that the organisation was reluctant to move to higher escalation levels and I sensed this meant staff no longer pushed for such actions.”

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Source: HSJ, 23 March 2023

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Self-harm hospital admissions up 22% for children aged eight to 17

Self-harm hospital admissions for children aged eight to 17 in the UK jumped 22% in one year.

The age group is now the largest for self-harm admissions, with all others seeing a drop, according to NHS data.

Charities say early access to support is vital, but high thresholds and long waiting lists mean more young people are ending up in hospital.

Emily Nuttal, 29, first struggled with self-harm when she was 12. At 13, she was first admitted to A&E.

At that time, she was struggling with changes at school, bullying and troubles at home.

Over the years, she said she had had varied experiences in accident and emergency departments.

"It's been times where it's been really empathetic and passionate people, understanding, supportive. And there's been times where there's been that stigma and judgement."

She said being labelled as "attention-seeking" was really difficult and made it harder to reach out for help again.

"I would then only go if I was forced upon by the crisis service, or if somebody else noticed, and they got people involved," she said.

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Source: BBC News, 23 March 2023

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Watchdog calls for review of menopause link to poor mental health after woman’s suicide

The link between menopause and poor mental health should be reviewed, the health watchdog has said, after an inquiry into a woman’s suicide found staff lack training to spot the risks.

Frances Wellburn, 56, took her own life in 2020 after she was incorrectly assessed as being a “medium risk” of suicide by Tees, Esk and Wear NHS Trust (TEWV).

A national study by the Health and Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), prompted by her death, warned that this was a national problem, with funding and capacity problems driving staff to use ineffective “checklist” tools when assessing suicidal patients.

HSIB also found staff were not trained to spot mental health risks associated with menopause, and menopause is not routinely considered a contributing factor among women with low mood who need help.

It said that women are often prescribed antidepressants when hormone replacement therapy (HRT) would be more appropriate.

In Ms Wellburn’s case, HSIB found TEWV staff had failed to take into account that she was going through menopause when they assessed her as being at medium risk of self-harm. This went against national guidance, which states scales should not be used to predict future suicide or self-harm.

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Source: The Independent, 23 March 2023

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Mum was given her baby's remains in supermarket carrier bag

A terminally ill mother says she was "horrified" after she was handed her baby's remains in a supermarket carrier bag by NHS officials.

Lydia Reid's son Gary was a week old when he died in 1975. She later discovered his organs had been removed for tests without her permission and only received them last month after almost 50 years of campaigning.

The 74-year-old, told BBC Scotland she was visited last month by the head of NHS Lothian as well as another senior NHS official.

"I thought they were coming to help me sign some papers. When they arrived I noticed one of them was carrying a Sainsbury's carrier bag," Ms Reid said.

"Then they said they wanted to complete the list of body parts in case anything had been missed out. She handed me the Sainsbury's bag and said she wanted me to check them now."

Inside the carrier bag was a six-inch box containing body parts preserved in wax.

"I was so shocked and said 'How dare you. That is the only parts of my son and you want to hand them to me in a carrier bag.

"I was absolutely horrified. She said she didn't realise it would be a problem."

Tracey Gillies, medical director for NHS Lothian said: "I would like to repeat publicly the apology we made to Ms Reid in person for the upset and distress this has caused.

Ms Reid has been a leading figure in the Scottish campaign to expose how hospitals unlawfully retained dead children's body parts for research.

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Source: BBC News, 23 March 2023

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