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UK needs to prepare for 'hard winter' of flu and respiratory viruses, says top medic

The UK should steel itself for a “difficult autumn” and “hard winter” of illnesses because people have lived for an unusually long period without exposure to respiratory viruses, one of the country’s top medics has warned.

Dr Susan Hopkins, the head of Covid strategy for Public Health England, said population immunity to viruses other than Covid-19 could be lower than usual and that a surge in flu was probable.

She said the NHS must be better prepared than it was last autumn, when new, faster-spreading variants of coronavirus emerged forcing the country into lockdown for the third time.

Speaking on the BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show Hopkins said: “I think we have to prepare for a hard winter, not only with coronavirus, but we’ve had a year of almost no respiratory viruses of any other type. And that means, potentially the population immunity to that is less."

“So we could see surges in flu. We could see surges in other respiratory viruses and other respiratory pathogens.”

A record number of people, about 30 million in total, were invited for a free flu jab last autumn as ministers feared it would add to strains on the NHS. 

“It’s really important that we’re prepared from the NHS point of view, from public health and contact tracing, that we have everything ready to prepare for a difficult autumn,” she said. “We hope that it won’t occur and it will be a normal winter for all of us.”

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Source: The Guardian, 7 March 2021

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NHS may have to care for ‘a million long Covid patients after pandemic’

A leading doctor has said the NHS should expect to treat up to a million people for long Covid in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Long Covid affects about 1 in 10 people of any age infected with coronavirus, and sufferers can experience symptoms including breathlessness, chronic fatigue, brain fog, anxiety and stress for several months after contracting COVID-19.

The likelihood of experiencing long-term symptoms does not appear to be linked to the severity of the initial virus and people with mild symptoms at first can still have debilitating long Covid.

The absence of long Covid registers makes it difficult to measure the scale of the problem, and major studies into the condition are ongoing in an attempt to identify causes and potential treatments.

But one of Britain’s leading doctors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, estimates that about a million people will need care for long Covid as the NHS recovers from the effects of the pandemic.

“Although officially about 4 million people have had Covid, in reality, it’s about 8 million or 9 million,” the anonymous doctor told The Guardian. 

“If 10% of those people have got something, then it could be almost a million people, and that’s enormous.”

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Source: The Independent, 7 March 2021

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Hospitals forced to repay millions after falsely claiming their maternity units were safe

NHS hospitals have been forced to pay millions of pounds to regulators after wrongly claiming their maternity units were among the safest in the country.

Seven NHS trusts, including some now at the centre of major care scandals, will have to pay back a total of £8.5m after self-assessments of their maternity services were found to be false.

Families whose babies died as a result of avoidable errors at some of the hospitals told The Independent it was further evidence of poor governance and management failings.

NHS Resolution, which acts as the health service’s insurer for clinical negligence, launched the maternity incentive scheme in 2018 in an effort to focus action on 10 key safety areas in maternity, including ensuring they have systems in place to review deaths, monitor women and plan staffing levels as well as reporting incidents to the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch which investigates maternity incidents in the NHS.

Among the trusts forced to give money back over the first two years of the scheme include Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, which paid back £953,000. An inquiry into its maternity service found a dozen women and more than 40 babies died as a result of poor care in one of the largest maternity scandals in NHS history.

East Kent Hospitals University Trust, which is facing an inquiry into baby deaths and a criminal prosecution by the Care Quality Commission over the death of baby Harry Richford in 2017, face paying back £2.1m over two years.

Derek Richford, who helped expose failings at East Kent after the death of his grandson, told The Independent it was “abhorrent” that the trust claimed “vital NHS funds by falsely claiming that they had achieved 10/10 for maternity safety when the truth was in fact 6/10. East Kent Trust did this two years running and even when asked to check their submission, reconfirmed the erroneous data to NHS Resolution.”

An evaluation of the scheme by NHS Resolution said it was “recognised that recent examples of poor governance from trusts in relation to the certification of submissions require further action”.

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Source: The Independent, 7 March 2021

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Covid: Nurses condemn 'fundamentally flawed' PPE rules

Nurse leaders are lobbying government to update "fundamentally flawed" guidance on personal protective equipment.

The Royal College of Nursing says the existing recommendations are based on out-of-date evidence. One nurse told the BBC she had not been allowed to wear a higher-grade mask, despite having to go into the homes of patients with Covid.

The nurse, who wishes to remain anonymous, wanted to use what's known as an FFP3 mask that filters out infectious aerosols. But she says her employers insisted on following national guidance, that most health staff should wear thinner surgical masks, instead.

This comes at a time of mounting concern among many healthcare organisations that personal protective equipment (PPE) is inadequate.

A new report for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) criticises the official guidelines for PPE as "fundamentally flawed" because they're based on out-of-date evidence. It says that the risk of infection by aerosols is not given enough emphasis and that key research papers highlighting the possibility of airborne transmission have not been considered.

The RCN's report concludes that key research papers on aerosols appear to have been ignored and that the terms used to search for new papers were likely to be "biased against" those on airborne transmission.

The lead author of the study, Prof Dinah Gould, says she is "very disappointed" at the review for not taking into account the latest science.

"A year into the pandemic, the review needs replacing. It needs updating and we should be able to offer healthcare workers and patients better than what we're offering them now."

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Source: BBC News, 7 March 2021

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Women's health: Female patients to be asked about 'gender health gap'

Women and girls in England are being asked to share their experiences of the health system as part of a government strategy to address inequalities.

Ministers say there is "strong evidence" services for female patients need improving. Fertility, maternity and menopause care are among the areas to be discussed.

Campaigners say they are "delighted" steps are "finally" being taken to close the so-called "gender health gap".

While women in the UK have a longer life expectancy than men, the Department for Health and Social Care says they are spending less of their life in good health.

Nadine Dorries, minister for women's health, said: "Women's experiences of healthcare can vary and we want to ensure women are able to access the treatment and services they need.

"It's crucial women's voices are at the front and centre of this strategy so we understand their experiences and how to improve their outcomes."

Studies suggest gender biases in clinical trials are a contributing factor. Less is also said to be known about many female-specific conditions and how to treat them.

Patients have repeatedly reported to the BBC that they have felt overlooked when talking to doctors about conditions like endometriosis or complications following a pelvic mesh repair.

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Source: BBC News, 6 March 2021

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Covid: Some asthma patients being told to wait longer for vaccine

People with asthma who are eligible for a coronavirus vaccine are being refused it by some GPs who are not following government guidance, the BBC has found.

An NHS England letter sent to GPs in mid-February says people who have "ever had an emergency asthma admission" to hospital fall into priority group six, which is currently being vaccinated.

But some patients are being told a hospital admission within the past 12 months is required.

GPs say they look at various factors, including age and ethnicity, as well as some degree of clinical judgement, the Royal College of GPs said.

Charity Asthma UK says a lot of people have been in touch with them to report this issue, and they've had thousands of calls to their helpline asking for advice on coronavirus and the vaccine rollout over the past year.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, said: "We know that there are different interpretations of the official guidance from GP surgery staff and we're not sure why exactly this is happening."

"We know that GPs are very busy and trying to vaccinate so many people quickly, and keep on top of very complex daily new information about COVID-19 and the vaccination programme. But it's essential that GPs follow official guidance, so that people with asthma who need to be prioritised are protected now.''

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Source: BBC News, 5 March 2021

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Supply of ultrasound gels suspended after bacteria outbreaks in multiple hospitals

NHS Supply Chain has suspended supplies of some ultrasound gels over concerns they might be connected with outbreaks of bacterial infections in multiple hospitals.

Thirty hospitals have reported 46 cases of Burkholderia contaminans between October last year and January 2021. No patients have died but some developed sepsis symptoms.

NHS Supply Chain has suspended supplies of three ultrasound gels as a “precautionary measure” and guidance has been updated on the safe use of gel to reduce the risk of transmission of infection. Existing stocks have not been recalled and NHS Supply Chain is stocking similar products as alternatives.

Public Health England has said its provisional investigation suggests a potential link with ultrasound or ultrasound-guided procedures as many of the infected patients had undergone these before the bacterium was identified.

It is also investigating how many of the patients have spent time in intensive care or high dependency settings.

A related bacteria, called Burkholderia cepacian, was also found in 27 cases.

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Source: HSJ, 4 March 2021

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Regulator reveals ‘concerns’ over Babylon’s ‘chatbot’

A regulator has admitted “concerns” over the software Babylon Healthcare uses in one of its digital health solutions and is exploring how to address this.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority’s (MHRA) concerns relate to Babylon’s symptom checker “chatbot” tool. This is used by thousands of patients, including those registered with digital primary care practice GP at Hand.

Two senior figures within the agency set out the MHRA’s concerns about the tool in a letter, seen by HSJ, which was sent to consultant oncologist David Watkins following a meeting between the parties last October.

Dr Watkins has raised doubts over the tool’s safety for several years, including repeatedly documenting alleged flaws in the chatbot through videos posted online. However, last year, Babylon said only 20 of Dr Watkins’ 2,400 tests resulted in “genuine errors” being identified in the software.

In the letter, dated 4 December, the MHRA’s clinical director for devices Duncan McPherson and head of software related device technologies Johan Ordish said Dr Watkins’ “concerns are all valid and ones that we share”. 

In the letter to Dr Watkins, the two MHRA directors also said the regulator is further exploring some of the issues highlighted and the work could “be important as we develop a new regulatory framework for medical devices in the UK”.

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Source: HSJ, 4 March 2021

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Hospitals failing to heed warnings over patient deaths, reveals new study

Thousands of similar errors contributing to patient deaths are being repeated by hospitals despite warnings from coroners, according to new research.

An analysis of four years of official reports by coroners, issued after the conclusion of inquests into patient deaths, has revealed the impact of the NHS struggling with a lack of resources and staff. Coroners found similar mistakes across hundreds of inquests.

Professor Alison Leary, chair of healthcare a workforce modelling at London South Bank University, and who led the study, told The Independent: “We are missing opportunities to prevent deaths. What we are seeing is the hard edge of underinvestment in the workforce and the under resourcing of the service.

“Each of these coroner’s reports are someone’s sorrow. From talking to families, they assume when one of these reports is issued, they are acted on and the system learns from it. But the system doesn’t seem to be learning and people pay for this with their life.”

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Source: The Independent, 3 March 2021

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8 things people living with endometriosis want you to know

Endometriosis is not uncommon – in fact, it’s believed to affect one in 10 women/people who menstruate. Yet it’s still widely misunderstood, and those affected can struggle for years before getting proper help.

Because it’s associated with the menstrual cycle (it occurs when cells similar to those that grow in the womb lining grow outside the womb too, resulting in inflammation, scar tissue or adhesions and blood-filled cysts/endometriomas), it’s often dismissed as being ‘just bad periods’. But endometriosis is a medical condition which can have a huge impact.

To mark Endometriosis Month, Abi Jackson helps bust some misconceptions around this common condition.

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Source: The Independent, 1 March 2021

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Patients with learning disabilities pushed and dragged across the floor by private hospital staff

Patients with learning disabilities were pushed and dragged across the floor while others had their arms trapped in doors by staff working at a private hospital, the care watchdog has found.

The Care Quality Commission said instances of abuse caught on CCTV had now been reported to police and staff working at St John’s House, near Diss in Norfolk, have been suspended. Police have said no further action will be taken.

The regulator has rated the home, part of The Priory Group, inadequate and put it into special measures after inspectors found a string of failures at the 49-bed home during an inspection in December.

According to the CQC’s report, inspectors reviewed CCTV footage of seven patient safety incidents between August and December last year.

This showed “issues such as prolonged use of prone restraint, a patient being dragged across the floor despite attempting to drop their weight, a patient being pushed over and the seclusion room door trapping a patients arm and making contact with a patient’s head when closed”.

The report said that although some staff had been suspended the hospital had not reported all the incidents to the police or the local council. It added: “Following CQC raising this as a concern, the provider has now reported incidents to the police, the safeguarding team and has suspended further staff pending investigation.”

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Source: The Independent, 5 March 2021

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It's time to end the stigma: 62% of women would put off going to the doctor with symptoms of endometriosis

New stats from Endometriosis UK this week for Endometriosis Awareness Month reveal that 62% of women (aged 16-54) would put off going to a doctor with symptoms of endometriosis.

Reasons include they don’t think it’s serious enough to bother a doctor with, they’d be embarrassed, they don’t think they’d be taken seriously, or they think symptoms including painful periods are normal. This statistic rises to 80% of 16-24-year-olds.

1.5 million UK women  are currently living with endometriosis, with average diagnosis time standing at an unacceptable 8 years

Endometriosis UK says it is vital that Governments, society, the NHS and workplaces wake-up and recognise the symptoms and impact endometriosis can have, and afford those with the condition the support and access to treatment they need to manage their symptoms.

Commenting on the new research, Emma Cox, CEO of Endometriosis UK said: “Endometriosis is a long-term chronic health condition affecting 1.5 million in the UK, yet it still all too often considered a taboo or not important due to links with the menstrual cycle. Symptoms including chronic pelvic pain, painful periods, painful bladder and bowel movements, and infertility, can have a major, life-long impact, physically and mentally. But far too many find their symptoms are not believed nor taken seriously."

“Myths such as “chronic period pain is normal” or “you must have a low pain threshold” manifesting in society, workplaces, schools, and even healthcare settings contribute to those experiencing symptoms being put off from seeking medical advice and contribute to diagnosis taking on average a shocking 8 years.

“The impact of delayed diagnosis on people’s physical and mental health can’t be overstated. If undiagnosed, the disease may progress, and negatively impact people’s careers, education, relationships and all aspects of their life.”

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Source: Endometriosis UK, 1 March 2021

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Dozens of patients left conscious but unable to breathe after NHS drug errors

More than a dozen NHS patients have stopped breathing and 40 others suffered serious effects after having powerful anaesthetic drugs mistakenly “flushed” into their systems by unsuspecting NHS staff.

In one case a man has been left suffering nightmares and flashbacks after he stopped breathing on a ward when a powerful muscle relaxant used during an earlier procedure paralysed him but left him fully conscious. He only survived because a doctor was on the ward and started mechanically breathing for him.

An investigation by the safety watchdog, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), found there had been 58 similar incidents in England during a three-year period.

The mistakes happen when residual amounts of drugs are left in intravenous lines and cannulas and not “flushed” out after the surgery. When the IV lines are used later by other staff the residual drugs can have a debilitating effect on patients.

In a new report HSIB said flushing intravenous lines to remove powerful drugs was a “safety-critical” task but that the process for checking this had been done was not being properly carried out, posing a life-threatening risk to patients.

It said the use of a checklist by anaesthetic staff can be overlooked when doctors are busy with other tasks and they fail to engage with the process.

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Source: The Independent, 4 March 2021

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Modified vaccines for new Covid variants to be fast-tracked in UK

The development of coronavirus vaccines tweaked to target new variants will be fast-tracked in the UK and four other countries, Britain’s regulator has said, adding that “robust evidence” on effectiveness and safety will still be required for authorisation.

The approach, similar to the regulatory process for the modified flu vaccine, will not need a brand new approval or “lengthy” clinical studies, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said on Thursday.

This will "significantly reduce" the length of time it takes for the vaccines to be ready, with concern mounting over the threat posed by the South African and Brazilian variants and their ability to partially evade the body’s immune response.

Under the new guidance, developers will need to provide clear evidence their adapted vaccines produce a strong immune response to the variant and meet the high safety standards outlined by the MHRA.

“This is based on scientific principles and does not cut any corners on safety or effectiveness,” said Dr Christian Schneider, chief scientific officer at the MHRA.

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Source: The Independent, 4 March 2021

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Healthcare professional arrested on suspicion of murdering stroke patient

A healthcare professional at Blackpool Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a stroke patient.

Lancashire Police released a statement this evening which says the man has also been arrested on suspicion of two offences of rape and one offence of sexual assault. The suspect is currently in custody. He has also been suspended by the trust.

It comes after a police investigation was launched in November 2018 into allegations of mistreatment and neglect on the stroke unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

As part of the probe, a number of post-mortem examinations were conducted, including for Valerie Kneale, 75, from Blackpool, who died from a haemorrhage caused by a non-medical related internal injury.

Police said this led to a murder investigation, which is being treated separately to an ongoing investigation into allegations of poisoning and neglect on the stroke unit, in which a number of staff have previously been arrested.

Detective chief inspector Jill Johnston, of Lancashire Police, said: “We understand this will cause some significant concern in the community but please be reassured we have a dedicated team of officers conducting a number of enquiries."

“If you have any information or have worked on the stroke unit and can assist with our enquiries, please come forward and speak to police immediately.”

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Source: HSJ, 3 March 2021

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'I don't want to be bullied': NHS and care workers on mandatory Covid jabs

NHS workers have raised concerns about the prospect of all health and social care staff in England being compelled by law to take the Covid vaccine.

The Downing Street review which is considering making it mandatory for NHS workers to have the jab, as a way of protecting patients, has led to questions about its moral and legal implications.

A consultant in a busy north-west hospital said they would feel “incredibly uncomfortable” with the idea of forcing NHS staff to have the vaccine. They said they would prefer a concerted high-profile campaign to encourage staff to have the vaccine, with a last-resort option of asking unvaccinated staff to take on different roles, away from the frontline.

“I would feel very uncomfortable with us forcing anyone to have it – you can’t force an injection into someone,” the consultant said.

Last week Care UK said it only wanted to hire new staff who had had the vaccine, while another care provider, Barchester, said it wanted all of its staff, including current workers, to have had the jab by 23 April, adding that if they did not they would not be considered for shifts.

The matron of a care home in Merseyside said there had been a lot of pressure put on her to have the vaccine, which was making her anxious.

“I don’t want to be bullied into a decision when I have legitimate concerns. I feel being told I am selfish and putting others at risk is insulting," she said.

However, a CBT therapist in her 30s, who also works in the north-west of England believed all NHS staff should be vaccinated, regardless of their role. She said her hospital trust’s values emphasised “care, compassion and commitment” and individuals who refused the vaccine could potentially harm others.

“If we’re going to be caring for people, it comes under that value and it’s a core part of what the NHS is about. So if someone is saying they don’t want the vaccine, it puts into question whether you are going against the values of the trust.”

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Source: The Guardian, 3 March 2021

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'Injustice' as man left in Nottinghamshire care home for months

A man was left in a care home for five months without regard for "basic human rights", an investigation has found.

The Nottinghamshire man, who had dementia, was placed in the home for two weeks as respite for his family. But the county council failed to properly assess whether he could return home, leaving his family with a £15,000 care bill, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said.

The authority has apologised and said it would make improvements.

The ombudsman launched an inquiry after complaints from the man's family.

He was placed in the care home by his wife while she struggled to look after her son, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The investigation found that after the first two weeks, the man's wife said she still could not cope with his return.

But instead of carrying out a review or assessment to judge what support was needed for him to potentially go home, the council allowed the case to "drift".

The ombudsman, Michael King, said: "The man had a right to respect for his family life, and to enjoy his existing home peacefully."

"But the council did not have any regard for the man's human rights during those five months he was away from his family."

In its report, the watchdog said it found "fault causing injustice".

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Source: BBC News, 4 March 2021

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Bodyform reveals #PainStories to break silence around endometriosis and women’s pain

Bodyform, known as Libresse outside the UK, has created a campaign to support earlier diagnosis of endometriosis and break the silence about the pain that many women endure throughout their lives. 

#PainStories, by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, launched Tuesday (2 March) during Endometriosis Awareness Month. It tackles the “gender pain gap” by sharing stories and helping to articulate experiences of pain, with a focus on endometriosis. 

An estimated one in 10 women of reproductive age – about 176 million women globally – suffers from endometriosis, a condition resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the uterus and causing pelvic pain. Despite the prevalence of the condition, however, it takes an average of seven-and-a-half years to diagnose it. 

These delayed diagnoses are partly down to the perception that severe period pain is “normal”, according to the Essity brand. “[Endometriosis] is ever present but not out in the open. It is quite a suppressed thing,” Lauren Peters, one of the AMV creatives behind #PainStories, said. 

#PainStories features the “Pain Dictionary”, a collection of new words and definitions for pain that are drawn from real descriptions from people with endometriosis. Each definition is brought to life by an artist to create a verbal and visual language for endometriosis pain, with the aim of helping people recognise and articulate their pain and to shorten long diagnostic delays. 

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Source: Campaign Live, 2 March 2021

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Integrated care systems to be CQC-rated, says Hancock

Health secretary Matt Hancock has said integrated care systems (ICS) will be rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The government’s recent white paper for a new NHS bill did not discuss any change in the CQC’s legal framework to allow it to rate ICSs, which sparked uncertainty around how ICSs would be regulated.

However, speaking in the House of Commons today of the “crucial” role the regulator plays in rating hospitals, Mr Hancock said: “I think that it is vital that the CQC has a similar role when it comes to ICSs.”

The CQC has not confirmed what, if any, legal changes it is seeking. Currently, if the regulator wants to inspect how well a system is working, it must ask permission from the secretary of state to do so.

It has carried out around 25 inspections of systems since 2017, but has not issued ratings.

Giving evidence at a Parliamentary committee meeting earlier today, Sir Robert Francis, Healthwatch England chair, said: “A rating [from the CQC] that summarises the performance of the organisation to the public is a form of accountability. It doesn’t affect patient choice in quite the same way as a provider rating does, but it may be a way of explaining to the public how their system is doing.”

He added that if inspectors are “continually being directed to go to the places the secretary of state chooses” then they may not carry the authority or credibility of an independent process.

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Source: HSJ, 2 March 2021

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NHS reforms risk sowing confusion and undermining safety, MPs warned

A bid for more control over the NHS by ministers risks undermining patient safety and sowing confusion over who is ultimately responsible for services, MPs have been warned.

The Commons Health Select Committee was told the proposals, set out in a new white paper published last month, lacked detail on the involvement of patients in local services and needed urgent clarification of the new powers the health secretary will have.

The plans will give ministers new powers over the independent Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), including being able to tell it what to investigate and the power to remove protections for NHS staff who give evidence in secret.

Last week experts warned the plans for HSIB could undermine its role and have lasting consequences on efforts to encourage NHS staff to be honest about errors. Under the proposals the health secretary would be able to remove so-called “safe space” protections for evidence given by NHS workers.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, told the committee hospitals were worried about the plans.

He said: “We are very nervous about this relationship between the secretary of state and HSIB. In order for it to be an effective independent organisation, it does need to be free from the appearance of any kind of political control. There's a very high degree of nervousness about the ability to somehow switch safe space on and off. People need to know where they stand.”

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Source: The Independent, 2 March 2021

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Children's doctors given fabricated illness guidance

Doctors are being issued with new guidance for cases where children are repeatedly brought in when there is nothing wrong.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) says cases where parents know there's nothing wrong are rare. Instead genuine, if misplaced, health anxieties are more common.

They advise referring to "perplexing symptoms" instead of "fabricated or induced illness".

Paediatricians say there has been a rise in cases where children are repeatedly brought in, despite nothing being found to be wrong. 

The unexplained symptoms could be because a genuine condition has not yet been diagnosed. But there are cases where a parent or carer might make up or cause illness in their children - a rare form of abuse which used to be known as Munchausen's By Proxy Syndrome.

But often, doctors say, it is genuine concerns - and they believe the rise may be fuelled by bad information online.

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Source: BBC News, 2 March 2021

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PPE failings at care home posed infection risk, CQC says

Care home residents and staff were put at risk of infection because personal protective equipment (PPE) was used wrongly, a health watchdog has said.

Croft House, in Ossett, near Wakefield, has been put in special measures after being deemed "inadequate" by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors. The home was "not well-led", according to the inspectors who visited last year.

The CQC report, which was published last week, highlighted a number of measures had not been taken, meaning staff and residents were exposed to the risk of infection transmission, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Staff could not safely put on and take off PPE as this was stored in people's rooms. Staff needed to cross the room to collect the PPE," the report said. Meanwhile, there was no hand sanitiser in the corridors or bins to dispose of PPE and staff "were not effectively wearing PPE", it added.

Residents at the home, which provides nursing and residential care for up to 68 people, were at "risk of missing medication or being given incorrect medication" because of how systems were managed, the report said.

However, relatives spoke highly of staff at the home, with one family member describing an employee they knew as "accommodating and helpful", according to the report.

Countrywide Care Homes, which runs the site, said improvements had been made since the inspection on 18 December.

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Source: BBC News, 2 March 2021

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New policy brief calls on decision-makers to support patients as 1 in 10 report symptoms of “long COVID”

Some 1 in 10 people still experience persistent ill health 12 weeks after having COVID-19, termed “long COVID” or post-COVID conditions. A new policy brief from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies documents responses to post-COVID conditions in different countries of the WHO European Region and looks at how sufferers, including medical professionals, are driving some of those responses.

Written for decision-makers, this brief summarises what is known about the conditions, who and how many people suffer from them, diagnosis and treatment, and how countries are addressing the issue.

Commenting on long COVID, WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge said, “COVID-19 has caused a great deal of suffering among people across the Region, with reports of long COVID an extra cause for concern. It’s important that patients reporting with symptoms of long COVID are included as part of the COVID-19 response to mitigate some of the longer-term health impacts of the pandemic. This policy brief makes clear the need for policy-makers to take the lead on this issue.”

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Source: WHO, 25 February 2021

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NHSE overrules trust and orders second review into patient harms

NHS England has ordered an independent review into patient safety and governance concerns at an acute trust which had been resisting calls to take this step, HSJ has learned.

The intervention at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust comes after pressure from staff and local MPs, who believe more extensive investigation is required into cases of patient harm within the trauma and orthopaedics division.

The broad issues were first revealed by HSJ in November, with documents suggesting several patients were harmed after leaders failed to act on multiple concerns being raised about a surgeon.

The trust has already commissioned one external review. This reported last year and found the service to be riven by “internecine squabbles”. However, the review was overseen by trust executives and the terms of reference were focused on incident reporting and culture within the department.

It is understood that some consultants have since been pushing for further investigation into specific cases where patients were harmed, as well as concerns that managers or clinicians who were accused of failing to tackle the issues have since been promoted to more senior positions.

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Source: HSJ, 2 March 2021

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Concerns raised over link between CQC ratings and ethnicity

The Royal College of GPs has called for an independent review of the link between poor Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection ratings and the ethnicity of GP partners.

The college called for the regulator to commission the work in particular for those rated “requires improvement” and “inadequate” over the past five years, including practices which have since closed down. This will assess “if there is an association between the outcomes of inspections and ethnicity or country of qualification of the GP partners”, according to the RCGP.

In addition, the RCGP wants to work with the regulator to discuss how the availability and transparency of this information can be improved to ensure minority ethnic GPs’ experiences are heard.

Minority ethnic GPs shared their experiences of CQC inspections at an RCGP council meeting last week, where council members voted to support the above actions.

Dr Howsam said: “The college’s BAME action plan commits us to delivering positive change for all our Black, Asian and minority ethnic members and we will continue to work constructively with the CQC towards an improved system of inspection that is supportive of GPs and keeps patients safe as we move away from the immediate crisis of the pandemic and into recovery.”

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Source: HSJ, 1 March 2021

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